At the beginning of this year (2018), I had the idea of wanting to kick-off a new video blog series that showcases the products from MikroElektronika. But more than that, my desire and vision was to make use of the platform to research, develop new ideas and share my experiences with the embedded systems development community. Having done a few years of research into the products, I finally had the opportunity to purchase one of the mikroLAB kits earlier in the year. I can tell you this, I was not disappointed. In fact, their product exceeded my expectations. A couple of weeks after that, I immediately invested in more components and parts from them simply because I wanted to explore what is possible with MikroElektronika.
The MikroElektronika Online Lab Series
2 months after I had purchased the additional components, the idea of having an online video series started to grew on me. As I started to use the EasyPIC v7 development board, more ideas started to come to my mind regarding what can be done with it. As an engineer, one of the most important goals is to always explore ways to maximise the tools that you have. More often than not, we usually end up under-using what we have and it is really such a waste.
More often than not, we usually end up under-using what we have and it is really such a waste.
In my most honest opinion, MikroElektronika produces some of the most expensive products when it comes to embedded systems development. I've done my homework and research enough to confirm that fact. Yet in spite of their scary price tags, I still choose to support the brand, why you might ask.
The answer is simple. I believe in investing in good quality products, just as much as I believe good quality services never comes cheap. From the design of the box, down to the internal packaging, as well as the absolutely excellence in the way the boards have been designed and constructed. All of these amazing qualities say a lot about the brand and the team that stands behind it.
Doing More with MikroElektronika
It is shortly after I invested in my first mikroLAB kit that I honestly felt this way - there is so much more to the development boards than what you see when you first take it out of the anti-static bag. The more I use their product, the more I am convinced that they have produced one of the best research & development products for the Embedded Systems Design & Development community.
As I thought about all the possibilities and all the different use cases for their products, I cannot help but arrive at one conclusion:
"There is always something for everyone."
If you are someone belonging to one of the following areas, you could be the next MikroElektronika user:
You might be a student doing a first year or second year in university, or you could be a student looking to do some research & development work for your final year project.
You could be a lecturer or lab instructor for a night course.
You could be a professional electronics engineer whose looking for a single platform that allows you to test out various microcontrollers using a single development board.
You are looking to do some research & development using different chips before deciding which one you want to integrate into your actual prototype.
You could be building a new prototype using Arduino, BeagleBone, or Raspberry Pi and you want to be able to test out some modules/sensors before deploying your project into a live testing environment.
At least for the Asian market, I think that MikroElektronika fits very well into our education industry as well as in labs and workshops.
Finally,
I think that MikroElektronika has a lot of potential for becoming a really popular brand because of the value that their products bring to the potential users of it. One of the reasons why I advocate so passionately about Telerik products (I'm the only recognised Telerik Products Expert in Asia) is because long before I was recognised, I saw how the product can help developers to be more productive and effective when using the UI framework for their projects. And now, many developers are switching over to Telerik simply because it is a lot easier to use compared to the competitor's products.
MikroElektronika brings its own set of values and my mission would be to help shape the views of others in the region so that they can come to know what MikroElektronika can offer them.