Robert Chin has a Bachelor of Science degree in computer engineering and is experienced in developing projects on the TI CC3200 SimpleLink, Android, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and PC Windows platforms using C/C++, Java, Python, Unreal Script, DirectX, OpenGL, and OpenGL ES 2.0. He is the author of Home Security System DIY PRO Using Android and TI CC3200 SimpleLink, Home Security Systems DIY Using Android and Arduino, and Beginning Arduino ov7670 Camera Development. He is also the author of Beginning Android 3d Game Development and Beginning IOS 3d Unreal Games Development, both published by Apress, and was the technical reviewer for UDK Game Development, published by Course Technology CENGAGE Learning. Beginning Android 3d Game Development was licensed to Tsinghua University through Tsinghua University Press
The Arduino is a small, inexpensive computer that can be programmed to control endless creations limited only by your imagination. As you’ll soon see, the Arduino can be used to make a whole host of projects, like a ghost detector, joystick-controlled laser, electronic die, laser trip wire alarm, motion sensor alarm, keypad entry system, and many others. All of these projects are easy to build and have one thing in common—they use the power of the Arduino. In the early 1980s, I picked up a great Penguin paperback titled something like Gadgets and Gizmos, hidden away in a local bookstore. The projects were simple ones like making a working lighthouse using flashlight bulbs and building a revolving display table using an old clock. The ideas in that book sparked my imagination, and I’ve been creating ever since.
Everyone, every day, uses technology. Most of us leave the programming to engineers because we think coding and electronics are complicated and difcult; actually, they can be fun and exciting activities. Thanks to Arduino, designers, artists, hobbyists and students of all ages are learning to create things that light up, move, and respond to people, animals, plants, and the rest of the world. Over the years Arduino has been used as the “brain” in thousands of projects, one more creative than the last. A worldwide community of makers has gathered around this open-source platform, moving from personal computing to personal fabrication, and contributing to a new world of participation, cooperation and sharing. Arduino is open and simple. It’s founded on lessons we’ve learned teaching our own classes: if you start with the assumption that learning to make digital technologies is simple and accessible, you can make it so. Suddenly electronics and code become creative tools that anyone can use – like brushes and paint. This book walks you through the basics in a hands-on way, with creative projects you build by learning. Once you’ve mastered the basics, you’ll have a palete of sofware and circuits that you can use to create something beautiful, and make someone smile with what you invent.