Raspberry Pi anyone?

[Eli]

I need to gather my Pi stuff up and sell it, I don't use it any more. Anybody buy such things?

Eli

 

[Brains]

Tell me what you have and what you want for it, I'll definitely consider it.

 

[avvidclif]

I have a grandson that is into computers and guns. The latter I have covered but the computer end I don't know enough about. He already took a summer class on game programming and he has an older desktop. Now he wants to play robotics but I don't have a clue what is a good way to get him started. I think he has a Pi or one of the little ones. Thoughts.

 

[Brains]

I have a grandson that is into computers and guns. The latter I have covered but the computer end I don't know enough about. He already took a summer class on game programming and he has an older desktop. Now he wants to play robotics but I don't have a clue what is a good way to get him started. I think he has a Pi or one of the little ones. Thoughts.

If you want to get him something, make him do the research and tell you what to buy. One of the best things my mother did to bootstrap my love for electronics, computers, et al. was to be 100% hands off. Back in 1983, 8 year old me was begging for a computer. Mom went and spend $4,300 at the local computer store, and bought me a true blue IBM PC. The guy came to the house and set it up, plugged everything in, dropped off the big three ring bound manuals, and left. I had NO clue what to do with it, and since my Mom was an operator in Massey Ferguson's data center, I naturally asked her for help. She outright refused, and made me get busy figuring out how to make it do what I wanted. I read, read some more, struggled to comprehend, tried all kinds of things and failed, got super frustrated, until I finally started figuring it out. I wanted to get a printer, so again I asked her for help. She never moved from her spot, simply told me to research and call around to find out what, where, and how much it would cost. I did as she asked, and we went to buy the printer a couple weeks later. I get it home, excitedly unpack it and try to hook it up, only to find out the cable didn't have a spot to plug into my computer. This time I didn't even ask. I did my research and figured out that my PC had a serial port, but I had bought a parallel printer. So, feeling a little sheepish, I told my Mom I needed to buy a parallel card to make it work. I thought she'd be upset at having to spend more money, but she didn't say a word. I had already prepared the information, where to go and how much, and a few days later we stopped in and bought it.

I share all that to point out something that, looking back, was easily the most powerful thing she did for me. She made me struggle, and it taught me how to work through problems. The more I struggled, the easier it became, and the more I relished in solving them. Wise woman.

 

[SQLGeek]

Fantastic story. Some of the best computing lessons I learned were from breaking my dad's computers tinkering with them. I'm lucky he was patient with me.

I'm glad this thread came back to life. I found an Arduino set really cheap that I'm giving to my daughter for Christmas. She's been showing an interest in computing and technology so we're going to work on it together.

 

[jordanmills]

I have a grandson that is into computers and guns. The latter I have covered but the computer end I don't know enough about. He already took a summer class on game programming and he has an older desktop. Now he wants to play robotics but I don't have a clue what is a good way to get him started. I think he has a Pi or one of the little ones. Thoughts.

If you're looking for something to get him to help him learn, it depends on a few things. Mostly his age.

This looks like a neat robot, but it's big, expensive, and probably overkill if he's like seven or eight. https://www.amazon.com/Makeblock-DI...4E/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1541534266&sr=8-13

A basic kit like this with the servo and stepper motor is a much lower cost way to get familiar with some of the basics, though he won't have a guided walkthrough for making something really cool out of the box.
https://www.amazon.com/ELEGOO-Proje...OZF4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1541534405&sr=8-3

Outside of providing access to those parts, it's like Brains said - turn him loose and let him figure it out for himself.