ATMega Control Board?

[Bubbles]

 Hi everybody!

I am brand new to robotics and haven't the faintest clue about much anything electrical. I have been searching the internet for a good control board to get me started with autonomous robots and found this one:

http://www.futurlec.com/ATMegaControlBoard.shtml

Has anyone used it or formed an opinion about it?

Do you think it would be suitable for a complete beginner?

Thanks in advance.

[ed1380]

at the top of teh page there is a link called robot tutorials. read anything you find form there.

http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/study.htm
is also a great site
read everythign there too

[Bubbles]

Thank you for the links, they look very informative and i think i will be reading for a while. But does anybody know anything about the board?

Actually. Come to think of it, does anybody know of any good controller boards to start off with? I have looked at the Arduino however i would prefer something i could just plug my actuators/sensors into directly.

[Admin]

well . . . I don't like that fact that it doesn't have a power bus . . . but its really cheap for what you get . . .

For beginner boards, you want code done for you. If you can find sample code for it, you should be ok.

I like ATmega in general . . .

[Bubbles]

well . . . I don't like that fact that it doesn't have a power bus . . . but its really cheap for what you get . . .

what do you mean? what is a power bus? i was under the impression that they were the pins you use to plug actuators/sensors into without having to remove the plugs they come in.

[Admin]

You need three pins to plug something in - power, ground, and signal.

A power bus has power and ground.

But it doesnt have a power bus, just a signal pin, meaning you have to make your own power bus to use it.

[cooldog]

i couldn't find the price.

but why not just build the $50 robot circut and have it work with a different micro controller

[Bubbles]

i couldn't find the price.

but why not just build the $50 robot circut and have it work with a different micro controller

because i could not find either of the required programmers in my country 

[ed1380]

heres another link for you
http://rapidshare.com/files/84939931/Wiley_-_Electronics_For_Dummies_-_2005_-__By_Laxxuss_.pdf

you can try to build your own programmer

[Trumpkin]

you could also buy the Arduino http://www.moderndevice.com/diecimila.shtml and it takes no special programmer!