One of the most frequent requests I get, and the one I least like to answer (I’ll explain why later) is to recommend a Starter Kit for beginners who want to start with Arduino.
Whether for yourself, to give as a gift to a child, your partner, or a friend, choosing from the vast number of available components can be a very difficult task for someone starting out or without experience.
I really think you start to truly enjoy the world of Arduino when you tackle a complete project, like a small radio-controlled car or a robotic arm. Starting with one of these projects can be a good way to get started.
But, on the other hand, it’s totally logical that at the beginning we want a series of varied components to “tinker” with, experiment, and learn. I assure you that you don’t need to spend a fortune to make a great kit to get started with Arduino.
On the Internet, we can easily find sellers offering Arduino starter kits, with different components and prices. As many of you can imagine, in general, the kits sold are quite expensive.
Even in those where the price of the components themselves is reasonable, they have the problem of often mixing really useful components with others that are not useful at all, and you’re paying for them anyway.
So why is it hard for me to recommend an Arduino Kit? The reason is that, really, there is no single ideal kit to start with. There are many components and what may be interesting for one person may not be for another.
Furthermore, when you recommend a kit, you don’t really know how much money the person you’re advising wants (or can) spend. If you recommend a cheap and small kit, they might later feel they lack components. Worse, if you recommend a slightly larger kit, someone might end up straining their finances because otherwise, they feel they are buying a bad kit.
Making it clear that there is no single perfect kit and, I assure you, with some effort, I’m going to give you my recommendation for an Arduino starter kit for between 15 to 25€, with the necessary components to form a good and well-stocked arsenal to start with Arduino.
What do we need in an Arduino Starter Kit?
If we want to start in the world of Arduino, we will obviously need an Arduino. There are many Arduino models available, but it’s normal to start with an Arduino UNO. We can also get an Arduino Nano, which is identical in features to a UNO but smaller in size and a bit cheaper. But it’s normal to start with the UNO, also because on Nanos you often have to solder the headers (which is easy, but you need a soldering iron).
On the other hand, we will need a breadboard, a “board with holes” that are internally electrically connected, used to make connections quickly, and we can reuse the board. Most of the assemblies we make will be on breadboards.
We will also need jumper wires with Dupont connectors, which are rectangular connectors that are the right size to easily connect to Arduino, modules, and breadboards.
Other common components will be resistors of different values, a few colored LEDs, and some push buttons. In the long run, LEDs and push buttons are not as useful as they seem. But they are common components in the first assemblies, so it’s normal to include them in a beginner’s kit.
On the other hand, we will need sensors, to take measurements and react to the world around us, such as temperature, light, vibration, tilt, magnetic field sensors, among many others.
Logically, we will also need actuators to perform actions on the world, such as various types of motors (DC, stepper, servos), or transistor or relay outputs to turn other devices on and off.
Finally, we have other devices like controllers (potentiometers, joysticks, matrix keyboards), displays (LCD, OLED, TFT), SD card readers, real-time clocks, RFID readers, and communication methods (IR remote, Bluetooth, 433MHz, 2.4GHz, Ethernet, WiFi).
But… that’s a lot of things! Well, don’t worry, it’s not as much as it seems.
It’s easy and cheap to make a varied assortment in each of these categories, with more than enough components to learn Arduino thoroughly, which is ultimately what we want the kit for.
The rest of the components are either not very interesting or too specific. My advice is to acquire the rest of the components only when you have a concrete need, because otherwise, you’ll end up buying components to test them once, and they’ll end up in a drawer.
So let’s start with the selection of components that will make up our Arduino Starter Kit.
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Choosing our Arduino Kit
Selecting an Arduino
The first thing will be to buy one of the several Arduino models available. Nowadays they are very cheap devices. It’s normal to start with an Arduino UNO, which we can find including the USB cable for about 3.50€.
If you prefer, you can opt for 1 (or even 2) Arduino Nanos, which cost 1.70€. Remember that the features are the same as the UNO, the only difference is the size, and the difficulty that you will probably have to solder the pins.
Basic Components Kit
The next step is to get basic electronic components. We can find very cheap kits with the necessary components for about 2.0€.
The Kit we are looking for contains a breadboard, a few jumper wires, resistors, LEDs, and push buttons. That is, most of the basic components we need for all our assemblies.
Look carefully at the image and look for a Kit that is similar, and that doesn’t have many more or fewer components.
What’s interesting about these Kits is that they allow us to acquire a few units of each component. If we bought them independently (only cables, only resistors) we would end up with a large quantity of each, but at a price several times higher.
Sensors Kit
Among sensors, there are some very interesting Kits that include 37 types of sensors for about 10€. This includes temperature, light, magnetic, humidity sensors, flame detectors, infrared receivers.
In addition to sensors, they include a push button, a rotary encoder, a joystick, and a touchless sensor. Finally, also note a relay module to control loads up to 220V.
Other Components for our Kit
With what we’ve seen so far, for about 15€ we have covered most of the needs to get started with Arduino, and needless to say, we have components to play with until we get tired.
However, there are other components that deserve special mention because I consider them particularly interesting. Here is a small personal collection, although I remind you that you don’t have to buy them all.
HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor
It’s an HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor used to measure distances (approximately).
It’s not the most useful sensor in the world either, but many robots use it to detect obstacles, and it’s quite common to find it in tutorials. We can find it for about 0.65€.
IRF520N Transistor Output
It’s an amplification stage for digital outputs using an IRF520N MOSFET transistor, which we will use to connect DC loads up to 24V in DC and a maximum of 1A.
It’s useful if you plan to handle devices at these voltages (for example, a fan, an electromagnet). We can find it for about 0.60€.
L298N DC Motor Controller
The L298N is a controller that allows you to control two DC motors. We can vary the speed and direction of rotation of both motors.
It is a very common component in small wheeled robots, in fact, we will often see it in projects on the blog. We can find it for 1.30€.
S90G Servo
Servos are a special type of motor that, instead of rotating continuously, position themselves at the angle we indicate. They are widely used in all types of robots, from turrets, robotic arms, to complex robots like hexapods or bipedal robots.
The S90G is a small servo motor costing 1.20€, which will serve us perfectly to learn how to use servos in our projects.
28BYJ-48 Stepper Motor + ULN2003
Stepper motors are another type of motor that also do not rotate continuously. Instead, they need a signal from a processor, and with each impulse, the motor advances an angle (or step).
The 28BYJ-48 is a small stepper motor that will serve us to get started in its use and control. The ULN2003 is a simple driver. We can find a kit with a 28BYJ-48 motor + ULN2003 for 1.60€.
I2C LCD Display or Nokia 5110
Many projects incorporate some type of display. Personally, I don’t like them too much; I find it more interesting to collect information and display it on the computer. But the truth is that they are components you will frequently find in tutorials on the Internet.
The most common displays are the HITACHI HD44780 LCD with I2C controller, which we can find for 1.70€.
A good alternative, not as well-known but superior in features, is the Nokia 5110 display, which we can find for a similar price of 1.80€.
MPU6050 Accelerometer
The MPU6050 is a 6 DOF IMU that incorporates an accelerometer and a gyroscope. It allows detecting accelerations and calculating the sensor’s orientation.
This little technological marvel costs 1.25€, and for me, it’s one of the essentials because it allows for a lot of advanced projects, such as robot guidance and orientation, controlling a PC with Arduino movement, platform stabilization, among many, many others.
Conclusion
Putting together a starter kit to begin with Arduino is quite cheap. Even when we tackle complex projects, we will see that most projects, except the most advanced ones, are also cheap.
No matter how much savvy sellers and blogs try to make money by inflating prices, always remember that Arduino has gained great popularity, precisely, because of its ultra-low price.
We have seen that for about 5.5€ we have a basic kit to start making Arduino projects. It can be even less (4.80€) if we use an Arduino Nano instead of a UNO, although it’s normal to start with an Arduino UNO.
If we add a cheap kit of 37 sensors, for about 15€ we have a kit with a good amount of components to play with. Not all are equally useful, but the average price per module comes out to 0.40€, when bought individually they would cost between 0.60-1.10€. So it’s a good way to get a well-stocked kit to start.
If we add the rest of the components I consider useful (servo, DC controller, stepper motor, MPU6050…), for about 24€ we have practically all the standard components we need to learn Arduino.
Certainly, if someone gets all the components in this Kit working, they should stop considering themselves a “beginner”. Furthermore, by this point, they will have discovered if they don’t like the world of Arduino and prefer another hobby (like planting petunias), or if they are truly passionate and want to delve deeper into the field.
From here, my advice is to start doing concrete projects, and acquire the rest of the components as we need them (and only if we need them, or you’ll end up throwing money away).
As projects become more complex, we will need more cables, more Arduinos, batteries, or a Bluetooth module to control Arduino from a computer or smartphone. We may even replace Arduino with another model like the ESP8266 which incorporates WiFi for Internet access, or start combining it with mini PCs like Raspberry Pi or Orange Pi. This in turn will force us to learn new programming languages and technologies, which will allow us to tackle larger projects.
In short, with this starter kit for about 15-24€, we have more than enough components to get started in the world of Arduino, electronics, and robotics. A world that, literally, has no end, and which as a hobby can provide you with great fun, and can even have a positive effect on studies or in the professional world.
I hope it is useful to you. If anyone has any other essential component, we would be delighted for you to leave your opinions and suggestions in a comment.
