Looking through my parts boxes, I have counted at least 15 distinct “Arduino boards” in my collection. Either they are variants of the Uno form factor or they have different processors from the 8-bit boards. That number easily goes to 30 if I include boards with just the “Arduino header” on them. This pile of microcontrollers got me thinking, how does anyone ever choose the right board?

For example, I have had several people tell me the ESP32 is the “ultimate Arduino.” But is it? Well, yes and no. Extra hardware you do not need can lead to complexity and unexpected behavior. When using an advanced module like the ESP32, it is important to learn how to use sleep modes to limit current consumption, especially for battery applications. But if you need WiFi, Bluetooth, I2C, SPI, UART, and high-performance processing, capacitive touch, GPIO, and analog inputs then the ESP32 is an obvious choice.

As for the other boards, I have written a guide to picking the right Arduino. You can find it over on the Hackster.io blog.

Making tutorial videos and project videos is a very different process. It is very easy to script a tutorial. In fact, I think it is a necessary step. Project videos, on the other hand, are more organic. In this project, I build a capacitive activated coin bank, based on this Coin Acceptor from Adafruit. It uses an MSP430 to do capacitive sensing and then a Pryamiduino to control the rest of the electronics. In the end, I do some classic AddOhms special effects to demonstrate how the project works. For detailed notes and design files, hit the button below for the element14 project page.

I have been soldering circuits for twenty-six years. Well, except for the last 6 weeks. I have had a Weller Zero Smog EL fume extraction unit in my lab. It has changed the way I solder. When I first used it, I thought “yes, this is nice. But not a necessity.” Then the other day I didn’t feel like moving the extractor to my secondary workbench. I was immediately irritated with myself for being lazy. The smoke was so annoying. I don’t know what else changed me so quickly.

The unit under test is the Weller Zero Smog EL Fume Extraction Kit. They sent it to me in partnership with element14 as a Roadtest review. (My previous review was on the 10 MHz Picoscope.)

When it is time to move away from delay(), it’s time to learn how to properly use millis(). If you’ve had trouble following my millis() examples, maybe a live tutorial will help.

In this AddOhms Livestream, I go through 4 code examples:

1. Blink, the one with delay(), as a starting point.

2. Blink Without Delay, line by line, what is it doing

3. PWM Fading without delay() (and with buttons)

4. Binary counter that uses buttons to speed up and slow down.

Over the past year, I have been a Hackerboxes subscriber. When the first couple arrived, I opened them up immediately. In fact, I got my first ESP32 through Hackerboxes.

Sadly, I got caught up in so many things I stopped opening them causing them pile up. So to close out 2017, I’m Unboxing Hackerboxes live while answering your electronics questions.