I used one as a solar charge controller and logger. It monitors battery voltage and charge current and via PWM regulates the charge current from a PV solar array. It also keeps a running total of produced amperes, watts and various highs and lows. It spits out the data over USB to a Raspberry Pi which is running Apache to display this data and provide other functionality.
@@liamstone3437 sorry but I don't want to put the details into the public domain. I posted here to demonstrate that these small SBCs can be used to very real effect.
So many acronyms...this video positively oozes Nerdisms enough to satisfy even the most demanding SBC fans 🙂 Thank you Chris, this is like a breath of fresh air - a blast of things long past from a time when people weren't afraid to learn, and technology was exciting and new. You recreate that feeling with all your videos, and for that, I am more than happy to support all you do.
Absolutely. Anyway, I blundered into your channel about a month ago, and I'm hoping to spend a bit more time there (if I ever get caught up with the quotidian minutiae of life, or extract my head---uh, enough). Ubuntu isn't *terrible*, but it could be time for something new... Also, hoping things are going better for you and yours, with regard to domicile. Thanks to you, and to Chris, of course.
Glad to see that Arduino hasn't removed the barrel-jack power connector that allows people to dig through boxes of old Wall-socket adapters and possibly re-use them if they're somewhere between 5-24volts. 😀
I see you getting really excited over this. Imagine this device being around 30 or430 years ago when we were mucking about doing this the hard way. I've just bought an Uno R4 Wifi, and have managed to get it running as a webserver and relay controller that I can control with a web browser on a phone etc. fun times. The motivation in getting it was to build a model railway turntable, using a stepper motor and indexed positions etc. which I'm sure to get onto once I've done playing around.
Thanks, Chris, for the excellent video! While I just use my mad-scientist lab for fun and play, I really enjoy the Arduino and PI videos, they give me ideas to play with. Technology has really come a long way. It used to be unthinkable to try to build with discrete components the things we can now build in an afternoon for fun and learning. I appreciate the time you spend researching these new offerings so I can just learn and play. Keep up the good work!
I was completely baffled by this because it was way above my head however, I still enjoyed watching this video along with many of your previous videos.
Superb introduction to the new Arduino Minima R4 board, the IDE, and even some C++ basics! Highly recommended to anyone new to Arduino or SBC's in general.
I recently discovered Arduino's myself and I'm currently taking a course on Udemy to learn how it all works. I'm really enjoying it actually. I used to programme but using the sketch method is a little different and taking some getting used to. Thanks for sharing Chris.
I started in 2019, and still haven't lost interest. Keep going, there are many surprises along the journey. That little thing has so much technology packed in, it's incredible!
yo… Just checking in on you bud… I just fully committed to Linux on my desktop and remember about 5 years ago your video made it possible. At that time there was software I was unwilling to part with in Windows but I've decided to just run dual boot with linux as primary. Keep pushing man you're almost to 1 million subs… You can do it… I was actually just checking to see if you had surpassed it yet because you are close…
Very nice to see you on Arduino Land 😊Take care with the limiting resistors since as far as I know the GPIOs for the R4s can only handle 8mA maximum current. Best regards!
Yes, 220 ohms is a bit low. I use 1k resistors and the LEDs are more than bright enough. In fact, some of the modern surface mount LEDs are extremely bright and 4k7 is an appropriate resistor to use.
Good points, and noted. I am used to Pis. I also always struggle to get LEDs bright enough to show in camera, so sometimes push things a little far. :)
@@ExplainingComputers But how is Arduino supposed to compete with this over sized, under powered, and over priced device when Raspberry Pi is now involved with their very small footprint Pico for only $4 and with dual core 32 bit processors running at 200Mhz each?
Good news, the addition of the RTC will make the Uno much more useable for real life projects. The original uno was really handicapped by this omission. It should have been provided in the first instance. Well done to get it there now.
I've seen this used in the ham radio community as rotor controllers for large antennas. but the voltage has to be stepped up a bit for that. Great video, Chris.
I recently got an Arduino Uno R3. I am planning to make a simple aquarium controller to ramp the lights on and off on a schedule and also to control a pump to automatically top off the water.
Great to see MCUs on the channel. It's amazing the amount of IO and utility these boards continue to drive. I'm looking forward to seeing if the ducks are really as intrigued as I am!
Thanks, Chris good to see you at your workbench again. It's been a while since I sat down on mine. I love the new, improved board. I will know if they are in stock at my local vendor. Best to you on this sunny Sunday morning!
This is a fun and interesting video. I loved where you explained the applications for the unit, starting with the ducks in a park. I am retired from an IT career, but remembered enough about C to fully understand your C++ code walkthrough. Thanks for the memories on that.
Now I understand better the enthusiasm of the Auduino user community; this platform seems to be particularly interesting and fun, both for beginners and for experienced programmers... The quality of the product is also very impressive. My personal interest over the last few years has focused on the Raspberry Pi, so thank you for this pertinent introduction! (By the way, the RPi seems to be arriving slowly but surely at distributors! Great news at last!)
Great learning video with good humor as well, Chris. As I have told you before, you make every Sunday morning like Christmas morning! I have used Arduino's for many Amateur Radio uses such as measuring antenna SWR, a power indicating dummy load, several digital meters for displaying voltage and current, and morse keyers of various types including my most current project that takes voice input (i.e. "dit" and "dah" words from a microphone) and converts it to actual dit's and dah's over the air eliminating the manual key normally used for input (I have tremors that are so bad I can no longer use a manual key). I have watched many of your videos where you use a pico-pi or similar device with python to do something relatively simple and think how I could implement that on an Arduino for about $8 with an Arduino Nano using less power. You could implement your weather station on the new arduino R4 wifi board and really impress those ducks!!! (Hint...hint...)
I am endlessly amazed by the new generations of the Arduino, and other SBCs. This quite humble little board has wider processor busses, a much faster Central Processor Unit (although maybe a little less elaborate), more and faster RAM and more storage than early computers like the first DEC PDPs. It is miles faster than the first PCs, although the early IBM PC had more RAM. The biggest difference between those early computers and this Arduino is our expectations concerning their capabilities.
I love the Arduino. I learned about them just after I finished my Master’s studies in Electrical and computer Engineering. Everything I had made before then for assignments was using lower level digital logic chips and microprocessors with assembly code at best. Difficult to make anything really useful. When I discovered the Arduino, I made a water dispenser that connects to a spigot and has a flow meter, solenoid valve and LCD screen. User input is via a set of three buttons. It can dispense a selected amount of water in quarts, gallons or liters. A very fun project. I need to come up with another project idea.
Haven't played with an Arduino for a long time but this looks different enough to be worth it, however I will never fall out of love with the Atmega328p-AU !....cheers.
Excellent as always. I really don’t don’t know about these. I did buy a pi 4 about a month ago and installed Linux Mint on my 11 year old Lenovo. So excellent channel.
@@mrbrent62 Oh, wow! I have a T400 that's now old enough to use social media but bought refurbished four years ago. 4 GB of RAM, forgot the exact amount of storage space but it was definitely was over 100 GB, ATI inside (shocker!), 14:10 display, and with Windows 10 installed. I don't really use it anymore, but it was a good laptop. It certainly ran The Sims better than the Acer laptop that preceded it! I have been contemplating getting another laptop on and off, though I'm torn between the same Acer model I had (even if it means getting one that's being sold for parts and refurbishing it myself) and another ThinkPad.
Thank you for the easy to understand format. I'm enjoying my weekly E.C. fix. Neat to see how the Arduino is improved and glad for the small tips that can save us aggravation.
Thanks, Chris! I've sort of lost touch with Arduino so this has re-inspired me and I've just ordered the Arduino UNO R4 WiFi with the built-in LED matrix. Life is about to get exciting again! Great video, so thanks again! 🙂
Interesting! I have been using arduino boards for years and didn’t even know about the new minima. Very cool. My favorite for simple projects is the attiny85 though. You can even run those on coin cells.
Thanks Chris for another great informative video. It was great to see Stanley the Knife back on the job I really need to take a C++ course before I can use this properly, but I am getting a SDR Radio with the ESP32 chip inside which can only be updated by SKETCHES so this board looks promising to learn SKETCHES . Have a great week!
Regarding C++, I taught myself C back in 1990 when I was still a programmer on IBM mainframes. C++ is an OOP version of C. Nowadays, with the resources on the internet, you should have no problem. If you already know a programming language, it will be a cinch.
Right, right, you got the bloody to right code. Awesome little board I'm not sure what I would do with it but the wheels are turning. Great Little computer.
I enjoyed this Arduino video on its release Sunday. I did notice two typos, one at 16:57 in the text, opportunites, and the hashtag #mirocontroller Notwithstanding, I found the video pleasant, informative and well worth its viewing time.
Those ducks sure looked excited over the Arduino. I wonder if they are cyber-ducks. They did look to have Web feet. Looking forward to your next video!
Can't wait for the next instalment in which ducks write C++. Probably better than some of the code I've written! Thank you for yet another entertaining and informative video.
Thanks for the review. I bought a Pico last summer and never used it for anything after installing a basic Python script on it. The Arduino looks nifty. I wish that I had a need to fill that would encourage me to purchase and learn how to use it. With any luck, a need will surface and I'll remember this video. I wonder if chickens would be as capivated as ducks by flashing LEDs. The birds in my back yard are incredibly curious ladies.
Maybe try and get some inspiration from 'fun arduino projects' videos? Home automation is an easy one to recommend, diy weather station, plants watering system... or 'the most useless box'. 😉 I mostly got into microcontrollers for my model railroad and later started making buttonboxes for games etc. Still planning on making a cockpit sized one for DCS world, but seeing as I have multiple aircraft, I'm having more of a aesthetic/design problem. 😅
OK, I know this is a year old but I've just got an R4 and I notice from the data sheet that pins only manage 8mA maximum current. Your 220 Ohm resistors are letting nearly 13mA through assuming I can count and the LEDs drop 2v. Better to use 1K resistors which would be 3 mA. Other than that, good introduction to the R4. Thanks. Cheers, Norm.
I believe you may have done an earlier video about this but I'd like to make a solution that monitors plant and soil health to try to help my garden grow as well as possible. Instead of guessing why the plants sometimes die off or don't produce fruit, it would be wonderful to have a set of sensors and software that could at least give me a hint as to any serious issues like perhaps moisture content in the soil, ph levels in the soil, leaf health, and other things. Thanks for the video. The US version was out of stock but the UK version was about 27 pounds so hopefully when it is available in the US it will be about the same cost (considering exchange rate)
i am very much a fan of a d1 mini board as it has wifi and is cheap lol , i use mine for a water level indicator on my I.B.C's temperature gauges for my rooms , im just getting into ESP-NOW and any boards i manage to mess up i use them as honeypots with canary tokens great video as always
Wow - this R4 is certainly a massive upgrade over the R3. It’s good that Arduino’s core product line has caught up with their more niche products and the microcontroller landscape as a whole.
But not much of one overall. Especially when you got Raspberry Pi now involved with their Pico for only $4 and with dual core 32 bit processors running at 200Mhz each.
@@knerduno5942 Pico is great value and has more processing power but 3.3V-only kind of stinks. It's not fun boosting signal voltages and I find most stuff is 5V due to the popularity of Arduino. So I feel like Arduino is more practical overall. The onboard RTC and floating point capability are also quite noteworthy additions.
@@knerduno5942Arduino Nano RP2040 exists. Its better in almost all aspects (I am not sure if it supports PIO, but if yes, then...) Price? ESP32 Devkits exists.
Thank you, Chris for the entertaining video. If I had seen this while writing my first FORTRAN program back in 1965, I'd have been more impressed, but I'm not the audience you were addressing here. 😁
great tutorial as always Chris! however, I have a few notes: (... well one note & a nitpick ;) ...) 1. Do note that unlike its predecessor UNOs, the R4 has a maximum GPIO current load of 8mA! so you'll need a larger resistor to keep the board healthy (390Ω or better)~Edit: I just noticed Julio pointed this out already. 2. I'm a stickler for code formatting so my OCD clocked your poorly indentated for() loop body (the call to pinMode()). cheers & looking forward to your next enlightening adventure.
A happy Sunday to you, thanks for this interesting video. As to my use case it would have to be a model railway layout! The code would control servo driven points, set a route & signalling then run a loco at a set speed through the route e.g. collect rolling stock & return to a predefined point. There would be multiple scenarios to code & add to a sequence, an education in itself :) Plus one for a new black & gold 'Henry the knife'
@ExplainingComputers Nice video, but I have to warn you and others about using 220 ohms for the current-limiting resistors. The new R4 UNO can only deliver 8mA per pin instead of 20mA like the older R3 UNO. So, I advise you to use at least a 470Ω current-limiting resistor. I would really like an advanced tutorial where you use the op-amp, CAN, and especially the debug SWD
As you placed the box in front of the camera, Sir?! - I kept saying to myself... "Please need Stanley the knife! - Please need Stanley the knife" - YEA!!! - Oh, Stanley! - How we've MISSED YOU! - "Best Side Kick Ever!" - FACT! LOL (And, yes, Me and Buddy are VERY easily amused!) 🙂 Cheers! - Judson & Buddy !! - Have a GREAT Sunday, Everyone!!
Thanks for the video, Chris! I’ve been curious about the Arduino family for years. I’ve used the RPi Pico a number of times, and I’m scratching my head about what might make Arduino better (for certain applications). 👍
I think loads of shields (easier for beginners to start with a project quickly), diverse power voltages and possibly power usage and 5V logic (more widely used) would be in favor of most Arduinos. Pretty sure Pico has 3.3V logic and 2nd core is always running (even when not used) and only accepts 5V as power. Also runs on much higher MHz, so likely uses more power.
Anything control, that can't be done with a dual 555 is worth doing with an arduino. When the control circuit is matured, you can move it to a mini arduino, saving money and space.
@@ExplainingComputers That's too nice of You to thank Us, it should be the other way around 😁 I've been following you since 5 years and love the way you cover everything of importance with your perfect pace and style. It's quite therapeutic too, considering how technology can mess up the mind. You bring a great sense of order and reassurance.
That was a good video! As always, very well explained on what it does and how it works! I haven't done something like that in a very long time, but maybe I should get back into it again.
Another great one, Chris! Whilst I don't own any actual Arduino-branded hardware, the Arduino IDE does make it possible to use third-party controllers like an Arduino, if they suit your case use scenarios better. I mainly use the ESP01S, not only because of its minuscule footprint, but also its WiFi capabilities. The "Arduino" by-name goes far beyond the own-brand hardware, it's a DIY ecosystem in its own right.
Wow! Great video Chris" With this type of uC I'd make a large digital clock using Nixies or a massive display of LEDs if I could get the multiplexing to work. Oh, as before, you only need one current limiting resistor in your light chaser circuit...
It would be interesting to see a comparison with a Raspberry Pi Pico, which is much cheaper and has an extra core. I've experimented with Arduino Nanos but moved over to the Pi Pico, which is about the same price but is much more capable.
Another super video sure enjoyed learning so much from my great teacher and mentor your a super hero I appreciate EC so much best computer channel. Thanks Peter
Hello Stanley. Chris, I'm glad you found the resistor that you lost on the carpet. And I'm also happy to see the ducks. As for what I might do with an Arduino R4 Minima, I might use it to control a door on my hen house to open and close, depending on the time.
@@ExplainingComputers Well, I think I have you beat -- I can lose components on my lap. I think gremlins steal them because I can lose them for hours or even lose them altogether.
Upgraded to Windows 11 I see? Looks pretty exciting! I’m personally going to install Linux Mint over buying a new PC for Windows 11, since I love Linux, and I want to switch over to Linux full time at home. Still though, I usually get excited when I see someone with a Windows 11 install! Even in real life I get excited!
IDK what I’d do with a board like that. I’m grateful to see Arduino coming up with a more modern Uno. Interesting that it’s using a Renesas chipset over an atmel one. That’s about where my interest stops. I’d rather just use a pi pico. This is a product that should’ve been launched 4 years ago.
@@johnm2012 the big difference is the built in DAC+opamp and an ARM m0 (pico) vs m4 (uno r4). I suppose the m4 should have some instructions that allow certain math operations in fewer clock cycles but I believe the RP2040 could compensate with a clock that at minimum is twice as fast and can run up to 3 times faster than the Renesas chip when overclocked.
Great video. Would love to see a comparison video between your new Arduino R4 and a Pi Pico and see the pros vs cons of each around functionality, programability and power consumption.
I haven't messed with Arduino in a while. I still have the old one where you can program replaceable chips and build your own boards rather than using the whole board every time you need one
Video suggestion. I just cloned my laptop hard drive to increase the storage and used your cloning hard drive video to do this. However an updated version of this video may be useful to include nvme drives and the enclosure needed to clone it externally to the laptop or computer. And the macrium software is now easier to use as it now can adjust partitions sizes automaticallyt to make allowances for increased or deceased storage area.
17:04 My next project is showing if we have got mail in our mailbox, as it is mounted quite low under the neighbors ones and I don't want to get on all fours just to grab into thin air every morning lol. So an e-Ink display should just show a mailbox-icon next to our surname, when the lid has been flipped. Needless to say this won't guarantee that there is mail, but if the display does not show that the lid has been flipped, there is guaranteed no mail and I can save my self the morning crawling routine 🙂
Very nice intro demo. The Arduino has always seemed to be very intentionally isolated by lots of nice little features that maintain this. Obviously it's far easier to start here than with Fortran 2.
I like that their new chip supports more different hardware interfaces. But I rather need a cheaper chip than a powerful and functional one. Maybe I should try PIC? Btw, I propose to make a video about different microcontrollers. Most of all, I'm interested in what is required to start working with them and how the same program looks like for different MСUs.
Excellent video, as always. Not sure what I would do with an R4, I have had an R3 for years and not used it! I did however use a Mega, in conjunction with a shield and an LCD display, to make a clock that has a Pac-Man maze on the display, complete with characters running around. Designed by a maker in New Zealand, it is one of my favourite projects.
I have an Arduino mega 2560 running the water cooling system on my home computer. Has been in continual use for just over 10 1/2 years now ( 365 days a year at 24 hours a day...). Not a single issue with the Arduino.
As a novice with some pico experience I've been reluctant to embrace Arduino. (mostly because I find C intimidating) In addition the specs of the R4 seem considerably lower than the less expensive pico. Other than the size of the ecosystem what advantages does the Arduino have over the pico / MicroPython? Am I missing something?
The laser focused, soothing, 80s-90s educational TV style is just perfect.
Saturday mornings, Techmoan, Sunday mornings, ExplainingComputers. What a time to be alive!
I love Techmoan! I would've not decided to get a certain Sony boombox if it weren't for Mat's review of it. :)
I used one as a solar charge controller and logger. It monitors battery voltage and charge current and via PWM regulates the charge current from a PV solar array. It also keeps a running total of produced amperes, watts and various highs and lows. It spits out the data over USB to a Raspberry Pi which is running Apache to display this data and provide other functionality.
I would love some links to that project if you have them.
@@liamstone3437 There are no links as it's not on the web. I wrote all the Arduino and Apache code myself. My brother did all the associated hardware.
@@millzee60 I am still interested if you want to share details.
@@liamstone3437 sorry but I don't want to put the details into the public domain. I posted here to demonstrate that these small SBCs can be used to very real effect.
That is very cool!
So many acronyms...this video positively oozes Nerdisms enough to satisfy even the most demanding SBC fans 🙂
Thank you Chris, this is like a breath of fresh air - a blast of things long past from a time when people weren't afraid to learn, and technology was exciting and new. You recreate that feeling with all your videos, and for that, I am more than happy to support all you do.
Absolutely. Anyway, I blundered into your channel about a month ago, and I'm hoping to spend a bit more time there (if I ever get caught up with the quotidian minutiae of life, or extract my head---uh, enough). Ubuntu isn't *terrible*, but it could be time for something new... Also, hoping things are going better for you and yours, with regard to domicile. Thanks to you, and to Chris, of course.
Glad to see that Arduino hasn't removed the barrel-jack power connector that allows people to dig through boxes of old Wall-socket adapters and possibly re-use them if they're somewhere between 5-24volts. 😀
Yes, that is a handy feature, for sure.
I want to give you a compliment about your channel. It has a true 90's vibe and you always explain everything really good. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for your kind feedback.
Great to watch and lovely to see Stanley making a guest appearance
Stanley not feeling very sharp today.
He loves getting in on the action.
I see you getting really excited over this. Imagine this device being around 30 or430 years ago when we were mucking about doing this the hard way. I've just bought an Uno R4 Wifi, and have managed to get it running as a webserver and relay controller that I can control with a web browser on a phone etc. fun times. The motivation in getting it was to build a model railway turntable, using a stepper motor and indexed positions etc. which I'm sure to get onto once I've done playing around.
Thanks, Chris, for the excellent video! While I just use my mad-scientist lab for fun and play, I really enjoy the Arduino and PI videos, they give me ideas to play with. Technology has really come a long way. It used to be unthinkable to try to build with discrete components the things we can now build in an afternoon for fun and learning. I appreciate the time you spend researching these new offerings so I can just learn and play. Keep up the good work!
I was completely baffled by this because it was way above my head however, I still enjoyed watching this video along with many of your previous videos.
Superb introduction to the new Arduino Minima R4 board, the IDE, and even some C++ basics! Highly recommended to anyone new to Arduino or SBC's in general.
I recently discovered Arduino's myself and I'm currently taking a course on Udemy to learn how it all works. I'm really enjoying it actually. I used to programme but using the sketch method is a little different and taking some getting used to. Thanks for sharing Chris.
I started in 2019, and still haven't lost interest. Keep going, there are many surprises along the journey. That little thing has so much technology packed in, it's incredible!
yo… Just checking in on you bud… I just fully committed to Linux on my desktop and remember about 5 years ago your video made it possible. At that time there was software I was unwilling to part with in Windows but I've decided to just run dual boot with linux as primary. Keep pushing man you're almost to 1 million subs… You can do it… I was actually just checking to see if you had surpassed it yet because you are close…
Thanks for this. :)
Very nice to see you on Arduino Land 😊Take care with the limiting resistors since as far as I know the GPIOs for the R4s can only handle 8mA maximum current. Best regards!
Yes, 220 ohms is a bit low. I use 1k resistors and the LEDs are more than bright enough. In fact, some of the modern surface mount LEDs are extremely bright and 4k7 is an appropriate resistor to use.
Good points, and noted. I am used to Pis. I also always struggle to get LEDs bright enough to show in camera, so sometimes push things a little far. :)
@@ExplainingComputers But how is Arduino supposed to compete with this over sized, under powered, and over priced device when Raspberry Pi is now involved with their very small footprint Pico for only $4 and with dual core 32 bit processors running at 200Mhz each?
Good news, the addition of the RTC will make the Uno much more useable for real life projects. The original uno was really handicapped by this omission. It should have been provided in the first instance. Well done to get it there now.
That MCU name is a mouthfull and i am not surprised you did not say it.
I used to love programming Arduino projects when I was in college. RGB LEDs are really fun to play with an Arduino.
I've seen this used in the ham radio community as rotor controllers for large antennas. but the voltage has to be stepped up a bit for that. Great video, Chris.
I love Arduino crazy how much we can do with a Arduino ideas are infinite
I recently got an Arduino Uno R3. I am planning to make a simple aquarium controller to ramp the lights on and off on a schedule and also to control a pump to automatically top off the water.
Great to see MCUs on the channel. It's amazing the amount of IO and utility these boards continue to drive.
I'm looking forward to seeing if the ducks are really as intrigued as I am!
A beautiful blinking garland for next chrismas season 🤣. Thanks a lot Christopher. Hurry up for next videos on Arduino.
I always comeback to this channel because of its retro early internet era styling
Very nice little device,
Imagine how easy it is nowadays to control/automate home or small machinery.
I can't wait till next Sunday,
Thanks Chris!
Thanks, Chris good to see you at your workbench again. It's been a while since I sat down on mine. I love the new, improved board. I will know if they are in stock at my local vendor.
Best to you on this sunny Sunday morning!
Thanks 👍
Yes, it is always sensible to show your LEDs to ducks.
This is a fun and interesting video. I loved where you explained the applications for the unit, starting with the ducks in a park. I am retired from an IT career, but remembered enough about C to fully understand your C++ code walkthrough. Thanks for the memories on that.
every sunday evening always wait for the new video, thank you Mr. Barnatt
Nice to see you exploring micro land again! Real good walk through of the R4 and the Arduino programming environment.
Now I understand better the enthusiasm of the Auduino user community; this platform seems to be particularly interesting and fun, both for beginners and for experienced programmers... The quality of the product is also very impressive. My personal interest over the last few years has focused on the Raspberry Pi, so thank you for this pertinent introduction! (By the way, the RPi seems to be arriving slowly but surely at distributors! Great news at last!)
Yes, Pi availability does seem to be improved these days. :)
Explaningcomputers is Columbus R&D Project.
Have a good rest of your weekend Christopher, and As Always, Be Smart and Stay Safe/Hydrated.
Great learning video with good humor as well, Chris. As I have told you before, you make every Sunday morning like Christmas morning! I have used Arduino's for many Amateur Radio uses such as measuring antenna SWR, a power indicating dummy load, several digital meters for displaying voltage and current, and morse keyers of various types including my most current project that takes voice input (i.e. "dit" and "dah" words from a microphone) and converts it to actual dit's and dah's over the air eliminating the manual key normally used for input (I have tremors that are so bad I can no longer use a manual key). I have watched many of your videos where you use a pico-pi or similar device with python to do something relatively simple and think how I could implement that on an Arduino for about $8 with an Arduino Nano using less power. You could implement your weather station on the new arduino R4 wifi board and really impress those ducks!!! (Hint...hint...)
Nice hint!
I am endlessly amazed by the new generations of the Arduino, and other SBCs.
This quite humble little board has wider processor busses, a much faster Central Processor Unit (although maybe a little less elaborate), more and faster RAM and more storage than early computers like the first DEC PDPs. It is miles faster than the first PCs, although the early IBM PC had more RAM.
The biggest difference between those early computers and this Arduino is our expectations concerning their capabilities.
I love the Arduino. I learned about them just after I finished my Master’s studies in Electrical and computer Engineering. Everything I had made before then for assignments was using lower level digital logic chips and microprocessors with assembly code at best. Difficult to make anything really useful. When I discovered the Arduino, I made a water dispenser that connects to a spigot and has a flow meter, solenoid valve and LCD screen. User input is via a set of three buttons. It can dispense a selected amount of water in quarts, gallons or liters. A very fun project. I need to come up with another project idea.
Haven't played with an Arduino for a long time but this looks different enough to be worth it, however I will never fall out of love with the Atmega328p-AU !....cheers.
Thanks for making this video, hoping this will be a series.
Certainly series possibilities. We will see how things go.
@@ExplainingComputers After exploring the wonderful world of SBCs it sounds like a exciting new journey.
Excellent as always. I really don’t don’t know about these. I did buy a pi 4 about a month ago and installed Linux Mint on my 11 year old Lenovo. So excellent channel.
Lenovo, huh? Is it a ThinkPad? 👀
@@Praxibetel-Ix yes a X230 it’s 11 years old with a mechanical 2.5” drive. 8 gig of memory. Runs great with Mint. I had Ubuntu on it. I like Mint.
@@mrbrent62 Oh, wow! I have a T400 that's now old enough to use social media but bought refurbished four years ago. 4 GB of RAM, forgot the exact amount of storage space but it was definitely was over 100 GB, ATI inside (shocker!), 14:10 display, and with Windows 10 installed. I don't really use it anymore, but it was a good laptop. It certainly ran The Sims better than the Acer laptop that preceded it!
I have been contemplating getting another laptop on and off, though I'm torn between the same Acer model I had (even if it means getting one that's being sold for parts and refurbishing it myself) and another ThinkPad.
Thank you for continuing to make and share these videos. I really enjoy them and always learn something. Have a wonderful day!
Thank you for the easy to understand format. I'm enjoying my weekly E.C. fix. Neat to see how the Arduino is improved and glad for the small tips that can save us aggravation.
Thanks, Chris!
I've sort of lost touch with Arduino so this has re-inspired me and I've just ordered the Arduino UNO R4 WiFi with the built-in LED matrix.
Life is about to get exciting again!
Great video, so thanks again! 🙂
Interesting! I have been using arduino boards for years and didn’t even know about the new minima. Very cool. My favorite for simple projects is the attiny85 though. You can even run those on coin cells.
Thanks Chris for another great informative video. It was great to see Stanley the Knife back on the job
I really need to take a C++ course before I can use this properly, but I am getting a SDR Radio with the ESP32 chip inside which can only be updated by SKETCHES so this board looks promising to learn SKETCHES .
Have a great week!
Regarding C++, I taught myself C back in 1990 when I was still a programmer on IBM mainframes. C++ is an OOP version of C. Nowadays, with the resources on the internet, you should have no problem. If you already know a programming language, it will be a cinch.
Nice new board. Always excited to see these.
I am so glad I found your channel, what an amazing surprise
Right, right, you got the bloody to right code. Awesome little board I'm not sure what I would do with it but the wheels are turning. Great Little computer.
Another super video with guest appearances from Stanley and Mr BluTac.
I enjoyed this Arduino video on its release Sunday. I did notice two typos, one at 16:57 in the text, opportunites, and the hashtag #mirocontroller Notwithstanding, I found the video pleasant, informative and well worth its viewing time.
Microcontroller fixed in the video description. :)
Great video…. I love the detailed review of the hardware and the demo software to get started with the board.. wonderful content.. thank you!
Those ducks sure looked excited over the Arduino. I wonder if they are cyber-ducks. They did look to have Web feet. Looking forward to your next video!
Can't wait for the next instalment in which ducks write C++. Probably better than some of the code I've written!
Thank you for yet another entertaining and informative video.
excellent summary of the boards features, I'm really looking forward to the video where you teach ducks how to program arduinos 😀
Thanks for the video Chris. It's always exciting to learn new stuff.
Thanks for the review. I bought a Pico last summer and never used it for anything after installing a basic Python script on it.
The Arduino looks nifty. I wish that I had a need to fill that would encourage me to purchase and learn how to use it. With any luck, a need will surface and I'll remember this video.
I wonder if chickens would be as capivated as ducks by flashing LEDs. The birds in my back yard are incredibly curious ladies.
Maybe try and get some inspiration from 'fun arduino projects' videos? Home automation is an easy one to recommend, diy weather station, plants watering system... or 'the most useless box'. 😉
I mostly got into microcontrollers for my model railroad and later started making buttonboxes for games etc. Still planning on making a cockpit sized one for DCS world, but seeing as I have multiple aircraft, I'm having more of a aesthetic/design problem. 😅
This ain't your uncle's Arduino. Nice updates to our favorite microcontroller card. Thanks for another great video Chris.👍
Greetings Steve.
OK, I know this is a year old but I've just got an R4 and I notice from the data sheet that pins only manage 8mA maximum current. Your 220 Ohm resistors are letting nearly 13mA through assuming I can count and the LEDs drop 2v. Better to use 1K resistors which would be 3 mA.
Other than that, good introduction to the R4. Thanks.
Cheers,
Norm.
I believe you may have done an earlier video about this but I'd like to make a solution that monitors plant and soil health to try to help my garden grow as well as possible. Instead of guessing why the plants sometimes die off or don't produce fruit, it would be wonderful to have a set of sensors and software that could at least give me a hint as to any serious issues like perhaps moisture content in the soil, ph levels in the soil, leaf health, and other things. Thanks for the video. The US version was out of stock but the UK version was about 27 pounds so hopefully when it is available in the US it will be about the same cost (considering exchange rate)
Wow, what a cool application you have in mind. To borrows a phrase from the 1970s, "it's amazing what you can do with electronic data processing".
i am very much a fan of a d1 mini board as it has wifi and is cheap lol , i use mine for a water level indicator on my I.B.C's temperature gauges for my rooms , im just getting into ESP-NOW and any boards i manage to mess up i use them as honeypots with canary tokens
great video as always
Wow - this R4 is certainly a massive upgrade over the R3. It’s good that Arduino’s core product line has caught up with their more niche products and the microcontroller landscape as a whole.
But not much of one overall. Especially when you got Raspberry Pi now involved with their Pico for only $4 and with dual core 32 bit processors running at 200Mhz each.
@@knerduno5942 Pico is great value and has more processing power but 3.3V-only kind of stinks. It's not fun boosting signal voltages and I find most stuff is 5V due to the popularity of Arduino. So I feel like Arduino is more practical overall. The onboard RTC and floating point capability are also quite noteworthy additions.
@@knerduno5942Arduino Nano RP2040 exists. Its better in almost all aspects (I am not sure if it supports PIO, but if yes, then...)
Price? ESP32 Devkits exists.
Thank you, Chris for the entertaining video. If I had seen this while writing my first FORTRAN program back in 1965, I'd have been more impressed, but I'm not the audience you were addressing here. 😁
great tutorial as always Chris! however, I have a few notes: (... well one note & a nitpick ;) ...)
1. Do note that unlike its predecessor UNOs, the R4 has a maximum GPIO current load of 8mA! so you'll need a larger resistor to keep the board healthy (390Ω or better)~Edit: I just noticed Julio pointed this out already.
2. I'm a stickler for code formatting so my OCD clocked your poorly indentated for() loop body (the call to pinMode()).
cheers & looking forward to your next enlightening adventure.
Thks for a really inspirational video, I can remember using the Intel SDK-51 which I still have in the loft.
A happy Sunday to you, thanks for this interesting video. As to my use case it would have to be a model railway layout! The code would control servo driven points, set a route & signalling then run a loco at a set speed through the route e.g. collect rolling stock & return to a predefined point. There would be multiple scenarios to code & add to a sequence, an education in itself :) Plus one for a new black & gold 'Henry the knife'
Greetings Alan. I see several votes here for model railways. :)
@ExplainingComputers Nice video, but I have to warn you and others about using 220 ohms for the current-limiting resistors. The new R4 UNO can only deliver 8mA per pin instead of 20mA like the older R3 UNO. So, I advise you to use at least a 470Ω current-limiting resistor.
I would really like an advanced tutorial where you use the op-amp, CAN, and especially the debug SWD
Yes, these are new to me, and I’m particularly interested in CAN. maybe build some kind of interface to a car for some purpose?
As you placed the box in front of the camera, Sir?! - I kept saying to myself... "Please need Stanley the knife! - Please need Stanley the knife" - YEA!!! - Oh, Stanley! - How we've MISSED YOU! - "Best Side Kick Ever!" - FACT! LOL (And, yes, Me and Buddy are VERY easily amused!) 🙂
Cheers! - Judson & Buddy !! - Have a GREAT Sunday, Everyone!!
Thanks for the video, Chris! I’ve been curious about the Arduino family for years. I’ve used the RPi Pico a number of times, and I’m scratching my head about what might make Arduino better (for certain applications). 👍
The Pico, at its price, does indeed provide stiff competition . . .
I think loads of shields (easier for beginners to start with a project quickly), diverse power voltages and possibly power usage and 5V logic (more widely used) would be in favor of most Arduinos.
Pretty sure Pico has 3.3V logic and 2nd core is always running (even when not used) and only accepts 5V as power. Also runs on much higher MHz, so likely uses more power.
Anything control, that can't be done with a dual 555 is worth doing with an arduino.
When the control circuit is matured, you can move it to a mini arduino, saving money and space.
Christopher Sir You select the Best Topics. Thank You! ❤🙏🏼🙏🏼
Thanks for watching. :)
@@ExplainingComputers That's too nice of You to thank Us, it should be the other way around 😁
I've been following you since 5 years and love the way you cover everything of importance with your perfect pace and style. It's quite therapeutic too, considering how technology can mess up the mind. You bring a great sense of order and reassurance.
That was a good video! As always, very well explained on what it does and how it works!
I haven't done something like that in a very long time, but maybe I should get back into it again.
Another great one, Chris!
Whilst I don't own any actual Arduino-branded hardware, the Arduino IDE does make it possible to use third-party controllers like an Arduino, if they suit your case use scenarios better.
I mainly use the ESP01S, not only because of its minuscule footprint, but also its WiFi capabilities.
The "Arduino" by-name goes far beyond the own-brand hardware, it's a DIY ecosystem in its own right.
Esp01s is a great board, and it still has more flash memory than this arduino board
I was entertained and informed by your great intro video. I’ll look forward to my first arduino.
Great Presentation
Wow! Great video Chris" With this type of uC I'd make a large digital clock using Nixies or a massive display of LEDs if I could get the multiplexing to work. Oh, as before, you only need one current limiting resistor in your light chaser circuit...
It would be interesting to see a comparison with a Raspberry Pi Pico, which is much cheaper and has an extra core. I've experimented with Arduino Nanos but moved over to the Pi Pico, which is about the same price but is much more capable.
Whilst making this video, I did keep thinking of the $4/5 Pico . . . !
also how it compares with previous Uno boards
Another super video sure enjoyed learning so much from my great teacher and mentor your a super hero I appreciate EC so much best computer channel. Thanks Peter
Hello Stanley. Chris, I'm glad you found the resistor that you lost on the carpet. And I'm also happy to see the ducks.
As for what I might do with an Arduino R4 Minima, I might use it to control a door on my hen house to open and close, depending on the time.
How Chris (probably) found that missing resistor: th-cam.com/video/bjlCYA0Kfm4/w-d-xo.html
😉😆
I found the intitial roll of resistors. The one that escaped is still hiding in the carpet . . .
@@ExplainingComputers Maybe it'll turn up, albeit unintentionally, in the canister of a vacuum cleaner!
@@ExplainingComputers Well, I think I have you beat -- I can lose components on my lap. I think gremlins steal them because I can lose them for hours or even lose them altogether.
@@Praxibetel-Ix Except for the swearing. I'm SURE Chris never swears. 😇
Superb, I look forward to other Arduino video's. Thank you
Upgraded to Windows 11 I see? Looks pretty exciting! I’m personally going to install Linux Mint over buying a new PC for Windows 11, since I love Linux, and I want to switch over to Linux full time at home. Still though, I usually get excited when I see someone with a Windows 11 install! Even in real life I get excited!
IDK what I’d do with a board like that. I’m grateful to see Arduino coming up with a more modern Uno. Interesting that it’s using a Renesas chipset over an atmel one. That’s about where my interest stops. I’d rather just use a pi pico. This is a product that should’ve been launched 4 years ago.
I made a similar comment before seeing yours. The Pi Pico is much cheaper than this and has an extra core. I'd like to see a comparison of the two.
I'm forced to wonder whether it was the competition that forced Arduino out of their complacency. Supply chain issues could also have been a factor.
@@johnm2012 the big difference is the built in DAC+opamp and an ARM m0 (pico) vs m4 (uno r4). I suppose the m4 should have some instructions that allow certain math operations in fewer clock cycles but I believe the RP2040 could compensate with a clock that at minimum is twice as fast and can run up to 3 times faster than the Renesas chip when overclocked.
Great video. Would love to see a comparison video between your new Arduino R4 and a Pi Pico and see the pros vs cons of each around functionality, programability and power consumption.
I haven't messed with Arduino in a while. I still have the old one where you can program replaceable chips and build your own boards rather than using the whole board every time you need one
Video suggestion. I just cloned my laptop hard drive to increase the storage and used your cloning hard drive video to do this. However an updated version of this video may be useful to include nvme drives and the enclosure needed to clone it externally to the laptop or computer. And the macrium software is now easier to use as it now can adjust partitions sizes automaticallyt to make allowances for increased or deceased storage area.
Thanks for this. It is a good idea to do an update. Noted. :)
Fellow, christopher. Back again.
I got the full version r4 and the esp32nano just released too.
On it's way.
Also myoware2.0 muscle sensor kit
17:04 My next project is showing if we have got mail in our mailbox, as it is mounted quite low under the neighbors ones and I don't want to get on all fours just to grab into thin air every morning lol. So an e-Ink display should just show a mailbox-icon next to our surname, when the lid has been flipped. Needless to say this won't guarantee that there is mail, but if the display does not show that the lid has been flipped, there is guaranteed no mail and I can save my self the morning crawling routine 🙂
Hooray for Arduino and for our favorite knife Stanley!
Greetings! :)
@@ExplainingComputers Hello! I'll soon be reaching the 200 heart mark.
green led row, the start of eco cylon warriors, no more polluting the galaxy, by your command
Mr. Barnatt once again for the SBC win!
Good Sunday morning world!!!!
Greetings!
Rather interesting. Looking forward to more in this series for sure.
Very nice intro demo. The Arduino has always seemed to be very intentionally isolated by lots of nice little features that maintain this. Obviously it's far easier to start here than with Fortran 2.
16:34 This project certainly fits the bill.
I see what you did there. 🤣
I have a Leonardo one I carry around. It's a work in progress has the MP3 sound hat and I use it to sample audio.
Greetings sir... This is cool. I guess this is the first Arduino video on this channel but Bit costly microcontroller compare to pico...
Yes indeed, my first Arduino video. :)
I like that their new chip supports more different hardware interfaces.
But I rather need a cheaper chip than a powerful and functional one. Maybe I should try PIC?
Btw, I propose to make a video about different microcontrollers. Most of all, I'm interested in what is required to start working with them and how the same program looks like for different MСUs.
Nano-every, PI Pico, Black/Blue Pil ?
Very exciting, indeed! Great video!
Excellent video, as always. Not sure what I would do with an R4, I have had an R3 for years and not used it! I did however use a Mega, in conjunction with a shield and an LCD display, to make a clock that has a Pac-Man maze on the display, complete with characters running around. Designed by a maker in New Zealand, it is one of my favourite projects.
I really liked the Atmega328p
I have an Arduino mega 2560 running the water cooling system on my home computer. Has been in continual use for just over 10 1/2 years now ( 365 days a year at 24 hours a day...). Not a single issue with the Arduino.
Wow! That is good service from that board.
Looking forward to the video featuring the ducks!
As a novice with some pico experience I've been reluctant to embrace Arduino. (mostly because I find C intimidating) In addition the specs of the R4 seem considerably lower than the less expensive pico. Other than the size of the ecosystem what advantages does the Arduino have over the pico / MicroPython? Am I missing something?