Beginner and Intermediate Project Ideas for Newbies
rjo_
Posts: 1,825
I have to tell you that this forum is so full of really talented people that it can be just a little intimidating[noparse]:)[/noparse] I have been around for a while, but some of you guys are so smart and so good at what you are doing that you are a little scary sometimes.
I'm going to get the ball rolling, but I'm hoping that you will jump in with your old or new projects that just tickled you and would be good for the beginner or intermediate reader.
A while back, I asked a question... don't remember the question... but Phil Pilgrim responded that I should look at the cell phone modules from Sparkfun. At the time, I remember thinking... obviously Phil doesn't realize what an idiot I am with this stuff. Turns out, Phil knew exactly what kind of idiot I was. I haven't had so much fun with any other project or learned so much so easily in a very long time. I have flattened out the learning curve. I think this project is now so easy it could be a first project after a person got through a few of the learning labs.
http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=25&m=417667
Here is why you might want to consider it.
Yesterday, I went over to see why my 86 year old Aunt wasn't answering her phone. She has a touch of oldtimer's disease. She can follow a conversation. And if you give her instructions one at a time she is fine... until the next day, when you have to repeat everything. Normally, her daughter is with her when it is time to take her medicine, but her daughter was away for a few days, looking after another sick relative and had simply planned to call her mother to remind her to take her medicines, which were all laid out on the counter in little plastic cups, three cups for each day. My aunt knows not to take her medicines without being reminded... She is having trouble interpreting what she reads, so you can't just leave her written instructions.
The long and the short of it is that my aunt hadn't hung up the phone correctly, which happens just about every time she uses it[noparse]:)[/noparse] Knowing that I've been working on the PropPhone, my cousin asked me if I could make it so that she could use the PropPhone like a long distance intercom...with good speakers and which she could control from her end.
Not only can the PropPhone do that... with a little effort it could dispense the pills remotely. Building a pill dispenser sounds like work to me... but putting together another PropPhone... that's just an excuse to get a different module with a different form factor and make sure it works right. So, I'm going to do it for her using a GM865 and one of the new extension boards from Gadget Gangster. Nothing but fun.
So... that's my idea of high utility, with little knowledge, and a hugely enjoyable project...
What is yours?
I'm going to get the ball rolling, but I'm hoping that you will jump in with your old or new projects that just tickled you and would be good for the beginner or intermediate reader.
A while back, I asked a question... don't remember the question... but Phil Pilgrim responded that I should look at the cell phone modules from Sparkfun. At the time, I remember thinking... obviously Phil doesn't realize what an idiot I am with this stuff. Turns out, Phil knew exactly what kind of idiot I was. I haven't had so much fun with any other project or learned so much so easily in a very long time. I have flattened out the learning curve. I think this project is now so easy it could be a first project after a person got through a few of the learning labs.
http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=25&m=417667
Here is why you might want to consider it.
Yesterday, I went over to see why my 86 year old Aunt wasn't answering her phone. She has a touch of oldtimer's disease. She can follow a conversation. And if you give her instructions one at a time she is fine... until the next day, when you have to repeat everything. Normally, her daughter is with her when it is time to take her medicine, but her daughter was away for a few days, looking after another sick relative and had simply planned to call her mother to remind her to take her medicines, which were all laid out on the counter in little plastic cups, three cups for each day. My aunt knows not to take her medicines without being reminded... She is having trouble interpreting what she reads, so you can't just leave her written instructions.
The long and the short of it is that my aunt hadn't hung up the phone correctly, which happens just about every time she uses it[noparse]:)[/noparse] Knowing that I've been working on the PropPhone, my cousin asked me if I could make it so that she could use the PropPhone like a long distance intercom...with good speakers and which she could control from her end.
Not only can the PropPhone do that... with a little effort it could dispense the pills remotely. Building a pill dispenser sounds like work to me... but putting together another PropPhone... that's just an excuse to get a different module with a different form factor and make sure it works right. So, I'm going to do it for her using a GM865 and one of the new extension boards from Gadget Gangster. Nothing but fun.
So... that's my idea of high utility, with little knowledge, and a hugely enjoyable project...
What is yours?
Comments
I would definitely put some kind of redundancy into whatever pill dispensing system you come up with: you don't want something to slip up and cause your Aunt to have an overdose. You might even think of building two totally separate systems that need to work simultaneously to dispense the pills and yet another one to confirm that something was indeed dispensed. It might sound like a lot of extra work, but when it comes to dosing human beings, you best err on the side of caution.
my 0.0002 yuan worth.
There is a huge difference between rapid prototyping and real development. For instance... the PropPhone has absolutely no error checking and I'm not likely to add it[noparse]:)[/noparse]
There actually is a very good reason why we engineers, with engineering disciplines, and the rest of us need to be constantly aware of that fact. In this forum, we have some of the best engineers talking to other engineers... and we have hobbyists talking to each other, such as yours truly. It is very helpful for our engineers to know who is who right out of the chute. So, engineering students would do themselves a huge favor if they would identify themselves. The education that engineering students can get here is on a par with the best of the world. But they are going to be talked to like an engineer... and that isn't always the most comfortable thing in the world[noparse]:)[/noparse]
An RTTL Juke Box is a complex project that can be PROGRESSIVELY built up in increasingly more challenging stages. Besides, it would be an entertaining one.
Stuff involved in the project that you can build through a series of Labs and lessons.
1- Frequency and sound generation
2- IR transmission and receiving
3- LCDs
4- Push buttons
5- Menu systems
All the above would perhaps be more at the intermediate level.
Here is a program that may be of use to you.
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Samuel
www.RobotBASIC.com
Thanks for your input.
Sorry it took so long to respond. Have been buried in my various projects, particularly the home study course.
I am on a fixed schedule, and I am trying to invent the class as we go. It isn't as easy as it looks[noparse]:)[/noparse]
I wasn't very clear in my post. I guess what I was trying to do is to give new people to the forum an idea
of what they can accomplish with the Propeller that isn't exactly rocket science. Many times when I read the
forum, things look more complicated that they really are.
The project above literally requires a couple of wires between the Propeller and the Sparkfun unit, and the demo
object and you are off to the races. That to me is just amazing.
The other thing I was trying to accomplish was to give people a place to brag about their favorite
project... even if it does involve a little rocket science. Many times we do a project ... and then move on
because we don't really think it interests anyone but ourselves.
I am also interested in hearing from vendors... Things like... what is your most popular product? Which of products are
really intended for beginning to intermediate Prop heads.
Rich