Geek My Ride - Part 2: The Tools

Part of the reason for writing this series is because I'm a bit of a narcissist.   Okay, that's not true...part of it is I feel a need to give back to the community of folks who have provided me with so many of the tools I'll be using to do these projects.  The hardware platform I've chosen to work with is Open Sourced, and very well documented.  But, for someone new or returning to the hobby as I am, the docs can be a bit overwhelming.  By documenting my projects, progress and choices, I hope to provide some level of a repository for others following in my footsteps.

Or, I really am an narcissist.  :)

So, to start out, let's talk about the hardware.  As mentioned in my last post, it's Arduino.  Also as mentioned last post, I'm sure there are much better platforms out there to start dabbling in microcontrollers, but Arduino's got a nice, large following and a large repository of projects that are also well documented.  I'm looking to put things into production, not reinvent the wheel.  If I accidentally learn something along the way, so much the better. Since I did have a number of projects I wanted to put together, I decided to eschew purchasing a pre-made board and followed some instructions I found on building your own (warning, link is to a PDF, I couldn't find a link on the site). 

My thinking was that I'd put some extra money into putting together a dev board that could then be pulled off a bread board en masse and moved elsewhere.  In the end, I think this will be a bit cheaper for me as I'll only need to purchase chips going forward.  As I had most of the parts I needed, I just had to pick up some caps and the AtMega chips.  The end result:

Yeah, it's a bit unimpressive especially when you consider the only thing it does at the moment is blink the LED on  the left every second.  But, it's a start.  It's up and it's working.  Not bad for a first try!

As for other tools, there's a couple that will come in handy over the long haul.  The first, believe it or not, is Dropbox.  I will warn you, that link is a referral link.  If you click it and install Dropbox I get an extra 250M of free space.  But, you ALSO get an extra 250M, so it's win-win!  Dropbox is a great way to keep files in sync across multiple computers.  As I sometimes like to work on my projects during my lunch hour at work, it's convenient to have access to the Arduino programming environment there, too. But, I also need any libraries I might've installed, not to mention my sketches.  As the IDE amounts to a whopping 250M when unzipped, and self-contained within a directory, it's the perfect way to ensure my environment's the same at work and at home.  No more "but it works on my machine..."

I've etched PCBs in the past, but the reality is it's a messy, dangerous thing to do at home.  With a 2-year-old running around, I have no real interest in keeping those kinds of chemicals around, so I've decided that when I DO need a PCB etched, I'm going to have it done professionally.  I've already found a couple of places that look like they'll be cheap enough to use.  But, in order to create a PCB, I need a design and so I've settled on FreePCB to do them in.  Another Open Source solution, it helps keeps those costs low!  It doesn't do autorouting, but it can use a web-based autorouter for the task, and I'm fine with that.

That last piece in the puzzle is probably a bit of a surprise, but considering the nature of the projects it's an essential:

:

A lifetime ago, when I got my first car, the alternator went soon after I bought it.  I took it to a mechanic who told me it would cost $200 to replace.  I headed to my local Pep Boys and asked the parts guy how much a new one was.  "$35", I was told (this WAS a long time ago, I said).  "Are they easy to install?", I asked.  "Two bolts and a wire", he said, "go grab a Chilton's manual it'll tell you how to do it."  I was hooked.  Once I replaced that thing, I decided to try my hand at any and every car repair I needed going forward.  Some were spectacular successes.  Some required me to pay extra to the mechanic to de-screw it up afterward, but I learned something new each time.  For every car I've owned since, I've owned either a Chiltons or Haynes (I haven't actually seen a Chilton's in a while...).  As I'm going to need to be able to find electrical connections, having the wiring schematic for my car will be invaluable.  Or, in this case, at least worth $19.99!

That's it for the tools I'll be using for now.  I'd like to give props to our local electronics store, Goldcrest.  Only place in the city I cold find picofarad caps!  Next week, I'll talk about the first project which is already about 90% done.  I've got it wired and programmed, I just need the spiffy LCD I've ordered for it. What is it?  It's a surprise, of course!  But, I'll give you a hint: remember this is a car project, and I decided the first project should be one that helps me save enough money to pay for any remaining projects!