Adventures in Arduino: (Adventures In ...)

Arduino programming for the absolute beginner, with project-based learning Adventures in Arduino is the beginner's guide to Arduino programming, designed specifically for 11-to 15-year olds who want to learn about Arduino, but don't know where to begin. Starting with the most basic concepts, this book coaches you through nine great projects that gradually build your skills as you experiment with electronics. The easy-to-follow design and clear, plain-English instructions make this book the ideal guide for the absolute beginner, geared toward those with no computing experience. Each chapter includes a video illuminating the material, giving you plenty of support on your journey to electronics programming. Arduino is a cheap, readily available hardware development platform based around an open source, programmable circuit board. Combining these chips with sensors and servos allows you to gain experience with prototyping as you build interactive electronic crafts to bring together data and even eTextiles. Adventures in Arduino gets you started on the path of scientists, programmers, and engineers, showing you the fun way to learn electronic programming and interaction design. Discover how and where to begin Arduino programming Develop the skills and confidence to tackle other projects Make the most of Arduino with basic programming concepts Work with hardware and software to create interactive electronic devices There's nothing like watching your design come to life and interact with the real world, and Arduino gives you the capability to do that time and again. The right knowledge combined with the right tools can create an unstoppable force of innovation, and your curiosity is the spark that ignites the flame. Adventures in Arduino gets you started on the right foot, but the path is totally up to you.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1 What Is an Arduino? 1 What You Will Learn 1 Parts You Will Need 2 Tools You Will Need 11 Software You Will Need 15 Other Useful Materials 15 What I Assume You Already Know 16 How This Book Is Organised 16 Conventions 18 The Companion Website 20 Reaching Out 20 Adventure 1 Setting Up Your Arduino 21 What You Need 22 Downloading and Installing the Arduino Software on Your Computer 22 Installing Arduino Software on a Mac 24 Installing Arduino Software on a Windows PC 25 Installing Arduino Software on a Linux Machine 27 Exploring the Arduino IDE 27 Using Blink to Test That Everything Is Set Up Correctly 29 Uploading Blink 30 Troubleshooting Common Problems 33 Building an LED Circuit 38 What You Need 38 Understanding Circuit Schematics 38 Using a Breadboard 41 Building Your First Circuit 43 Further Adventures with Arduino 45 Adventure 2 Reading from Sensors 47 What You Need 47 Adding More LEDs 48 Printing Messages to the Computer 54 Reading Data from a Potentiometer 58 Making Decisions in Code 62 Building a Status Message Sign 64 What You Need 64 Understanding the Circuit 65 Prototyping on a Breadboard 66 Writing the Code 67 Creating your Sign 71 Cutting Holes for the Potentiometer and LEDs 72 Adding the Status Messages and Decorating the Sign 72 Soldering the Circuit 73 Inserting the Electronics 76 Further Adventures with Arduino 77 Adventure 3 Working with Servos 79 What You Need 79 Understanding Different Types of Motors 81 Controlling a Servo with Arduino 82 Repeating the Same Thing Over and Over 85 Digital Input with a Push Button 87 Building a Combination Safe 91 What You Need 92 Understanding the Circuit 94 Prototyping on a Breadboard 95 Writing the Code 95 Making the Safe 102 Soldering the Wires 104 Inserting the Electronics 107 Further Adventures with Arduino 107 Adventure 4 Using Shift Registers 109 What You Need 110 Organising Your Code 111 Using Functions 111 Using for Loops 115 Getting More Outputs with Shift Registers 117 How a Shift Register Works 118 Clock 118 Data 119 Latch 119 Making the Connections for a Shift Register 119 Adding LEDs 122 Writing the Code 123 Adding More Shift Registers 127 Building Your Name in Lights 129 What You Need 130 Understanding the Circuit 131 Prototyping on a Breadboard 131 Writing the Code 132 Making the Lights 136 Soldering the Wires 137 Inserting the Electronics 138 Further Adventures with Shift Registers 139 Adventure 5 Playing Sounds 141 What You Need 141 Making a List 142 Making Your Intentions Known 144 Looping Through an Array 146 Putting It Into Practice 146 Making Noise 150 Wiring the Circuit 151 Writing the Code 151 Building an Augmented Wind Chime 155 What You Need 157 Understanding the Circuit 158 Prototyping on a Breadboard 158 Writing the Code 160 Making the Wind Chime 160 Making the Base 162 Making the Chimes 162 Attaching the Chimes 164 Connecting the Electronics 164 Further Adventures with Sound 165 Adventure 6 Adding Libraries 167 What You Need 167 Analogue Out168 Fading an LED 171 Mixing Light 174 Wiring the Circuit 175 Writing the Code 176 Capacitive Sensing 181 Adding a Library 181 Wiring the Circuit 183 Writing the Code 184 Building a Crystal Ball 187 What You Need 187 Understanding the Circuit 188 Prototyping on a Breadboard 189 Writing the Code 190 Making the Crystal Ball 193 Making a Papier Mache Ball 193 Soldering the Electronics 195 Connecting the Electronics 196 Further Adventures with Libraries 197 Adventure 7 Working with the Arduino Leonardo 199 What You Need 199 Introducing the Arduino Leonardo 200 Connecting Your Leonardo for the First Time 201 Acting Like a Keyboard 203 Sensing Light 206 Building the Circuit 208 Writing the Code 210 Building a Game Controller 211 What You Need 212 Building the Circuit 212 Writing the Code 214 Making the Controller Cover 220 Putting It All Together 220 Further Adventures with the Leonardo 221 Adventure 8 Working with the Lilypad Arduino USB 223 What You Need 224 Introducing the Lilypad Arduino USB 224 Blinking from a Lilypad Arduino 226 Prototyping Soft Circuits 228 Getting Clever with Arrays 230 Passing Data Between Functions 236 Building a POV Hoodie 239 What You Need 240 Understanding The Circuit 241 Prototyping with Alligator Clips 241 Charging the Battery 242 Writing the Code 243 Making the POV Hoodie 246 Making Sewable LEDs 246 Sewing the Electronics 247 Further Adventures with the Lilypad 249 In the Next Adventure 250 Adventure 9 The Big Adventure: Building a Marble Maze Game 251 What You Need 252 Part One: Scoring Points 253 Sensing Vibrations with Piezos 253 Setting a Points Threshold 254 Adding Sound Effects 258 Keeping Score 259 Part Two: Designing Your Maze Game 261 Drawing the Maze 261 Designing the Game Code 262 Prototyping the Circuit 263 Part Three: Writing the Code 265 Starting the Game 265 Ending the Game 266 Starting a New Game 269 Keeping Track of the High Score 270 Adding Sounds 272 Part Four: Building the Maze Game 280 Making the Maze 280 Assembling the Piezos 282 Assembling the LEDs and Button 283 Completing the Finishing Touches 284 Further Adventures: Continuing Your Adventures with Arduino 285 Appendix A Where to Go From Here 287 More Boards, Shields, Sensors and Actuators 287 Shields 287 Sensors and Actuators 288 On the Web 288 The Arduino Site 288 Manufacturers 289 Blogs 289 Videos 289 Books 289 Getting Started with Arduino and General Projects 290 General Electronics 290 Soft Circuits and Wearables 290 Other Specialised Topics 290 Appendix B Where to Get Tools and Components 291 Starter Kits 291 Brick]and]Mortar Stores 292 In the UK 292 In the US 292 Online Stores 292 Online Stores Shipping from the EU 292 Online Stores Shipping from the US or Canada 293 Glossary 295 Index 301

About the Author :
Becky Stewart founded Codasign, a London education company that teaches Arduino and other technology skills to young people. She documents her engineering work at http://blog.theleadingzero.com/.