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So I’m a bus mechanic and I want to learn some vehicle electrics, so I’ve been doing a bit of reading and I hear bread boards are a good thing to build circuits and play about to see how things work.
So I’m wondering if there are some kits that people could recommend to get me started.
I’ve found this I don’t know if it’s any good/appropriate for my level:
That’s a microcontroller kit so although it does involve building circuits, it’s as much about computer programming as it is electronics. Arduino is a quality brand although you’ll get a lot more VFM from one of the Chinese clone brands available on Amazon/eBay e.g. https://www.amazon.co.uk/ELEGOO-Mega2560-Complete-Ultimate-controller/dp/B01IUZK3JO/ref=asc_df_B01IUZK3JO/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310773493424&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11252189185187959816&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1007226&hvtargid=pla-562895947359&psc=1
Having said that, Arduinos are somewhat old hat these days and other options are available, but they’re still popular & there are a lot of resources on the web for them.
They’ll be some overlap with vehicle electrics (they’re both DC systems!) but if you’ve no interest in programming I wouldn’t bother.
I really like Arduino. It's great for tinkering. There will be some programming but there's so much help online and plenty of stuff you can just copy. It doesn't directly translate to car stuff but there is some overlap like troubleshooting and soldering. It's also a good thing to to do to encourage you just to have a go.
A breadboard is useful if you are building circuits. I quite like using a breakout board as it makes connecting to the Arduino much easier. This is my favourite Arduino breakout board. Good for soldering practice, too.
You can probably put together a nice kit pretty cheaply using a Chinese copy Arduino and a selection of components from eBay but I understand wanting a pre built kit to get going.
As you say "electrics" rather than electronics, my gut reaction is "walk before you run". If you don't already know it, learn a basic electronic foundation before even thinking about vehicles. Modern cars are insanely complicated, the days of a physical switch shoving a voltage down a wire to turn a light on are long gone. We got a new car a couple of weeks ago, the first thing it did (unprompted) when I got in it was install a firmware update. Then I had to log in to the bloody thing.
Once you understand what passive components do, that Arduino kit there is a great next step for playing with microcontrollers. It will in no way keep up with a modern CAN bus slamming out several thousand messages a second, but by the time you get to that point you'll likely know what you need.
This is my favourite Arduino breakout board
Blimey, Vero. That's a name I've not heard... in a very long time. I used Veroboard at school.
is that so? I've not done it, but it's on my list to have a go with at some point, so have done a small amount of research. I thought CAN-BUS hacking [I]was[/I] mainly done on Arduino's (certainly there are interface boards/shields available) and being pretty old-tech, the bandwidth was quite low?It will in no way keep up with a modern CAN bus slamming out several thousand messages a second
I wouldn't have thought that any motor mechanic will be doing component level fault finding or programming? A good code scanner and a multimeter would be enough? Then learn to solder and you are sorted.
is that so?
Yes, you'll need something meatier. You can do it with development boards, just not the boggo Arduino.
If it's something you're interested in, I can hook you up with a chap who knows more about this stuff than most auto manufacturers.
In fact, hither and thus.
I was talking with Ian just this week. He's a lovely, scary bastard. (-:
https://twitter.com/mintynet/status/1529037720554717189
Cost of project, $600.
Nissan's official version of the same thing, about thirty grand.
that's really cool, ta, will have a proper look through later. Quickly scanning some of his blog, I see he's using a derivative of the Raspberry Pi Pico, which is a microcontroller similar to the Arduino albeit much more modern and substantially more powerful! (But just as cheap!)In fact, hither and thus.
I mean, what he's doing is WAY above what I'd want to do, probably just check whether it's locked or any doors left open etc 😃 But very cool.
Yeah, he was talking about what he bought in the end to replace the Arduino, I was thinking "wow, I bet that's spendy" and it was about 30 quid.
Someone asked how to get started in all this, his advice was to go to a scrapyard which sells complete dashboards and buy something Peugeot. 😁