A review of the new educational kit in electronics from Amperki (Matryoshka Z)

I think many have heard about the company Amperka , this is probably the only Russian company who sells sets based on Arduino.

I knew about them for a long time, but somehow I was skeptical about the Arduino-based business when China, e-bay and taobao are located nearby - where it is possible to order Arduino and other components directly and fairly inexpensively.
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But then the new set of “Matryoshka Z” got to us in hackspace, and I realized that Ampere didn’t just sell Arduino - they make high-quality educational kits for electronics for beginners.

What is inside?

Open:



We see the stickers, and the book "Hacker Abstract":

We decompose:


we find a transparent acrylic stand (it will serve as the basis for attaching the Arduino and the breadboard).

A small instruction:


Raise the lid, and see:


Of course, the reason for which it is all done - the brain .

We decompose further:


see: LCD screen, a set of wires to connect the Arduino to the breadboard board and USB cable to connect to the computer.

Let's look separately what is in our “brain”:



Open:


Yes! Here is our Arduino, bezpeechnaya breadboard, and all the necessary elements for the implementation of mini-projects.

We look at the right box, what is inside:


This is a set of LEDs, buttons, resistors, etc. - all neatly packaged.

Development board - allows you to create circuits with connections without soldering. This is how the layout cells are interconnected:


Open the box with Arduino:


This is the original Italian Arduino, thus buying the Amperca sets - we support the creators and developers of the Arduino.

Place Arduino and layout based on:


This is the training stand , on the basis of which all mini-projects from the Hacker Outline are carried out. Arduino - via USB, connects to a computer on which a free IDE for programming is installed. There is no need for programmers, soldering - in order to get a flashing LED (after unpacking the set) - it will take only 5 minutes.

Look further, what is in the left box:


We decompose:


Apparently, there is a motor, a servo motor, capacitors, microcircuits, transistors, a light sensor, a temperature sensor, etc.

Here is the complete list of the “Matryoshka Z” set:

Abstract

I especially want to point out the book "Hacker Abstract", in the outline of 20 mini-projects!


The book is very high quality made - it's nice to work with her. In addition to mini-projects, there are sections explaining the basics, without which it would be difficult to understand working with electronics.

Resistor:


Chip:


What is PWM:

Mini projects

And of course, mini projects, each project is decorated on one turn, where the diagram is shown on the left, the arrangement of elements on the breadboard is shown, and the connections to the Arduino I / O, the sketch is shown on the right (the program for Arduino):

Simple enough:


And gradually complicating, to such projects:


There are also projects to measure the temperature, transfer data to a computer (weather station), etc.

All mini-projects are presented in the Wiki section on Amperka’s website .

How much and where to buy

Now the fun part is how much does it cost? The price of the Zreshka Matryoshka set is 3990 rubles , you can buy it here (and by the way, for the readers of Habr, the company of Amperk provided a discount coupon - HABR14).

3990 rub is a lot or a little?

Perhaps for an experienced person who is himself engaged in electronics - it will be a lot - because He himself can buy all this radio in the nearest store of radio goods - and find information on the Internet.

But for a beginner, who sees the Schmitt Trigger for the first time, or Arduino, who wants to learn how to work with electronics (and not waste time and nerves on visiting radio shops), it will be the very thing that I devote a couple of months (myself or a child) electronics, and personally do a dozen projects.

This is an investment in knowledge , it is a start for exploring this interesting area - as electronics, and robotics. From this point of view, 3.9 mp is not much at all (this is the price of a budget phone).

It would be desirable for such quality educational kits to appear in our schools, I want them to be given for birthdays — then there will be more educated people interested in technical creativity in our country.