Websites worth knowingWebsites worth knowing

Arduino, ESP32 and Pico simulator in the browser: wire the circuit, write the code and run it without buying a part.

Try: Open an ESP32 + OLED example and change the code live.

Autodesk's drag-and-drop Arduino circuits with a breadboard simulator, plus simple 3D design. The best first step.

Try: In Circuits, blink an LED with an Arduino in five minutes.

A circuit simulator that animates current flowing through the wires: the clearest way to understand transistors, capacitors and op-amps.

Try: Open Circuits → Transistors and change the resistor values.

Schematics and PCB layout in the browser, linked to the LCSC parts library, and you can order the board for a few dollars.

Try: Design a small sensor board and order it from JLCPCB.

Professional open-source PCB design used by real companies. Learn it if you're going deep into electronics.

Try: Follow Getting Started and make an LED + resistor board.

A search engine for electronic parts: datasheets, prices and alternatives from every distributor in one place.

Try: Search L298N and compare it with newer alternatives.

Step-by-step ESP32, ESP8266 and Arduino guides with code and wiring for almost any sensor.

Try: Build the ESP32 web server and switch an LED from your phone.

Thousands of tidy projects and guides from Adafruit, from soldering to CircuitPython and wearables.

Try: Read the Guide to Excellent Soldering before your first joint.

A VS Code extension to program Arduino, ESP32 and STM32 like a pro: libraries, autocomplete and debugging.

Try: Move one Arduino IDE sketch into PlatformIO.

Professional CAD in the browser (even on a phone) where the whole team edits one design together. Free for students.

Try: Get an Education account and design a small robot chassis as a team.

Mechanical design, assemblies, stress simulation and CAM in one program. Free for students and personal use.

Try: Design a motor bracket and run a stress study before printing it.

Fully free open-source CAD with no subscription; works on any computer, offline.

Try: Use the Part Design workbench to make an enclosure.

Prusa's huge library of print-ready models: robot parts, tools, enclosures and lab helpers.

Try: Search “robot arm” and print one in the lab.

The oldest and largest free library of 3D designs, with a ready part for almost any idea.

Try: Look for a “servo mount” before designing your own.

CAD models of real parts (motors, sensors, boards) to drop into your robot assembly at the right size.

Try: Download an Arduino Uno model to place your mounting holes.

Python in the browser with a free GPU: train AI models without a powerful computer.

Try: Open a notebook and switch the runtime to GPU.

Ready datasets, competitions and short ML courses, with other people's solutions to learn from.

Try: Finish Intro to Machine Learning, then try the Titanic competition.

The home of open models for text, images and audio: try any of them in the browser and use it in a few lines.

Try: Try an image-captioning Space, then call it from Colab.

Train an image, sound or pose classifier from your webcam in minutes with no code, then export it.

Try: Teach it three hand gestures and drive a robot with them.

Computer-vision datasets end to end: labeling, YOLO training and export in one place.

Try: Shoot 100 photos of a part and train a detector.

TinyML: small AI models that run on microcontrollers like the ESP32 or Nano 33 for sound, motion and images.

Try: Make a keyword spotter that lights an LED.

The official YOLO docs: object detection, tracking and segmentation from a camera in a few lines of Python.

Try: Run YOLO on your webcam and count people in view.

The robot operating system used by companies and universities; official tutorials from install to navigation.

Try: Finish Beginner: CLI tools and drive turtlesim.

Open-source robot simulator with ready robots, sensors and physics: test your algorithm before building.

Try: Open the e-puck example and write a Python line follower.

The simulator that works with ROS: 3D worlds, LiDAR and cameras for your robot.

Try: Run a TurtleBot in Gazebo and map a room.

Free short MathWorks courses with certificates: MATLAB, Simulink, control and signal processing.

Try: Finish Simulink Onramp and model a DC motor.

Wire devices and APIs together with drag and drop: read a sensor, store it, build a dashboard and alerts.

Try: Run it on a Raspberry Pi and chart a temperature sensor.

Send sensor readings from an ESP32 to the cloud and see live charts, with MATLAB analysis.

Try: Post the temperature every minute and watch it on your phone.

Build a phone app that controls your device (buttons, sliders, readings) without writing mobile code.

Try: Switch a relay from your phone while you're out.

Online Arduino editor, dashboards and variables synced between the board and the cloud.

Try: Connect an ESP32 and build a dashboard with a switch and a sensor.

Home for your code and team projects, and the portfolio employers look at. The Student Developer Pack unlocks paid tools for free.

Try: Create a repo for your project with a README, photos and how to run it.

Clear learning maps for every path (backend, AI, embedded, DevOps): what to learn first and next.

Try: Open your track's roadmap and tick what you've done.

Completely free programming courses with certificates: web, Python, data analysis and ML, all hands-on.

Try: Start Scientific Computing with Python.

The world's best-known intro to computer science, from C to Python, SQL and the web, free with a certificate.

Try: Watch lecture 0 and solve Problem Set 1.

Algorithm and data-structure problems asked in company interviews; daily practice makes the difference.

Try: Solve one Easy problem a day for a month.

Exercises in 70+ languages with volunteer mentors who review your code.

Try: Pick Python or C, solve five exercises and ask for a review.

Thousands of complete hardware projects with parts, code and wiring, plus sponsored contests.

Try: Find an open contest and pitch it to the team.

Step-by-step photo guides for making things: robots, electronics, fabrication and home builds.

Try: Build an obstacle-avoiding robot from lab parts.

A community documenting ambitious open hardware projects, home of the yearly Hackaday Prize.

Try: Make a page for a team project and log every stage.

Real MIT course materials for free: lectures, exams and projects in robotics, electronics and AI.

Try: Find Introduction to Robotics and watch the first two lectures.

Courses from universities and companies like Stanford and Google; audit for free or apply for financial aid.

Try: Audit Andrew Ng's Machine Learning Specialization.

University courses from MIT, Harvard and more in electronics, programming and engineering, mostly free to audit.

Try: Look up MIT's Circuits and Electronics.

Design app and web screens and posters with your team in real time. Free for students.

Try: Design your robot's control app before coding it.

Posters, presentations and social posts from templates, even with no design background.

Try: Make an expo poster for your project in 15 minutes.

One place for project notes, tasks and docs for the team; free for students with a university email.

Try: Set up a project page with tasks, parts and links.

Write reports and papers in LaTeX in the browser with your team, using conference and university templates.

Try: Write your project report in the IEEE template.

Free diagrams (flowcharts, block diagrams, system architecture) with no account.

Try: Draw your project's block diagram: sensors → controller → motors.

A hand-drawn style online whiteboard to sketch ideas with your team live.

Try: Start a shared session and sketch the next project.