- Sat Oct 02, 2010 6:26 pm
#110661
trying to start a flame war, eh?
however, if i wanted a good basic book in this ballpark i would only buy forrest mims 'getting started in electronics, a complete electronics course'.
if you want usb instrumentation, then sparkfun is a good place to start. you will want a microcontroller with at least one built-in analog to digital convertor.
for ease of learning, i would get a coridium board or the cui32 board that has stickos on it or a picaxe . all relatively cheap and basic is the easiest language to pick up for control purposes if you have no programming experience.
you will want to pick up a breadboard and power supply to test the functioning of any sensors you acquire. again, sparkfun is a good place to start. and you have found the forum!
for interfacing your computer to sensors - look at the sparkfun sensors and examine the datasheets that come with. also look at breakout boards that might apply to your project.
go to the web and look for prople who have used a particular sensor - you will find schematics and interesting comments.
sites for coridium, picaxe, and stickos have downloadable software that you can look at and see what you are getting into.
welcome and good luck!
however, if i wanted a good basic book in this ballpark i would only buy forrest mims 'getting started in electronics, a complete electronics course'.
if you want usb instrumentation, then sparkfun is a good place to start. you will want a microcontroller with at least one built-in analog to digital convertor.
for ease of learning, i would get a coridium board or the cui32 board that has stickos on it or a picaxe . all relatively cheap and basic is the easiest language to pick up for control purposes if you have no programming experience.
you will want to pick up a breadboard and power supply to test the functioning of any sensors you acquire. again, sparkfun is a good place to start. and you have found the forum!
for interfacing your computer to sensors - look at the sparkfun sensors and examine the datasheets that come with. also look at breakout boards that might apply to your project.
go to the web and look for prople who have used a particular sensor - you will find schematics and interesting comments.
sites for coridium, picaxe, and stickos have downloadable software that you can look at and see what you are getting into.
welcome and good luck!
