| Reasonably experienced and 'a week' can mean vastly different things... It's certainly easier to keep the cost down with longer time-frames. For a focus on electronics rather than implementing some kind of toy 'algorithm accelerator', I find low-hanging/interesting projects where the combination of requirements exceed a micro's peripheral capabilities - i.e. multiple input/output/processing tasks which could be performed on a micro individually, but adding synchronisation or latency requirements makes it rather non-trivial. - Very wide/parallel input/output tasks: ADC/DACs for higher samplerate/bitdepth/channel count than typically accessible with even high-end micros - Implementing unique/specialised protocols which would have required bit-banging, abuse of timer/other peripherals on a micro (i.e. interesting things people achieve with PIO blocks on RP2040 etc) - Signal processing: digital filters and control systems are great because you can see/hear/interact with the output which can help build a sense of achievement. When starting out, it's also less overwhelming to start with smaller parts and allocate the budget to the rest of the electronics. They're still incredibly capable and won't seem as under-utilised. Some random project ideas: - Driving large frame-buffers to display(s) or large sets of LED matrices at high frame rate - https://gregdavill.com/posts/d20/ - Realtime audio filters - the Eurorack community might have some inspiration. - Multi-channel synchonous detection, lock-in amplifiers, distributed timing reference/control, - Find a sensing application that's interesting and then take it to the logical extreme - arrays of photo/hall-effect sensors sampled at high speed and displayed, accelerometers/IMU sensor fusion - Laser galvanometers and piezo actuators are getting more accessible - Small but precise/fast motion stages for positioning or sensing might present a good combination of input, output, filtering and control systems. - With more time/experience you could branch into more interesting (IMO) areas like RF or imaging systems. With more info about your interest areas I can give more specific suggestions. |