Learn to build software and hardware projects featuring the Raspberry Pi!
Congratulations on becoming a proud owner of a Raspberry Pi! Following primers on getting your Pi up and running and programming with Python, the authors walk you through 16 fun projects of increasing sophistication that let you develop your Raspberry Pi skills. Among other things you will:
- Write simple programs, including a tic-tac-toe game
- Re-create vintage games similar to Pong and Pac-Man
- Construct a networked alarm system with door sensors and webcams
- Build Pi-controlled gadgets including a slot car racetrack and a door lock
- Create a reaction timer and an electronic harmonograph
- Construct a Facebook-enabled Etch A Sketch-type gadget and a Twittering toy
Raspberry Pi Projects is an excellent way to dig deeper into the capabilities of the Pi and to have great fun while doing it.
Table of Contents:
Introduction 1 A History of Making 1
Consumer Computing 2
Why Everyone Should Learn About Computing 2
Enter the Raspberry Pi 3
About This Book 4
How to Use Th is Book 4
The Future 6
Part I: Getting Started with the Raspberry Pi
CHAPTER 1 Getting Your Raspberry Pi Up and Running 9
The Operating System 10
Connecting Your Raspberry Pi 16
The Boot Process 25
Starting the Graphical Desktop 26
Starting a Terminal under X 26
Troubleshooting 26
Let the Fun Begin! 28
CHAPTER 2 Introductory Software Project: The Insult Generator 29
Running Your First Python Program 30
Saving Your Program 33
Generating an Insult 36
Insult Your Friends by Name! 39
Create a Stream of Insults! 41
Putting It All Together 45
Part II: Software Projects
CHAPTER 3 Tic-Tac-Toe 49
Errors 50
Making a Start 51
A Two-Player Game 55
Getting the Computer to Play 59
Over to You 70
CHAPTER 4 Here’s the News 71
Early Teleprompters 72
The Pi Prompter 73
What You Need to Do 73
A Step Closer to a Usable Program 78
Your Final Pi Prompter Code 84
The Physical Setup for Your Prompter 89
Over to You 92
CHAPTER 5 Ping 93
Early Commercial Products 94
The Ping Game 94
Improving the Ping Game 99
A Single-Player Game 104
A Two-Player Game 111
Over to You 118
CHAPTER 6 Pie Man 121
The Pie Man Game 122
Gather Your Resources 123
Setting the Stage 127
The Game Action 133
Drawing the Screen 141
The Final Function 144
Over to You 150
CHAPTER 7 Minecraft Maze Maker 151
Installing Minecraft 152
Starting Minecraft 153
Playing Minecraft 154
Preparing for Python 156
Using the Minecraft Module 156
Over to You 174
Part III: Hardware Projects
CHAPTER 8 Colour Snap 177
Implementing the Game 178
The Software for Testing the Game 193
The Software for the Game 196
Over to You 202
CHAPTER 9 Test Your Reactions 203
Welcome to the Embedded World! 204
Obtaining Components 205
Setting up PiFace Digital 206
Connecting PiFace Digital 210
Using the Emulator 210
Interfacing with Python 211
The Reaction Timer 214
What Will You Interface? 226
CHAPTER 10 The Twittering Toy 227
Hacking the Toy 228
Making It Talk 232
Making It Move 235
Connecting to Twitter 239
Putting It All Together 245
Wrapping Up 248
CHAPTER 11 Disco Lights 251
Defining Your Sequence 252
Getting the Code to Do More 254
A Small Detour into Theory 256
Designing the Sequencer 257
Implementing the Sequencer 258
The Lights 265
Using Longer Strip Lights 268
Making the Lights Move 269
Designing the Circuit 270
Building the Circuit 273
Running the Circuit 273
Over to You 274
CHAPTER 12 Door Lock 275
The System Overview 276
Safety-Critical Systems 276
The Door Lock Hardware 277
The Initial High-Level Software Simulation 278
The Output Block 281
The Input Block 283
The Authentication Block 284
Unlocking Doors Without Touching 286
Testing the Program and Fitting the Lock 292
Networking Multiple Doors 293
Over to You 294
The Art of Programming 295
CHAPTER 13 Home Automation 297
The Internet Of Things 298
Project 1: How to Create a Motion Sensor and Door Switch 298
Project 2: How to Monitor Your Home with a Webcam 305
Project 3: How to Make a Temperature Gauge 312
Project 4: How to Send an E-mail Alert 317
Project 5: How to Send an E-mail Using a Wireless Remote 324
Over to You 331
CHAPTER 14 Computer-Controlled Slot Car Racing 333
Obtaining a Slot Car Racer 334
Hacking Your Slot Car Racer 334
Getting the Player Input 336
The Software 346
The Game 348
Over to You 354
CHAPTER 15 Facebook-Enabled Roto-Sketch 355
The Concept 356
Rotary Encoder Types 356
The Encoder Output 357
Posting to Facebook 366
The Final Roto-Sketch Program 369
Creating a Symmetrical Pattern 375
Over to You 381
CHAPTER 16 The Pendulum Pi, a Harmonograph 383
The Concept 385
The Hall Effect 385
Enter the Arduino 387
Putting It Together 388
Programming the Arduino 399
Programming the Pi 412
Using the Pendulum Pi 418
Over to You 419
CHAPTER 17 The Techno–Bird Box, a Wildlife Monitor 421
Building Invisible Light Beam Sensors 423
Mounting the Sensors 427
Recording Activity to a File 431
Processing the Data 442
Dealing with Sensor Noise 448
Drawing a Graph 454
Putting the Nest Box into Service 458
Over to You 458
The Possibilities Are Endless 460
Index 461
About the Author :
Dr Andrew Robinson (Manchester, UK) worked at the University of Manchester School of Computer Science, where they have just launched the Great British Raspberry Pi Bake Off, a competition to get people making projects with the Pi. Andrew has quickly become a leading expert on the Pi and its astounding capabilities, including guest posts on raspberrypi.org, the official mouthpiece of Raspberry Pi. He is the creator of PiFace, which makes interfacing with the Raspberry Pi significantly easier. He is currently utilizing the Raspberry Pi as part of the team behind the BBC's Springwatch. Mike Cook is is the co-author of Raspberry Pi For Dummies. Mike is a veteran tech author and a freelance consultant for all things to do with Physical Computing. A former Lecturer in Physics at Manchester Metropolitan University, he has written more than three hundred computing and electronics articles for the pages of computer magazines since the 1980s. Mike patrols the forums as Grumpy Mike, though he is anything but!
Review :
"This book provides a great entry into the world of the Raspberry Pi. It has a wide range of different projects -- something for everyone." (BCS, September 2014
"Books like this... will guide you through a given project and provide you with learning points along the way, which is a great way to learn about Linux, Python, hardware hacking or anything. Beginner or not you'll learn lots by following the guide set out by experts such as these." (RaspberryPi.org, March 2014)
"A great introduction to the Pi and the sort of things that can be accomplished." (MmIT, February 2014)
"... this book is a must if you want to do more with your Raspberry Pi." (Connected Digital World, January 2014)
