If you're new to electronics and programming, the RedBoard Starter Kit is a great way for beginners to get their foot in the door. This little guy is essentially a mini SparkFun Inventor's Kit (minus the manual which you can find below) and can be taken straight out of the box to help you make a slew of basic circuits, including:
And more!
This version comes with our newest SparkFun RedBoard! Also included is a multitude of parts and sensors so you can start messing around with projects.
If you are looking for a great starting point into programming or are simply on a budget, look no further than the RedBoard Starter Kit.
If a board needs code or communicates somehow, you're going to need to know how to program or interface with it. The programming skill is all about communication and code.
Skill Level: Rookie - You will need a better fundamental understand of what code is, and how it works. You will be using beginner-level software and development tools like Arduino. You will be dealing directly with code, but numerous examples and libraries are available. Sensors or shields will communicate with serial or TTL.
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If it requires power, you need to know how much, what all the pins do, and how to hook it up. You may need to reference datasheets, schematics, and know the ins and outs of electronics.
Skill Level: Rookie - You may be required to know a bit more about the component, such as orientation, or how to hook it up, in addition to power requirements. You will need to understand polarized components.
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We welcome your comments and suggestions below. However, if you are looking for solutions to technical questions please see our Technical Assistance page.
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My budget per student can't accommodate the 100$ per kit price of the SIK. But this kit seems to do a lot of it anyways. Can you say which of the 15 things in the SIK Guide this one covers?
It looks like it will make 8 of the 15, but you could easily get some singles of the missing components to make 1 full SIK for teaching purposes. I believe it will build all the circuits except numbers 4, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15 - which require components that are not included. Certainly enough to do both beginning and advanced Arduino programming and introductory circuits.
Also I am kind of annoyed that they included this tiny board instead of a larger one with the veritcal ground and 5V areas. Or at least update the manual to reflect that
I'm not sure what you are referring to? The description and the picture on this page both clearly show the mini breadboard. There also is no manual for this kit.
The manual in the list above (Documents > SIK Guide) shows a different breadboard than the one that ships with this kit. I'm happy with Spark Fun's prompt and professional order fulfillment, and this kit comes with all the parts listed in the "parts wish list", but the manual (which is what I was drooling over waiting for this starter kit to arrive) shows a more expensive kit. I was a bit crestfallen when my starter kit arrived, as I had somehow thought I'd be able to do more, like the manual shows. However, I can see now that the mistake was mine, and in no way Spark Fun's.