{"id":13412,"date":"2016-05-11T13:00:11","date_gmt":"2016-05-11T20:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.digilentinc.com\/?p=13412"},"modified":"2021-06-16T14:13:59","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T21:13:59","slug":"what-kind-of-maker-are-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/what-kind-of-maker-are-you\/","title":{"rendered":"What Kind of Maker are You?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We here at Digilent are big supporters of the ever-expanding Maker Movement<\/a>. In case you are not familiar, Atmel <\/a>has done an excellent job of describing the movement below:<\/p>\n

The Maker Movement is inspiring the young and old alike, that anything is possible.\u00a0 You\u2019ve all read the predictions that the next \u201cbig thing\u201d hasn\u2019t been invented yet and that it can come from anyone.\u00a0 That\u2019s what the Maker Movement is all about.\u00a0 At Atmel we believe in the power of the Maker!<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We maintain a similar mentality here at Digilent, and not only do we believe that anyone can be a Maker, we also support the idea that there are different types of Makers.\"Makers\"<\/p>\n

Just as there are a variety of different learning styles, the manner with which you make can have similar diversity. This can encompass differing skill levels, areas of expertise and reasons for making. Atmel has recently released an interactive quiz to help you determine what kind of Maker<\/a> you identify with.<\/p>\n

Digilent supports Makers of all shapes and skill levels, and to encourage you to start that summer project we have included a brief product guide below, based upon Atmel’s Maker types!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Professional<\/strong>:\u00a0You hack things to make this world a better place. You work 40 hours a week (most likely as an engineer), but you\u2019re a Maker the other 128 hours. You spend way too much time on Hackaday and Hackster.io. You love datasheets and application notes.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you happen to be\u00a0a\u00a0Professional, then you probably already are well-acquainted with your favorite tools and materials when it comes to making your ideas a reality. However if you are in search of high-end industry standard hardware, the Genesys 2<\/a> is probably your best FPGA choice.\u00a0With its high-capacity, high-speed FPGA, fast external memories, high-speed digital video ports, and wide expansions options, the Genesys 2<\/a> is designed to make your project possible, no matter the complexity.<\/p>\n

\"15998876545_6dc5b92d4e_b\"
Genesys 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Novice<\/strong>: You might be a student, real or self-proclaimed. You spend hours on the Instructables website. You\u2019re learning your way through a cool invention. You\u2019re an electronics tinkerer or always wanted to be one. You have an AVR Man mask from the latest Maker Faire.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you are just getting started in the world of making, you should definitely check out the Arty<\/a>. An FPGA development board designed with Makers and hobbyists in mind, it comes ready to use and (unlike other\u00a0Single Board Computers) isn’t bound to a single set of processing peripherals.<\/p>\n

\"Arty_obl_600__89125.1448062529.500.659\"
Arty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

This flexibility and accessibility make it an ideal place to start. If you are more interested in microcontrollers, our chipKIT line <\/a>is also a superb starting point, with the uC32<\/a> and WF32<\/a> (which has on-board WiFi!) being some of our top sellers.<\/p>\n

\"rostrum3\"
The “Rostrum” A WiFi Controlled Camera Mount Made With The WF32<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Entrepreneur:<\/strong> You\u2019re about to start a company with a new project. Or you\u2019ve already created the thing that will change the world. Your favorite websites are Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Your motto is \u201cFund me, Fund me, Fund me..please!\u201d Your best friend is coffee.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you are designing any type of electronic project on a marketable level you will need top-of-the-line instrumentation to test and ensure that your product is viable. Also useful for debugging, the\u00a0Analog Discovery 2<\/a>\u00a0is a USB oscilloscope and multi-function instrument that allows users to\u00a0measure, visualize, analyze, record, generate and control mixed signal circuits of all kinds.\u00a0And at only $279.00, you will still have plenty of money left for your favorite caffeinated beverage.<\/p>\n

\"All
The Analog Discovery 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Professor:<\/strong> You teach students how to use electronic systems and devices. You tinker around so you can educate your class on new technologies. You know the answer to the question before the student asks it. Your favorite website is a book. Your office is chocked full of dev boards and eval kits.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you are looking for the board to take your class (and students) to the next level, look no further than the Nexys 4 DDR<\/a> and Basys 3<\/a>. The Basys 3<\/a> is an excellent introductory board for those new to FPGA, all while supporting a large collection of on-board I\/O devices. If your students are a bit further than entry level, the Nexys 4 DDR<\/a> board is specifically designed to bridge the gap between industry and the classroom.<\/p>\n

\"Claw
The Claw Game…Made With Basys 3!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Hacker:<\/strong> You are the type to tear apart a toaster just to put it back together, but this time as an alarm clock. You always want to reverse engineer things that already work. You were the most photographed attendee at the last Maker Faire. You think labels are lame.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you are more interested in the rapid execution of your latest brilliant idea, I would consider the aforementioned chipKIT<\/a> line. Additionally if you need something\u00a0to enhance the functionality of your project, our Pmod<\/a> line offers an incredibly diverse range of functions, including inputs, outputs, communication, connection and power. From joystick <\/a>controllers to accelerometers<\/a>, these little boards are the fastest way to get that\u00a0project out of your head and onto the workbench… and<\/strong> they are 70% off!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"BLOG-banner-600-SummerPmodSale2\"<\/p>\n

If your idea requires intensive work on the software end, and you do not feel like spending the time to research, learn about, and write up the code you need in your current IDE, consider LabVIEW<\/a> as a graphical programming option. Do not let the amazing speed with which you can get started fool you, it is still a extremely powerful<\/a> software with expansive capabilities. And with the addition of LabVIEW MakerHub<\/a>, you can conveniently connect it to your favorite hardware… you can even do it untethered<\/a>!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I personally identify as the Hacker, as my mother and many ruined household appliances can attest.\u00a0Which one are you?<\/p>\n

0<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div>
Be the 1st to vote.<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Find out what Maker style suits you best, and which products might be most useful to you based upon your type.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":13946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1563],"tags":[1662],"ppma_author":[4485],"class_list":["post-13412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guide","tag-fpga"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/9f66c12c-23c5-4bd2-928e-fd8c585749c9_Maker_Segmentation__Landing_Page_banner_623x200-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":4485,"user_id":36,"is_guest":0,"slug":"mirandamay7","display_name":"Miranda Hansen","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcab037c32924b9f9b3ca4898e179f2764cb7d9a82aa2bd475170c8aaa884e1c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":"","9":"","10":""}],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13412"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digilent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=13412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}