What is a development board? Tl Zigbee? Programmer? Potentiometer?

I am not sure if this is the correct forum area for this topic, mainly because I'm not even sure what these components are for!

I was looking into the website of one of the CPF advertisers called Fast Tech, and while looking down their list of products they sell, I come across the above^ listed items, such as a "development board". So I looked it up at Wikipedia, and they describe them in mostly the past tense, as products that were used back in the day to illustrate or provide an example of a company's processor. But they also said that they 'were' used by hobbyists as inexpensive do-it-yourself computer/processor circuit boards(I guess). But the entire article speaks of development boards as a thing of the past, but here are new ones being sold by this company, so apparently Wikipedia is a bit off on their definition here. Or maybe these newer development boards are something different altogether.

But then they also carry other seemingly related components, like programmers, potentiometers, and something called a Tl Zigbee, as well as 'modules' and a thumb joystick chip/board that somehow connects to one of these things apparently. But aside from the technical specs, there are no descriptions as to what these components are used for.

Anyone know what this stuff is, and what their uses are? Thanks.

They're using the term "development board" to describe the Arduino; it's a miniature computer designed to control other electronics and generally come up with creative uses for. There's a whole cult of programmers who come up with unique and innovative applications for these things, anything from toys to controlling household utilities/appliances, this explains everything nicely:



A programmer is whatever you use to load your program into the Arduino/hardware device. And a potentiometer is a knob or dial - the dial on a radio, the knob on a guitar, the knob on a toaster, the correct name for this circuit component is potentiometer.

Programming the microcontrollers, such as the Arduino kits, are a nifty way to build interesting gadgets. I've done some assembly language programming for microcontrollers at work in the past, and keep meaning to find time to play with them at home. The Arduinos are especially popular for hobbyists, it seems, and they are available from many sources. Even my local Radio Shack is selling kits and such, so they can't be too difficult to figure out (right??).

I'll also toss out the SparkFun site as a place to look into for this sort of stuff. Lots of decent tutorials about topics of interest for the budding 'tronics geek too....
http://www.sparkfun.com/

Even my local Radio Shack is selling kits and such, so they can't be too difficult to figure out (right??).

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Right, they're not too bad. The programs ("sketches") are generally written on a PC and uploaded to the Arduino through a USB connecton using software available from their website. The programs are written in a C/C++ style language which is pretty straightforward once you have the basic syntax down. Primaraly you're generally storing or using different input and output values of the analog and digital pins on the microcontroller on the board, and based on those values, having the microcontroller control other components such as servos, LEDs, or whatnot.