where to buy arduino??

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › where to buy arduino??

floydie

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#154425 27-Oct-2014 21:09

i'd like to make an ultrasonic parking sensor on this video...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4D_c3fflLU

wheres the cheapest place to buy the arduino gear from?
I see that they seem to makig the new ones with a surface mount chip thats a lot more expensive...

any suggestions? ebay??

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Hammered
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#1163193 27-Oct-2014 21:41

Perhaps try www.jaycar.co.nz for a local source.

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#1163199 27-Oct-2014 21:45

TradeMe pricing is better than Jaycar, but if you can wait for delivery aliexpress.com has quite a bit of stuff.

richms

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#1163201 27-Oct-2014 21:49

Just be aware that most of the cheap ones use a fake FTDI chip which the latest FDTI driver will temporarily brick when installed.

So just be sure you have installed the older driver before plugging into a windows machine, and get a clone from DX or ebay or aliexpress.

But before you go making a parking sensor, see what they actually cost online and it will probably be less than rolling your own.

Richard rich.ms

floydie

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#1163218 27-Oct-2014 22:42

thanks. the ones you can buy are fugly.
this is a new house build and ive allowed some draw tapes in the wall for the sensors.
itll basically have a normal flush box plate on the wall with the LEDS in it and a lower flush box for the ultrasonic... it'll look pretty good . it will be powered by a 230v/ usb power supply that will come on with the garage door light..
i see theres a few different unos on ebay seems to be an older one and a newer one??
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-ATmega16U2-XDRduino-UNO-R3-ATmega328P-Free-USB-Cable-Compatible-Arduino-/301365611138?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item462aca4a82
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Good-ATmega328P-CH340G-UNO-R3-Board-Free-USB-Cable-for-Arduino-DIY-/171517578041?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27ef3e8b39

heres the tutorial for it:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Ultrasonic-Garage-Parking-Assistant-with-Arduino/#step0

danfaulknor

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#1163220 27-Oct-2014 22:48

Nicegear are my preferred supplier. NZ owned and operated. They sell Freetronics gear, like Jaycar as well, but you're supporting a local Timaru operation. Seeduino is a nice cheap intro into Arduino, and they work really well.
Everything they have in stock arrives overnight after payment.

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richms

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#1163229 27-Oct-2014 23:29

You can always get the $30 parking sensor and gut it and put the guts into a flushplate etc. If you are doing something permanant then get one of the pro arduinos so you can solder it to some protoboard and then solder wires into the board too. The pushing wires into the arduino headers sucks at best and always comes loose over time. He wasnt using an arduino but a bare AVR chip and other stuff on a breadboard. no idea what he made up as it was half an hour long.

Richard rich.ms

dcole13

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#1163289 28-Oct-2014 07:55

Rs-online is good. Has cheap prices and if it's in Stock I've had items arrive a couple hours later.

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#1163301 28-Oct-2014 08:57

danielfaulknor: Nicegear are my preferred supplier. NZ owned and operated. They sell Freetronics gear, like Jaycar as well, but you're supporting a local Timaru operation. Seeduino is a nice cheap intro into Arduino, and they work really well.
Everything they have in stock arrives overnight after payment.

+1. Hadley at Nicegear is great to deal with - great support and very prompt delivery.

Amosnz

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#1163320 28-Oct-2014 09:35

I got one of these a couple years ago from Amazon which I've been pretty happy with.

http://www.amazon.com/PZ-1900-Platinum-Power-Garage-Parking/dp/B001VJZOBO

As richms suggested it might be easier\cheaper to gut one of these for the required parts.

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floydie

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#1163330 28-Oct-2014 09:50

Thanks guys. hacking an existing one is an option though most of the ones I saw have fixed distances e.g 3 feet 4 feet. the arduino I can custom set the distance.
anyone know of an off the shelf one that has learnable or adjustable distance?

P1n3apqlExpr3ss

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#1163443 28-Oct-2014 11:58

I happened to come across an ebay store with impressive shipping times. Ordered stuff from these stores (according to envelopes they all came from the same guy/warehouse) on the 15th, was here on the 23rd.

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Amosnz

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#1163468 28-Oct-2014 12:17

floydie: Thanks guys. hacking an existing one is an option though most of the ones I saw have fixed distances e.g 3 feet 4 feet. the arduino I can custom set the distance.
anyone know of an off the shelf one that has learnable or adjustable distance?

When I installed my one you put the car in the desired stopping position with the wall-mounted sensor directed at the bumper and turn the unit on. It learns and uses that distance for the red light setting (until the unit loses power). The minimum distance required is 40cm between sensor and bumper (maximum is ~5meters though I've not tested this).
The yellow\green lights are not configurable.

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richms

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#1163612 28-Oct-2014 15:05

came across this for some more inspiration.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Garage-Genie-Parking-Remote-Control/

Richard rich.ms

floydie

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#1163834 28-Oct-2014 18:09

OH YEAH BABY! now we're talkin! :)

floydie

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#1164301 29-Oct-2014 13:33

Looks like this one will be the most suitable. only has to drive 3 leds and take the signal from the ultrasonic sensor. squeeze it into a flushbox
http://nicegear.co.nz/arduino-boards/pro-micro-5v16mhz/

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