Arduino’s new DIY electronics starter kit has an UNO R4 board
Arduino boards are a popular choice for DIY electronics, but it’s not always clear where to start with building and programming projects. Now there’s an additional solution to this problem: a new starter kit built around the UNO R4 Wi-Fi card.
Arduino has just announced the Arduino Starter Kit R4, an all-in-one bundle that includes a UNO R4 Wi-Fi board, a printed book with 13 guided projects, and the materials needed to assemble these starter projects. This includes jumper cables, push buttons, LCD screen (capable of displaying 16 x 2 characters), breadboard, LEDs, motors, temperature sensor, tilt sensor, resistors and other components.
The company said in a blog post: “This is a new version of one of our most popular kits, now with even more room for growth. And with new online resources and access to Arduino certification, you’ll be able to take your ideas further, from the very first project.
However, you are not limited to guided projects. You can reuse these components for other DIY assemblies, and there is a “growing library” of other projects available on the Arduino website. There’s also a voucher for the official Arduino Fundamentals certification included in the box, if you’re interested.
The heart of this kit is the Arduino UNO R4 Wi-Fi board, which features a Renesas RA4M1 microcontroller and an ESP32-S3 module, with built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support. It is not the Uno Q card which has just been released in partnership with Qualcomm, but it is sufficient for many embedded electronics projects. This is a programmable microcontroller, not a complete single board computer like a Raspberry Pi.
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The announcement also explained: “The printed project book included in the kit guides you through 13 fully explained projects, from basic circuits and programming logic to motor control and sensor input. You’ll learn basic concepts like Ohm’s Law, how to read circuit diagrams, and how to use real-world components like temperature sensors, phototransistors, servos, and push buttons.
You can buy the Arduino Starter Kit R4 for $76 from the company’s online store. A School Pack will also be available in the future, with six kits grouped together for use in classrooms and other educational environments. If you’ve ever wanted to try DIY electronics projects, this might be a good place to start.
Source: Arduino
