elleSmart 17 yo nephew is really into electricity and magnets. I'd like to get him an adult kit to mess around with at home, with circuits and such, for Christmas. Any good brands and kits you can recommend? Ty 🤗
Mallory's Musings & Mischief@ElleGray So, I guess are you thinking something like an Arduino that's programmable (writing code to make it work), or fundamentals of electronic circuits (using things like resistance, capacitance, inductance, etc to do interesting things)? Obviously there's a lot of overlap there, but there's a qualitative difference between writing code and soldering lol
@malcircuit fundamentals. Thank you 🤗. I don't even know enough to ask it right lol.
@ElleGray That's okay.
Maybe then something like this kit? https://www.sparkfun.com/sparkfun-tinker-kit.html
Or this
https://www.adafruit.com/product/3588
Basically, a kit with some basic components like resistors, LEDs, etc with a small breadboard and jumper wires. That way, you have to actually put a circuit together to do something interesting. More hands-on. Just an idea.
@malcircuit that's perfect. Tysm
@ElleGray Another idea is to get a book on some of the fundamentals of electronics. The Art Of Electronics is a classic of the genre.
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Electronics-Paul-Horowitz/dp/0521809266
@ElleGray A 17 year old is a little easier to shop for when it comes to basic electronics, because it honestly requires some math (algebra, trigonometry, basic calculus) to really understand how some non-trivial (anything that does something cool) circuits work, especially with respect to anything involving magnetism. A motivated kid at that age can figure it out, given the right direction. Younger kids are trickier.
rhempel@malcircuit @ElleGray That's a great book - but I think it might be a bit much for a 17 year old unless they have someone in their life that can help them when needed.
Are they into LEGO at all, specifically Technic or the PoweredUp sets? If yes I can recommend #Pybricks from PyBricks.com