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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?

2 of 134 comments (clear)

  1. Build your own by dlleigh · · Score: 4, Informative

    Anyone who wants to tinker with hardware should buy a copy of Horowitz and Hill’s “The Art of Electronics”, now in its third edition.

    https://www.amazon.com/Art-Ele...

    It’s practical, understandable and will teach you how to build good, real world analog and digital circuits. Accept no substitutes!

  2. STMicro CubeMX by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    STmicro boards are more powerful than UNOs, have 10x the IO of RPis and cost 1/2 as much as either (US$14 for an 80MHz L4 core with about 20 IOs, including 4 UARTS, 3 SPI, 3 I2C, and a dozen GPIO).

    Their CubeMX stack is easier to start with than Silicon Labs or NXP IDEs, and exports projects for IAR, Keil and GNU ARM-AEBI makefile!

    I would recommend mbed but there are too many shortcomings.

    STMicro = for when you grow out of RPi/Arduino.