I’ve been interested in microcontrollers for a long time. They’re small and cheap, they’re extremely customizable, and if you want to make a piece of electronics do something, they give you a balance between complete efficiency and flexibility. There are a lot of places where it’s likely possible to solve a problem using only passive components, but a microcontroller essentially lets you solve it by explaining what you want (i.e. programming it). Sounds just about perfect to me.
I have a handful of projects I’m kicking around. Some are more curiosities, some have a little more substance to them. The more substantial projects tend to feed other hobbies.
My planned projects, in no particular order, are:
Persistence of Vision (POV) based display
Automated pickup winder
Morse code keyer, and a decoder if I feel fancy
Various CNC projects: small soft materials/PCB router, larger project/wood router, laser engraving
Should keep me busy for a while
