Ask HN: What are some hobby tech projects for a tech-savvy teenager?

2 pointsParallelThread2y ago2 comments

I would like recommendations for a hardware/software project that involves coding, building hardware components for an interested 14 year old who knows python.

2 comments

bosky1012y ago

- creating their version of Google homepage, there is plenty to go down the rabbit hole beginning with the homepage

- creating home/iot alerts maybe with zapier/email/twilio

- creating a chatbot based on a pdf

- creating an RSVP site for your upcoming family _

- creating a browser extension

- creating a guest wifi login system with credits/timeouts

- creating a Dropbox alternative with S3

- a website that tells you which day of the week you were born

You're welcome

dominicdoty2y ago

If they're interested in software and hardware, robotics is a fun place to start.

Line following, object avoidance, maze solving, all sorts of cool options.

A relatively cheap option would be the micro:bit [1] and a chassis [2]. The micro:bit can run CircuitPython [3] which is an simplified version of Python that can run on embedded systems.

This setup offers lots of room for growth from graphical programming, to circuitpython, and then on to C programming.

[1] https://www.adafruit.com/product/4781

[2] https://www.adafruit.com/product/4575

[3] https://circuitpython.org/board/microbit_v2/

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