Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: What's The Best Open Source Hardware to Tinker With?
This question comes from an anonymous Slashdot reader who just got an Arduino and started tinkering with electronics:
I'm quite amazed at the quality of the hardware, software, and the available tutorials and (mostly free) literature. A very exciting and inexpensive way to get a basic understanding of electronics and the art of microcontroller programming.
Now that I'm infected with the idea of Open Source hardware, I'm wondering if the Slashdot community could suggest a few more things to get for a beginner in electronics with experience in programming and a basic understanding of machine learning methods. I was looking at the OpenBCI project [Open Brain Computer Interface], which seems like an interesting piece of hardware, but because of the steep price tag and the lack of reviews or blog posts on the internet, I decided to look for something else.
Leave your best answers in the comments. What's the best open source hardware to tinker with?
Now that I'm infected with the idea of Open Source hardware, I'm wondering if the Slashdot community could suggest a few more things to get for a beginner in electronics with experience in programming and a basic understanding of machine learning methods. I was looking at the OpenBCI project [Open Brain Computer Interface], which seems like an interesting piece of hardware, but because of the steep price tag and the lack of reviews or blog posts on the internet, I decided to look for something else.
Leave your best answers in the comments. What's the best open source hardware to tinker with?
Tinkering with hardware, really hard to say what that means. As a Hardware engineer for about 25 years most anyone who says tinker makes me think they want to flash an LED or some such thing.
Does tinker mean
1. Run software on
2. Modify / customise
3. Build from plans
4. something else
In general build from plans is not a good idea for expensive stuff because when it does not work it can be dead or just impossible to diagnose without some serious equipment (or at least a good scope.)