I have a project in my mind that I want to work on. I am completely new electronics (minus high school electronics 10 years ago but that’s no longer in my memory)
Anyways, I want to work on a project I have in mind. I am not looking for someone to hold my hand completely. I am wondering if anyone could tell me what parts I would need, and what tutorials to look at. I love this site and the tutorials it has, but there are so many tutorials that I am lost!
My idea is simple:
I want 25-30 buttons in it. Small buttons such as:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5x5x1-6mm-Small … 1e6b9246f1
When a button is pressed, it will display a number on an LCD:
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9052
My biggest issue it seems, is that 30 buttons is a lot to hook up to the controllers such as the Arduino Pro Mini 328:
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11114
If anyone could lead me to the right direction on tutorials and what products should fit my project idea, that would be greatly appreciated.
I have experience with soldering and wiring. I also know how to program in Java and C#.
Thanks!
Is there a reason you want to use a Pro Mini? The Mega 2560 (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11061) has enough I/O to support that many buttons without multiplexing.
darrellg:
Is there a reason you want to use a Pro Mini? The Mega 2560 (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11061) has enough I/O to support that many buttons without multiplexing.
No reason at all! Was the first product that from my Google search, came up and had good reviews.
One reason I picked it was for the price and the low profile.
I am trying to make a product and obviously cost is a factor, along with the profile of it.
The cheaper and smaller/more flat it is, the better!
Sadly I think that the Mega 2560 is too expensive 
Thanks for the reply though!
Then your best bet is probably to wire your buttons as a 5 by 6 matrix. That will use 11 I/O pins. You’ll need six pins for your display, for a total of 17 pins. That will allow you to use the Pro Mini. If you’re not familiar with button matrices, just google “button matrix.” There are a ton of pages that explain how they work.
darrellg:
Then your best bet is probably to wire your buttons as a 5 by 6 matrix. That will use 11 I/O pins. You’ll need six pins for your display, for a total of 17 pins. That will allow you to use the Pro Mini. If you’re not familiar with button matrices, just google “button matrix.” There are a ton of pages that explain how they work.
Sounds perfect! Thanks Darrell 
So the original idea of Arduino Pro Mini and LCD screen I posted will work as long as I configure it as a button matrix?