EXPLORING ARDUINO TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES FOR ENGINEERING WIZARDRY

Abstract

You have excellent timing. As I often like to say, “We’re living in the future.” With the tools available to you today, many of which you’ll learn about in this book, you have the opportunity and the ability to bend the physical world to your whim. Until very recently, it has not been possible for someone to pick up a microcontroller and have it controlling his or her world within minutes. As you may have guessed, a microcontroller is a programmable platform that gives you the power to define the operation of complex mechanical, electrical, and software systems using relatively simple commands. The possibilities are endless, and the Arduino microcontroller platform will become your new favorite tool as you explore the world of electronics, programming, human-computer interaction, art, control systems, and more. Throughout the course of this book, you’ll use the Arduino to do everything from detecting motion to creating wireless control systems to communicating over the Internet. Whether you are completely new to any kind of engineering or are a seasoned veteran looking to get started with embedded systems design, the Arduino is great place to start. Are you looking for a general reference for Arduino development? This book is perfect for you, too. This book walks you through a number of particular projects, but you’ll also find it easy to return to the book for code snippets, best practices, system schematics, and more. The electrical engineering, systems design, and programming practices that you’ll learn while reading this book are widely applicable beyond the Arduino platform and will prepare you to take on an array of engineering projects, whether they use the Arduino or some other platform.