u/CarnalDevices

I have a 16 year old son that has taken a couple high school robotics electives, has used Vex parts extensively, has taken robots for class to area competitions, and is interested in Arduino programming and various types of sensors and servos. Also, we have a Prusa 3D printer. His recent project for school was building an automated sumo-bot for the final robotics competition using vex parts - incorporating motors and a controller, and various sensors to detect the opposition.

His birthday is coming up and he's very interested in all sorts of robotic projects. I'd like to be able to get him a nice kit, or kits, so that he begin working and experimenting at home. I'd like to spend $400-$650 or so on 1 or even 2 kits. It doesn't have to be Vex for any reason, but he's interested in Arduino.

Thanks in advance for any help - I really don't know where to start. I don't want to hand him a boxed Arduino and tell him good luck, but I also don't want to hand him a beginner Lego set as I think he's beyond that.

Using SMTP I can send emails through bluehost (using email addresses I've created using my domain), and a password is absolutely not required. I'm using port 25, no SSL/TLS, and they send and get received just fine. I swear there used to be some sort of authentication involved, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Is there a gap in my understanding about how email should function?

Thanks in advance for any responses!