Start Here
.:The Information needed to get going:.
(ARDX) .:Arduino Experimentation Kit:. (ARDX)
Preamble
When you first get an ARDX kit, there are some things that need to be setup. There is also some related information that can be useful as you proceed. This page provides links to that.
The Short Version
The Arduino Software
The Arduino family of micro-controllers can be programmed using a free IDE (Integrated Development Environment). There are a few versions and options available. Standard standalone install for Windows, Mac, and Linux. There is even an ARM version, if you want to work from a raspberry Pi. There is also an online web version, if you want to store your programs in the cloud, and will always have an Internet connection while programming. Finally, there is a portable version that does not need to be installed, and can be run from USB stick (Pen Drive). Download links and details can be found on the Software (English) page of the Arduino web site.
CircuitPython version
We have been working on a version of the experimenters kit that uses CircuitPython. The individual python specific experiment pages for that are not ready, but the sample code has been uploaded, and an initial guide prepared. That can be used along with the previously available experiment pages. The intent, for this round, was to keep, as much as possible, the same circuit experiment wiring. The guide has information about any difference, and links to the CircuitPython code.
The Experiments
The ARDX kit is open source. The WCRS version is based on that done by oomlout. The official (and short) landing page for the oomlout ARDX information is http://www.oomlout.com/, but a more convenient starting point is https://www.oomlout.com/a/index.htm. The WCRS starting point (other than this page) to bookmark is https://wcrsyyc.github.io/ardx. Our page includes links (in the sidebar menu) to both our own and the original oomlout versions of the instructions
References
The official Arduino web site includes resources for learning and working with various Arduino boards and libraries. Explore to see what all is there. It has been changing as they add and update information. One piece that (the location of which) has so far stayed constant, is the Language Reference. That is the place to go when you need the details of how to do something. If you are just learning to program, that is not as helpful. The tutorials page is a better place to start. And the ARDX information of course. The first option on that tutorials page points to Project Hub. Changing the "Any type" drop down to "Tutorial", is a good place to start.
WCRS meetings
We normally have a drop-in meet every Saturday at The Hangar Flight Museum. Except for special circumstances. Like the Museum holding their own special event, or us being at Maker Faire. We publish those exceptions on our facebook page. We try to give advance notice there, but sometimes we do not know very far ahead of time. That is a good place to check before making plans to come see us. We also post information about what we are doing there.
More Information
There was some additional resource information in google plus collections, but google plus has now gone away. The information has been archived locally, but is not currently available online.
We have started adding information to the wiki associated with the ARDX github repository. It has been slow, but we are trying to add more information there. Even if it is only pointers to other information sources. To see all of the public (github) projects that WCRS has been working on, start at WCRSyyc.
There is another WCRS wiki with a little electronics and robotics information. Plus other things of interest to those of us that publish content WCRS to github.
The Card in the Box
The card with the url and QR code to this page in the WCRS ARDX kits can be printed from https://wcrsyyc.github.io/ardx/startcard.pdf