My passion for electronics, particularly robotics, began when I was a young child. I would often salvage electronic parts from toys and repurpose them to create new inventions. One of my favorite projects was building cranes using small motors and magnets. Even then, I dreamed of creating something that could fly—like a helicopter or a plane. I remember experimenting with all sorts of propellers and engines, both big and small. Although I didn’t succeed in getting anything off the ground, the process was always fun and sparked my curiosity.
As I got older, around 15 or 16, I discovered Make: Magazine and various hacker websites. It was incredible to see people building homemade electronic gadgets and sharing detailed instructions and tutorials online. This exposure opened up a whole new world for me and deepened my interest in electronics. It was during this time that I first heard about Arduino development boards. They seemed like the perfect starting point for a beginner like me—an accessible, affordable way to dive into physical computing.
Before finding Arduino, I considered other options like NXT Mindstorms and PIC programming. However, PIC programming seemed too complex for me at the time, and the NXT Mindstorm kit was prohibitively expensive, costing around $600 in Turkey. Arduino, on the other hand, offered a great balance between the modularity of Mindstorms and the physical computing capabilities of PICs, all at a fraction of the cost.
So, I decided to take the plunge into electronics with Arduino. It was the perfect platform to turn my childhood fascination with electronics into a serious hobby and, eventually, a deeper understanding of the field.
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