About getting Help.
Hey guys
I've been needing lots of Help and explanations about small electronics and Arduino stuff.
What is the best to place such questions, where we do really get answers and replies to noobs?
Or anyone here, one of the Arduino / Electronic Pros who doesn't mind handling my questions :p
Thanks

My experience with Arduino and RC is limited, but as far as the electronics go, feel free to ask 🙂

I'd also like to recommend GreatScott!, Afrotechmods, Make: (particularly Collin's Lab), and EEVblog for electronics tutorials.

@Condor those are 4 YouTubes I've been following.
Also instructables.
The problem is that you find basic tutorials or very advanced stuff... And lets not got to h-bridges, irfs,...
Like, I have an idea, I know I can do it, but don't know how or where to start...

Like. I do I use a uln 2003? And can I have a phisical switch with different modes? Think like on controller changing rgb colors with no arduino/code or Making a stepper motor rotate without arduino. Stuff like that.
Ps... Don't go shopping with 10 half - projects in your head... Spent like... 150€ in 3 hours?

@GyroGearloose H-bridge is essentially just 4 MOSFET's. I recall that old inverters used to use them.

Things like IRFZ44 are a particular type of MOSFET of which you can consult the datasheet to see whether its specs meet your project's demands.

Switches with different switching modes exist - the specs you'll be looking for is the amount of poles and throws it has. To change the brightness in each color of the LED strip you may want to consider potentiometers though. You can use that as a voltage divider and feed the center pin into a controller (555 timer, comparator, Arduino, ATtiny85, whatever) to measure its analog voltage.

As for the ULN2003, I've never worked with Darlington transistors yet to be honest.

Stepper motors can be driven from Arduino but like with any motor you'll want to control it through a power transistor as the Arduino can't meet the motor's current demands.

what do you mean by 555??

@GyroGearloose it's a timer IC, which depending on the resistor config does a signal every X amount of time

@GyroGearloose https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

@Condor haha while searching for the wikipedia link to post - I found this, that's awesome

https://shop.evilmadscientist.com/p...

Ohhhh I Already have those in my favorites....

I have a low limit on my credit card so I don't buy to much... 150€ on the way, plus arround 150€ today...

Will take a few days till I can show.. but My office is becoming something... different.

@GyroGearloose It's the single most famous IC ever created! Do learn about its many purposes and internals :)

@Condor Ohhh I have so much to learn...

And with no bases, So I'll be stuck lots of times

@GyroGearloose I'd suggest starting at the beginning.. the electrical properties like voltage, resistance, current, capacitance, inductance and the like. Also learn about the various laws in electronics - Ohm's Law, Kirchoff's voltage Law etc. Then continue with learning about the various discrete components like resistors, diodes, capacitors, inductors, switches, transistors and the like, along with their purpose in circuits. Then continue with learning how to read schematics and datasheets. After that you should have a basic understanding of components and should be able to build some stuff on the breadboard. Be sure to initially not go with projects that operate on more than 50V though.

If you're interested, I've started to periodically publish articles about electronics on https://hackingvision.com Feel free to subscribe! :)

I already know a little bit of the basics...

I'm the kind that can't studdy by reading, I'll lean when I hit a wall...

Basicly, latelly is almost on every project.

Still I go on.

Today I'm still fixing the space on my office... I look like an horder...

Today spend lots of money, but got a few boes. Ill show everything when its ready

Still, there would be nice to a place, a mix of Chat and forum to ask specific questions and get replies... And because I'm jumping to specific stuff (like doing a 4 motor DC car with just 1 Arduino, 1 ULN2003A (the chip only) and a battery. While i haven't evem done my first car. but because I don't know how to reverse the motors, the project is stopped...

Like... I already had some solutions 2 or 3 weeks ago when I started buyng stuff... now It's like.... What the fuck is this and why did I ordered it?

@GyroGearloose About the ULN 2003, according the datasheet the B-pins are the input pins (they can be directly connected to <= 5V) and the C-pings will be connected to the E-pin if there is a signal on the corresponding B-pin. If using an inductive load (e.g. motors) don't forget to put a diod parallel to the motor, one is already connected at the COM port.

About the shopping part: It's not only you. I still have some MOSFETs around for an amplifier I wanted to build...

@GyroGearloose Here's a schematic for using the ULN 2003(A) (didn't test it, also the IC internals are simplified, missing some diods and resistors; the edit corrects a mistake by me).

Every C has a diod connected to COM.

The Unl I think I get it, problem is that I can't change the direction of a tank with it... (like turning the motor backwards)

@GyroGearloose Do you use a stepper motor or a normal DC one? For a normal one an H-Bridge would be required (I don't think it is possible with an ULN2003 alone, but depending of the current of the motor normal PNP transistors might be enough) but for a stepper motor it seems to be possible.

For a stepper motor I found this (https://arduino.stackexchange.com/q...) online. I hope it helps (I'm not an expert with stepper motors).

My biggest problem is understanding and kowing shit... Like I can't read schematics... I can understand the hows and why's If explained, but I really can't get a schematic, Even If i know what it does... lol

My Biggest problems are:

Burn out: Can't Studdy, can't remember shit, so only reading gives me nothing, I have to do, I have to toutch...

I already have almost everything for my first CNC, I've seen enough to understand , but I must go reallllyyyy slow...

That's why most of my projects are half-baked or I trowed them away... I'm going lots of small projects to learn the basics, just doing and doing, sometimes relaxing, and changing project everytime I get to tired...

I'll get there...

And since I was fired like two days ago, maby I'll do a basic Arduino course for free (With luck I'll even be paid to do it) .

All I know is that one Year from now, I want to be making enough money to move out to my own house, doing my shit and never let this happen again (it's like the 4rt or 5ft time I got fired Illegally or treated like shit and never did a complaint... I'm always thinking on someone else, my colleagues If they lose their job, the owners , ... ) ...

So, best solution, do my shit

If you're using a DC motor, you can reverse the direction by reversing the polarity 🙂

Btw that kind of controllers are coming on the next batch (Already maxed my Credit Card this month, has a low limit because I use it only online) ... I should start making a list...

Well, It's almost end of the month, and I only have 60 packages left before I start ordering again.

@Condor Question: Power Suply.

I bought 5 bread board power suplies So I don't need to use Arduino Power for stuff.

Here's the link as example: https://aliexpress.com/item/...

My Question, Do I connect the GRD to Arduino GRD? And do I need to Also connect the + (5V or 3.3V) to the Arduino 5V?

I do not want to use it to power the Arduino, only the extra modules so they aren't dependent on Arduino power and don't burn the MCU. Found lottsss of openings about the product but only very few on how to use it and only 1 connecting to Arduino... Found it weird that the youtube also Connected the 5V from the supply to the Arduino 5V

@GyroGearloose you connect both the Arduino and peripherals to this supply, and then try to leverage the Arduino's power pins as little as possible, because it can only supply 20mA per pin and 80mA in total iirc. If at all possible, you should power peripherals directly from that dedicated supply. For big loads that require control signals (like PWM or electrical switching) you can use MOSFET's. Source and drain go between power supply positive and your load, and your Arduino's signal goes to the gate.

I've added a small drawing in the attachment. Not a masterpiece by any means but it should serve the purpose. In schematics you'll often see connections with grounds on them that don't lead anywhere. That's because those are all supposed to go to the ground rail (i.e. your negative rail). And since my simple drawing here already required me to draw a ground line on top of a VCC (+) line, those are usually avoided and just get 3 little horizontal lines to imply ground.

Thanks, but my daubth (or what im afraid of... Do I connect only GND to MCU or also 5v?
Like, while using uln2003a I only needed to connect GND with Arduino...
OK I'll reformulate.
When you use any kind of power (5v, 12v,...) do you always have to connect the GND to arduino? And only the GND?

Btw, spending time shopping on a Chinese store to force me to get out of home... When I found this: for my plotters and cncs.. To bad they only have M5... Buying all on the store hehehe

And already have the guides (bought calibrated rods)... Pieces getting together and still didn't even do the prototype (to learn)

@GyroGearloose It depends on whatever voltage that microcontroller takes on its VCC. Some take 12V, some take 9V, some take 5V, some take 3.3V. Others can take a wide variety of voltages because they regulate internally. Those are generally laid out as RAW pins on Arduino boards. Anyway you'd take a supply of the appropriate voltage and put it on the microcontroller's VCC (or RAW but those pins' regulators aren't as efficient and are mostly meant for use with batteries), and put the ground of your supply to the ground of your microcontroller.

It often helps to think of VCC and ground lines as not singular points in your circuit but as lines which many points in your circuit may connect to, to draw their power from. E.g. both your microcontroller and peripherals would draw power from the VCC rail, and ground themselves into the ground rail. On breadboards these power rails are also much longer than the vertical lines in the middle which are for logic, for exactly that reason.

Generally you'll also want all your components to all speak the same voltage logic so that they can easily interface with one another, use one common power supply etc. Multiple logic levels are possible but a bit more advanced and require logic level shifting for interfacing stuff. For the most part you'll probably want to stick with 5V logic.

(as for what voltage logic is, it's essentially binary. 5V is 1, and 0V aka ground is 0. Interfacing different logic levels without shifters is impossible because sending 5V to a 3.3V board may fry it.)

But to answer your question, yeah you'd connect all your VCC's in the circuit to the power supply's positive and all your circuit's grounds to the power supply's negative.

@Condor well... Still wasn't that the question...
In the between the Arduino and power supply I know that they must share GND even if the voltage is different, but I don't know if I have to also connect the VCC (+)
For example, connecting DC motors with a uln2003 you connect the UNL GND to arduino GND and power supply GND. Arduino pins connect to the ULN, power (+) feeds the DC motor (+) and the signal from the Arduino pins is converted by the uln2003 to the motors GND

@GyroGearloose something like this should do.. the transistor is driving the motor and its gate is controlled by the MCU. Both are powered directly from the supply, a battery here. Lastly a diode in reverse to the motor should mitigate inductive spiking. Ideally you'll want a schottky there.

That said, I highly suggest watching the videos from the channels I've linked earlier.. their videos have already covered this matter.

@Condor whats schottky ?

I've been watching the videos...

But the ones I should be learning first are sooooo boring...

I mean... I was a bad studdent at math and physics... I don't get most of it....

Still, One info here, Other there and I'll eventualy learn.

@GyroGearloose They are faster than regular diodes.
https://youtube.com/watch/...
https://youtube.com/watch/...
https://youtube.com/watch/...

Please WATCH THE VIDEOS. I am cool with questions after you watched them and can clearly show to me that you watched them. But I feel like you're treating me like your personal search engine.

Generally I can say that the videos on YouTube from the channels mentioned before are sufficient to learn the basics. About 1.5 years ago I started with electronics and those videos are what taught me the ropes. Just like with programming, server administration and security, you aren't going to learn electronics overnight. It requires time, effort and constant honing of your existing skills while learning new ones.

For the time being I won't be replying to mentions here anymore.

Spent 75 more €€ today... I can't go to a Chinese store with Ideas.

This is the update for my corner... I have 3 more boxes with stuff and don't know where to put yet...

@Condor Well, I already watched the first one before... didn't understand It :p

trying again.

PS.: Try to find my 9 friends

But yes, I should check the basic electronics and basic Arduino tutorials...

Just don't have the memory for that yet :p

I'll get the hand of it eventually

Anyhow I'm doing this wrong...
Instead of trying to do stuff that most people don't use, I should be doing things that others already did and gain experience first.

@Condor You were right, just found my problem...

Afrotechmods helped me...

My problem is that most people (teachers, educators, youtubers) can't understand stuff is terms so simple a kid can understand...

Afro knows his shit :p

Having fun doing a rule of leds...

Btw just fucked a brand new powerbank because of a really noobish mistake that I already know would happen...

I placed silver paper on the back with no cover...

Ofcourse everything short circuited...

Now I just need to find out If i gained a new Lipo battery or a new controler, or If it just died...

Lack of sleap is killing me... can't sleap more then 5 hours since last weekend and no more then 3 straight.

@GyroGearloose aha, great to hear that you've got things sorted out 🙂

As for the powerbank, as long as it didn't explode it should only have had the controller shorted. Do check the battery voltage, it should be somewhere between 4.2V and 2.7V.

@Condor hehehe I'm lucky with that powerbank... Discharged all charge in seconds but a few minutes latter it was charging as normal (didn't test it yet).
Yep... My problem is that I had a brake down last week and can't even think right...
Like... I already did a car with 4 DC motors and a uln 2003, how did I even forget I've already done it?

@GyroGearloose hmm 🤔 maybe sort things out a bit first? And while a sip of booze during the dicking around with electronics isn't a problem usually, you'll want to keep a clear mind whenever you're working with lithium cells. When the pixies get angry from shorts they can puff quite badly 😤

Got like 10 packages from China today...
One fucking supplyer sended 1 item when it should be packs of 5... (three different items)....

But..
But...
Got this car kit today...
Didn't buy it (to expensive and anything above 20€ has a tendency to disapear in costums)

Yep... Someone is not getting his kit...

@Condor I need your help buying supplies... (Still not enough lol)

I already did some research, I only need to know wich option is best for different scenarios...

Scenario:

1. Dc Motors, 1 to 4 (small)

1.1 same, (large)

2 - Stepper Motors, 1 to 4 (small)

2.1 same, (large)

3. To work with higher voltages and power (like motors I can find in the junk yard, both steppers and DC)

Options I know:

a. CNC Board + 4 Drivers. (Already have one for the first CNC, looks to be the most expensive)

b. H-Bridge Driver Board (know jack about this one)

c. Easy Driver - (Already have one, barelly tested it)

d. ULN2003A chip ( already tested with 1 Dc motor)

e. ULN2003 Driver Board + BJ48 stepper

f. Other Chips, IRF, TIP, your Ideas ...