Hey everyone in the onlinelabseries community! We are so excited to be back to share a little bit about something that is in the works. There is no confirmation yet so we are not making any promises. But there is certain a plan for us to bring DFRobot into onlinelabseries for a dedicated lab series. When will that happen? Well, to be honest, we don't really have that answer right now. However, we will tell you something pretty exciting! We have decided to use DFRobot's Arduino Kits, Sensors Kits, their CurieNeurons Kit in conjunction with some of our upcoming lab series. Thanks to the generous donations of one of our brand partners, 4D Systems, we were actually able to make a purchase for some of those kits and hardware components. Now, as compared to what we really need, honestly, this batch of quantity is not nearly enough, but at onlinelabseries, we want to say that we are feeling extremely grateful. Whatever we can get our hands on right now is a blessing, because it also means we will be able to start delivering live streaming lab content to people all around the world.
Hoping and Asking for More Donations/Contributions
Now, we are not going to hide it, because we do recognised that in order for us to really bring high-quality learning content to you, wherever you are in the world right now, we would have to invest in the right tools, the right equipment, hardware and even the lab teaching content itself. onlinelabseries is never about a lecture where you sit at your desk for two hours and listen to me talking for two hours. That's never going to work. As a matter of fact, we want you, our viewers, to be able to follow along with our lab sessions. Now, you might not be using the same exact base hardware components as what we are using, but we will be very careful in how we plan the lab sessions (in a way that most people will be able to follow along).
Project Ideas and Showcases
Another really important part of our lab series is really, the project ideas showcases. We have learnt from our experiences elsewhere that it is much more effective in terms of learning to show people how to make the most of the products they have bought. Instead of just understanding and know what the device can do, you now have the opportunity to learn, do, follow along and even ask questions throughout the session.
By taking a project idea (product applications) approach, it also makes learning a lot more fun. As much as possible, we will keep our lab learning experience to something close to what we already have, so in a way, you don't really need to get something else to supplement the lab session's learning experience. And in the case that we do bring in something else, it would usually be based upon the project ideas shared and suggested to us by our community members. A very good example is how one of our product sponsors suggested an idea of creating a project that centers around customising a Baby Monitor, which I thought was such an interesting project. Any new parent can do it with some basic Arduino and electronics components. That is just one of the examples.
On that note, it is important to highlight that that is also one of the reasons why we need support from the community. You can make contributions to us either by monetary means or by sponsoring us certain products and items. They could be used or opened before, so that is fine. As long as the item is still working and it doesn't blow up on us when we try go take it apart. Lol. (just kidding...we have to emphasise that safety is of PARAMOUNT importance in our lab series. We do not want any of our viewers to end up hurting themselves because they were not sure about something and end up blowing something up. Always Always be careful around electronics.) So, you can help us to make some donations by sending us a payment to the following paypal account: uxdailygeek@gmail.com
4D Systems + DFRobot
So, we know that the team at 4D Systems have been really busy at work lately, and yet they have been working really hard to help us put the product samples together. We know that the shipment is going to go out some time this week, but we aren't exactly sure which day that is. But here at onlinelabseries, we are feeling absolutely excited! Now, we have been told before that with some of 4D's products, you can actually run them independently without the need to interface with an Arduino or Raspberry Pi Board. We also have word that they will be sending us something really interesting that we can use for a getting start demo, so we can't wait to take photos of those things when they arrive.
Meantime, we also want to explore ideas and projects that can use the products at 4D Systems. Sometimes, depending on your project requirements, you might need to interface your choice of 4D display together with an external development board, and that is what we are also going to talk a lot about during our lab sessions. For this initial part of the lab series, we will be using DFRobot's products and kits as the base components and hardware, but you can make use of normal standard Arduino as well, or compatible Arduino from any other brand of makers.
The very first item that we have ordered is the Gravity: Intermediate Kit for Arduino, which we thought is perfect. It has everything that is needed inside one single kit so we don't have to actually buy separate items. (although sometimes that will actually be a better choice). In fact, we have ordered three of these kits.
The next thing on our list is straight forward. We needed Sensors, and judging by all the brands that have already partnered with us and those that are currently onboarding, we will need a lot of sensors in the coming few months to a year. As we start to collect more of them, we will eventually accumulate spares of some, which is also perfect when we need them for another project idea showcase. This time, we ordered three of these kits.
Another item on our list that we know we need more than anything else is the Arduino Uno, but in this case, we will go with the DFRobot's DFRduino. It is their own version of the Arduino Uno, but its perfectly fine. We ordered extra two of these.
The fact that we also ordered 3 Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, means we need something that can allow us to easily interface with all the hardware shown above. Hence, we invested in the Arduino Shield for Raspberry Pi 2/3 Model B/B+.
The next major item that we bought on the list is the CurieNeurons Kit by DFRobot. Seriously, you can't have a practical and interested project without using some Neural Networking (NN). AI is has long been a part of our everyday lives, working in hindsight. The truth is, AI isn't a particularly new concept where technology is concern. But we are excited by the fact that DFRobot has found a way to allow children to work with Artificial Intelligence in a fun way with electronics, how cool is that! Which is why we want to showcase the kit, not just to talk about what is included, but we are going to explore some really cool and amazing projects together.
But we are excited by the fact that DFRobot has found a way to allow children to work with Artificial Intelligence in a fun way with electronics, how cool is that!
As we were browsing their product catalog and comparing the prices with the amount of donations we have received so far, we were in such a dilemma initially. There is just so many amazing products that they have created. It's not wonder they are the industry leader when it comes to Electronics Kit. When value-meets-money, DFRobot created the best example of that. The choices makes spending money on their products so worth it. Then again, we would've loved to buy more from them (if only we could afford it). But seriously, we would love them for them partner with us. Let us know what you think. (read more below)
When value-meets-money, DFRobot created the best example of that. The choices makes spending money on their products so worth it.
Do You Want to See DFRobot in a Dedicated Live Lab Series
So, after seeing some of the photos above, does it excite you? At onlinelabseries, we are aware that DFRobot is actually the no. 1 brand for electronics starter kit in the market. They have been for the last few years. Now, that makes sense for us to be featuring their brand and products in a dedicated lab series. We know that DFRobot will potentially continue to be one of the leading brands in the market when it comes to electronics, and robotics kits, eventhough there are other brands that are rising up right now as well, like Seeed Studio as well as Sunfounder.
But do you want to have a dedicated DFRobot Lab Series? (We're pretty sure we know the answer to that). The other thing that we are also trying to proposal to DFRobot, just like we have proposed to the other two brands mentioned, we are hoping they would consider sponsoring us their hardware for all our lab series in the coming 12 months. This also potentially means they could be featured in hundreds of live lab sessions over the next 12 months, plus hundreds more of companion articles, including in their own dedicated lab series.
Well, leave your comments and let us know what you think. Please also share with us any interesting practical project ideas you might have as a product applications showcase. We might not agree to showcase every single project idea, but we will definitely take it into consideration.
P.S. To the DFRobot team, can you send us more of your products and kits? (Even if you know, you decide that you might not want to partner with us, we would still love to use your products in some [or many] of our other lab series and sessions.)