Well I really am not sure what field of study I want to go for. I really do enjoy robotics and anything put into motion with electronics. But I still have to dive into the other courses on digital electronics that I am taking to get a clearer picture on which way to go. I attached a picture of my first amp! https://goo.gl/photos/PeFLD12umwzVEeZf6 why wont my picture show up when I place it in the [img]?
You're taking classes? College or...?
Robotics is fun because there is equal measure of mechanical and electronics. In the end, it's mostly code wienie work. I love writing code!
There are obvious platforms for entry level robotics like the Arduino or, backing up, anything from Parallax. One thing you have to give to Parallax, they have a TON of documentation. Lots and lots of projects. But I think the Arduino is just as approachable and is clearly a few steps up. In my opinion, of course...
Then we get into the ARM processors and there are more choices than imaginable. My favorite is the mbed (
www.mbed.org) because I like their online toolchain. Nothing to install.
If you want to add vision, you need to head over toward the Raspberry PI or anything that runs Linux in a big hurry. Then there is the entire line of STM32F boards - these are some very powerful microcontrollers although I need to work on understanding their environment. I never had anybody hand me a full HAL and I'm not sure what to do with it.
IoT (Internet of Things) is the latest craze. People simply must talk with their thermostat from their cell phone while sipping Mai Tais at the local tavern. No point in heating the house if you got a better offer.
In my view, the most fun with digital is with FPGAs. With these you can create about anything.
The digital part of the sandbox is pretty interesting. There's a lot going on.