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Arduino in Action
Summary
Arduino in Action is a hands-on guide to prototyping and building electronics using the Arduino platform. Suitable for both beginners and advanced users, this easy-to-follow book begins with the basics and then systematically guides you through projects ranging from your first blinking LED through connecting Arduino to devices like game controllers or your iPhone.
About the Technology
Arduino is an open source do-it-yourself electronics platform that supports a mind-boggling collection of sensors and actuators you can use to build anything you can imagine. Even if you've never attempted a hardware project, this easy-to-follow book will guide you from your first blinking LED through connecting Arduino to your iPhone.
About this Book
Arduino in Action is a hands-on guide to prototyping and building DIY electronics. You'll start with the basics—unpacking your board and using a simple program to make something happen. Then, you'l attempt progressively more complex projects as you connect Arduino to motors, LCD displays, Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth. You'll explore input/output sensors, including ultrasound, infrared, and light, and then use them for tasks like robotic obstacle avoidance.
Arduino programs look a lot like C or C++, so some programming skill is helpful.
What's Inside
Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications.
About the Authors
Martin Evans is a professional developer, a lifelong electronics enthusiast, and the creator of an Arduino-based underwater ROV. Joshua Noble is an author and creative technologist who works with smart spaces. Jordan Hochenbaum uses Arduino to explore musical expression and creative interaction.
Table of Contents
Arduino in Action is a hands-on guide to prototyping and building electronics using the Arduino platform. Suitable for both beginners and advanced users, this easy-to-follow book begins with the basics and then systematically guides you through projects ranging from your first blinking LED through connecting Arduino to devices like game controllers or your iPhone.
About the Technology
Arduino is an open source do-it-yourself electronics platform that supports a mind-boggling collection of sensors and actuators you can use to build anything you can imagine. Even if you've never attempted a hardware project, this easy-to-follow book will guide you from your first blinking LED through connecting Arduino to your iPhone.
About this Book
Arduino in Action is a hands-on guide to prototyping and building DIY electronics. You'll start with the basics—unpacking your board and using a simple program to make something happen. Then, you'l attempt progressively more complex projects as you connect Arduino to motors, LCD displays, Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth. You'll explore input/output sensors, including ultrasound, infrared, and light, and then use them for tasks like robotic obstacle avoidance.
Arduino programs look a lot like C or C++, so some programming skill is helpful.
What's Inside
Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications.
About the Authors
Martin Evans is a professional developer, a lifelong electronics enthusiast, and the creator of an Arduino-based underwater ROV. Joshua Noble is an author and creative technologist who works with smart spaces. Jordan Hochenbaum uses Arduino to explore musical expression and creative interaction.
Table of Contents
- GenresSoftware
368 pages, Paperback
First published April 28, 2012
2 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 15, 2014
This book is for who already knows how to code or for people who want to do things by duplicating the connections and copying the code on the book, gives just basic explanations on the electronic components used and no explanations at all about the code except for little comments, the kind we put at the right side of the code lines.
If you know basic electronics and basic programming this book is practically useless for you. There were about two pages of useful content for me in the whole book, it wasn't worth the time reading it.
If you know basic electronics and basic programming this book is practically useless for you. There were about two pages of useful content for me in the whole book, it wasn't worth the time reading it.
June 1, 2024
Offers beginners in electronics a good start and for those who are familiar with electronics it offers a good introduction to the Arduino
March 12, 2014
Disclaimer: I got a free reviewer's copy of this book.
This book is great. it is by no means perfect, but it is one of the most interesting technical books I have read. It is very well written. The authors' style is clear and easy to read.
The preface says that it is for the beginner and intermediate levels. I don't agree. It is not for the very beginner. Writing a book about Arduino is difficult because Arduino development requires both software and hardware skills. For example, it shows schematics for the circuits, but doesn't really explain how to read them. It shows pictures of the circuit, but they are not close enough to really see where the connections go. With that said, if a beginner reader is willing to spend just a little bit time figuring that out, they can really enjoy this book. Also, it doesn't teach the principles of programming. It has an appendix about the programming language, but I think a very beginner would need a bit of patience to understand.
But, the book is written in a way that you don't really have to understand everything to get the projects to work. They are recipes. That makes it easier for the beginner.
I also wish that the authors wouldn't have introduced so many external technologies in the book. He uses Python, Processing, Cosm, iOS, etc. I understand that the Arduino needs to communicate with the external world, but it becomes distracting. He should have just mocked the external side of things, and provide a download for it. Also, using Cosm (now xively) is a bad choice. They are very expensive, although the
y have a developer license that allows you to use up to 5 devices in production for free.
With those things said, what i really love about this book is that it has real, fun, awesome, non-trivial projects. I did several of them,
and for me it wasn't difficult at all to complete them. The instructions are clear. I am a software engineer, and I have programmed Arduino before, and also other microcontrollers, so I maybe had an advantage. But I tried to do the projects "without thinking", pretending I was learning this the first time. They are well written. The code that I copied and pasted worked. Now, if you want to do absolutely everything in this book, the parts will cost you close to $1000. But, they are exciting projects, so it is worth it. You could build a simple obstacle-avoiding robot with the components and projects presented in this book.
Overall I think this book is worth it.
This book is great. it is by no means perfect, but it is one of the most interesting technical books I have read. It is very well written. The authors' style is clear and easy to read.
The preface says that it is for the beginner and intermediate levels. I don't agree. It is not for the very beginner. Writing a book about Arduino is difficult because Arduino development requires both software and hardware skills. For example, it shows schematics for the circuits, but doesn't really explain how to read them. It shows pictures of the circuit, but they are not close enough to really see where the connections go. With that said, if a beginner reader is willing to spend just a little bit time figuring that out, they can really enjoy this book. Also, it doesn't teach the principles of programming. It has an appendix about the programming language, but I think a very beginner would need a bit of patience to understand.
But, the book is written in a way that you don't really have to understand everything to get the projects to work. They are recipes. That makes it easier for the beginner.
I also wish that the authors wouldn't have introduced so many external technologies in the book. He uses Python, Processing, Cosm, iOS, etc. I understand that the Arduino needs to communicate with the external world, but it becomes distracting. He should have just mocked the external side of things, and provide a download for it. Also, using Cosm (now xively) is a bad choice. They are very expensive, although the
y have a developer license that allows you to use up to 5 devices in production for free.
With those things said, what i really love about this book is that it has real, fun, awesome, non-trivial projects. I did several of them,
and for me it wasn't difficult at all to complete them. The instructions are clear. I am a software engineer, and I have programmed Arduino before, and also other microcontrollers, so I maybe had an advantage. But I tried to do the projects "without thinking", pretending I was learning this the first time. They are well written. The code that I copied and pasted worked. Now, if you want to do absolutely everything in this book, the parts will cost you close to $1000. But, they are exciting projects, so it is worth it. You could build a simple obstacle-avoiding robot with the components and projects presented in this book.
Overall I think this book is worth it.
February 18, 2014
I've been given the opportunity by Manning to review this book.
First of all I must say that this is a very engaging book, since I literally devoured it, you'll find yourself wandering among motors, LCD displays, infra-red detectors, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and many other interesting devices, giving a very good coverage.
But keep in mind that this book is absolutely not for beginners. I could feel comfortable with terminology, schemas and component because I'm an electronic engineer, but I think that a novice would spend a lot of time just for get the LED blinking.
Good electronic skills are required, in order to understand circuit schemas, the way the various components must be wired (warning are good since voltage is low but to burn a board is very high as well if you don't pay attention) and so on.
Also basic programming skills may be useful when dealing with sketches and included libraries.
However the book is well written, photos, figures and schemas are very clear and accurate.
Sketches are well described and acronyms as well as topics key terms are always explained.
There's also a lot of stuff about interacting with iOS, game consoles, so-named "wearables" (clothing and accessories that incorporate computer and advanced-electronic technologies) and shields which are Arduino extension pluggable boards.
As usual at the end of every Manning book there are some appendixes where some relate topics are deepened along with a variety of useful Arduino-related links.
Finally I would recommend it but, as previously said, not to beginners.
First of all I must say that this is a very engaging book, since I literally devoured it, you'll find yourself wandering among motors, LCD displays, infra-red detectors, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and many other interesting devices, giving a very good coverage.
But keep in mind that this book is absolutely not for beginners. I could feel comfortable with terminology, schemas and component because I'm an electronic engineer, but I think that a novice would spend a lot of time just for get the LED blinking.
Good electronic skills are required, in order to understand circuit schemas, the way the various components must be wired (warning are good since voltage is low but to burn a board is very high as well if you don't pay attention) and so on.
Also basic programming skills may be useful when dealing with sketches and included libraries.
However the book is well written, photos, figures and schemas are very clear and accurate.
Sketches are well described and acronyms as well as topics key terms are always explained.
There's also a lot of stuff about interacting with iOS, game consoles, so-named "wearables" (clothing and accessories that incorporate computer and advanced-electronic technologies) and shields which are Arduino extension pluggable boards.
As usual at the end of every Manning book there are some appendixes where some relate topics are deepened along with a variety of useful Arduino-related links.
Finally I would recommend it but, as previously said, not to beginners.
August 12, 2016
This book is fantastic. I'm a programmer with 2 years of experience with Arduino and found the book a really nice reading. It engages you well, is not difficult, code is well documented and structured and components are not expensive ( so you can follow the course of the book without draining your money and your blood :P ).
You can start reading this book as a complete novice of the Arduino world, and learn how to work with an Arduino and to use a good amount of technichs ( connecting LCD screen, motors, Ethernet or WiFi communication, shield and how to make a wearables using the awesome Arduino LilyPad! ).
You are not going to find complex project in this book but little projects and examples to make you started and proficient in creating "smart" things. Is explained really well and I'm sure that after reading you can start working on more "serious" projects with the right degree of competence!
If you're an intermediare user, like me, you can find useful information both on the Arduino language itself ( in the appendix ) and on more advanced integration like serial communication for external programs, creating shields and libraries and other wtuff that you cannot easily find searching the forum or the reference.
A really awesome book for Arduino-interested people; if you think you'd like to use an Arduino for your project, consider this as a awesome starting point.
Not suitable for hardcore Arduino hackers with decades of experience :)
You can start reading this book as a complete novice of the Arduino world, and learn how to work with an Arduino and to use a good amount of technichs ( connecting LCD screen, motors, Ethernet or WiFi communication, shield and how to make a wearables using the awesome Arduino LilyPad! ).
You are not going to find complex project in this book but little projects and examples to make you started and proficient in creating "smart" things. Is explained really well and I'm sure that after reading you can start working on more "serious" projects with the right degree of competence!
If you're an intermediare user, like me, you can find useful information both on the Arduino language itself ( in the appendix ) and on more advanced integration like serial communication for external programs, creating shields and libraries and other wtuff that you cannot easily find searching the forum or the reference.
A really awesome book for Arduino-interested people; if you think you'd like to use an Arduino for your project, consider this as a awesome starting point.
Not suitable for hardcore Arduino hackers with decades of experience :)
March 11, 2014
You got your Arduino, did your first couple of flashing LED projects, now what?
This book is the answer to that question. It takes you from the basics and gives you a solid foundation in a whole range of components that you will want to use in a variety of projects, from LCDs to Motors, touch sensors, range finders and more. I was really impressed at the range of components and the coverage. The material is well written and a solid explanation is given throughout.
I made a few of the projects in the book and adapted a couple to some other projects I wanted to build. The book helped me to pull together ideas and will be the basis for many future projects.
This book does require a small amount of experience with electronics. It does provide some coverage but you will gain more from it by having a basic level, the platform itself is designed for a wide level of experience. You will need to purchase an Arduino and the needed components for the projects you are interested in (details of which are in the book). With that in hand, this is a really solid introduction to the Arduino platform and the options it provides.
This book is the answer to that question. It takes you from the basics and gives you a solid foundation in a whole range of components that you will want to use in a variety of projects, from LCDs to Motors, touch sensors, range finders and more. I was really impressed at the range of components and the coverage. The material is well written and a solid explanation is given throughout.
I made a few of the projects in the book and adapted a couple to some other projects I wanted to build. The book helped me to pull together ideas and will be the basis for many future projects.
This book does require a small amount of experience with electronics. It does provide some coverage but you will gain more from it by having a basic level, the platform itself is designed for a wide level of experience. You will need to purchase an Arduino and the needed components for the projects you are interested in (details of which are in the book). With that in hand, this is a really solid introduction to the Arduino platform and the options it provides.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews