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[–] Danbear 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

There is a ton of cool things you can do.

Step 1) Learn Python. Python is very easy to learn and its pretty damn versatile (Reddit was written in Python) as a programming language. Learning Python will give you access to write your own code to control the GPIO pins on the RPi.

Step 2) Visit your local electronic parts store and stock up on basic parts. Get LEDs of all sorts, get resistors of all sizes (I got a bag of 300 of various types for about $8), get capacitors of all sizes, get at least 2 (4 is fun) of Shift Registers, get a few 555 timer chips, be sure to get a nice bread board or two, or get a kit like this one (but that is for the A model RPi and its documentation is total shit, still has a lot of good parts, I got it).

Step 3) setup your Pi to properly allow you to access the GPIO in Python (going to need to update some stuff) there are plenty of tutorials online for that.

Step 4) pick a tutorial and run with it.

Some of the stuff my daughter and I did:

We made a helicopter (on a tether) that you could push a button turn on or off. (worked too well then the motor burned out, I forgot to put a diode to prevent back current from the motor, lesson learned, was a cheapo $0.50 hobby motor)

We made a lego traffic light that you could control through Python. We set it up to auto cycle, then at a button push change to pressure sensitive (simple switch the car would bump) to activate the cycle (so if a car was present it would start the light cycle, then wait when over until switch was activated)

We made a scrolling LCD that displayed anything you wanted. I had thoughts of loading in the Voat API and having it read off SCP/CCP totals, but never got around to it.

All kinds of cool stuff. But damn do I want to make a lego robot.

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[–] the-tinkerer 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

Awesome, thanks for all the suggestions!

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[–] Danbear ago 

The GPIOs are insanely fun. So much cool stuff you can do with them.

Only down side is they are digital only, so 3volts only and it only recognizes "on" or "off". If you want analogue feedback you need to use some kind of AtoD conversion (they have chips that do this nicely, but it'll use more GPIO pins).