I'm taking an online course on Arduino robotics, produced by the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. The lectures are translated into English, but all of the parts referenced are by the Russian company Amperka.
It seems the key parts I need to follow along are
- The Troyka Shield
- Troyka modules, like the potentiometer, Hall sensor, etc
- Matryoshka Z set
As fun as it would be to order from the Russian store, there are several practical reasons I'd prefer an American (or Western) equivalent. If they even ship to the US, payment would be difficult, shipping slow, instructions in Russian, etc, etc.
I've spent time and money shopping around Adafruit and SparkFun, but as an Arduino beginner, I'm not 100% sure which parts are analogous to these Russian ones. If a more experienced hobbyist recognizes any of these and can help me identify it, that would be most appreciated.
I think the Troyka components are a necessity, but the Matryoshka Z is a "nice to have" bundle of components. I'm using Arduino Uno, so compatibility with that would be preferable, but I think one of his Russian controllers is supposed to be a clone of the Leonardo, so if these parts only work with a Leonardo that's fine too.
The shield is shown here:
In this view it's combined with its modules using this special snap-together PVC:
The instructor said that he helped invent the PVC components, so I guess there may not be an American version of that yet (or is there)?