I want to feel the enthusiasm I felt when I first started programming, and I've starting looking into a hardware oriented tech hobby. Something involving a smallish group of dedicated people, minimal hype, working with cool tech, and maybe feeling like we're building the future.
Some areas I'm considering include robotics, sensors/IoT and embedded systems.
These are my constraints:
- Can be done at home
- Reasonable budget
- Surmountable learning curve to a newcomer
- Strong community, minimal hype
Can you recommend an area of tech that fits the above? Doesn't have to involve hardware, I just figure there's a higher barrier to entry and therefore less noise.