Another prep addition for me....

[steyr_m]

I've gotten into Open Source hardware lately with the Arduino and suggest most other preppers that are a bit tech minded to look into it.... this is why I haven't been on the board much....

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11021

It's cheap at around $30.... The IDE has pre-written scripts, so you can cobble some code together if you aren't good at it..

You can swap out different "shields" to suit different purposes -- cellular, any sensor you can think of, weather stations, OBD2 interfaces, ethernet to host web pages, geiger counters, GPS, etc.... You can use it as a controller for heaters, machines, anything...

Here's a list of shield manufactures [sparkfun probably has the most] -- http://www.shieldlist.org/

I'm working on a battery powered one with a motion sensor that will X-mit a signal when someone walks through a certain area.

You can even use it with a Raspberry Pi to brew beer!

http://brewpi.com/

[Glass]

Can you run ubuntu on these? Thats as far as I got with the Pi. No support for the CPU architecture which limits its usefulness IMO. I also thought that the Arduino boards were costing about $200 a pop.

[Shami-Amourae]

Any examples of useful things you can make this this thing? I'm looking into it. I program, but mainly in Java deviants. I could learn C easily though.

[steyr_m]

Can you run ubuntu on these? Thats as far as I got with the Pi. No support for the CPU architecture which limits its usefulness IMO. I also thought that the Arduino boards were costing about $200 a pop.

No, it's a microcontroller, you upload code from an IDE. The IDE runs on Linux, Windows, Mac. Runs fine on my openSuSE machine.

Ubuntu has not been ported to R-Pi hate Ubuntu] Debian [from what Ubuntu is derived] and Arch have been ported....

[steyr_m]

Any examples of useful things you can make this this thing? I'm looking into it. I program, but mainly in Java deviants. I could learn C easily though.

I gave a bit of a list already....

I found out programming isn't my forte. I'm not doing well at it at all.

[palani]

If you are into that sort of thing check out the Crouzet PLCs. They are relatively inexpensive and the programming software is more like building a cad diagram. Come with up to 12 inputs (6 analog) and 8 outputs and have a simple lcd display. http://www.crouzet.com/english/products/micro-control/millenium-3-logic-controller/millenium-3-smart/smart-compact-range-with-display.htm

[steyr_m]

If you are into that sort of thing check out the Crouzet PLCs. They are relatively inexpensive and the programming software is more like building a cad diagram. Come with up to 12 inputs (6 analog) and 8 outputs and have a simple lcd display. http://www.crouzet.com/english/products/micro-control/millenium-3-logic-controller/millenium-3-smart/smart-compact-range-with-display.htm

Thanks, but the arduino is way more versatile and cheap.....