After a short primer in the physics of electrical circuits, the book guides you gently into the first project, which is to create a push-button controlled LED light on the breadboad.
The project doesn't actually use the Arduino except to draw power; its just to get you familiar with the breadboard. Once I had created the first LED in series with a push switch I added a second LED in parallel with the original circuit as shown below, and hey presto, two robot eyes (well, OK, two red LEDs).
|It's not the most impressive project in the book, but at least I have got to grips with the components now.|
- a good light source (to see the colours of the resistor bands);
- magnifying glass (to see any of the components at all - my eyesight is deteriorating);
- digital multimeter (not essential, but should be in the toolbox of any electrician);
- component box (there are a lot of small components).
And since it is customary to end an Arduino post with a Douglas Adams quote - here goes:
A learning experience is one of those things that says, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.’