Synopses & Reviews
Building robots that sense and interact with their environment used to be tricky. Now, Arduino makes it easy. With this book and an Arduino microcontroller and software creation environment, youll learn how to build and program a robot that can roam around, sense its environment, and perform a wide variety of tasks. All you to get started with the fun projects is a little programming experience and a keen interest in electronics.
Make a robot that obeys your every command—or runs on its own.
Maybe youre a teacher who wants to show students how to build devices that can move, sense, respond, and interact with the physical world. Or perhaps youre a hobbyist looking for a robot companion to make your world a little more futuristic. With Make an Arduino Controlled Robot, youll learn how to build and customize smart robots on wheels.
You will:
- Explore robotics concepts like movement, obstacle detection, sensors, and remote control
- Use Arduino to build two- and four-wheeled robots
- Put your robot in motion with motor shields, servos, and DC motors
- Work with distance sensors, infrared reflectance sensors, and remote control receivers
- Understand how to program your robot to take on all kinds of real-world physical challenges
Synopsis
Arduino is a family of microcontrollers (tiny computers) and a software creation environment that makes it easy for you to create programs (called sketches) that can interact with the physical world. Arduino enables your robot to sense the environment and respond in a rich variety of ways. This book helps you to build a robot that is capable of performing a wide variety of tasks.This book is for people who want to explore robotics concepts like movement, obstacle detection, handling sensors, remote control, and all kinds of real world physical computing challenges. It is for people who want to understand how these concepts can be used to build, expand and customize your robot.
About the Author
Michael Margolis is a technologist in the field of real time computing with expertise in developing and delivering hardware and software for interacting with the environment. He has more than 30 years of experience at senior levels with Sony, Microsoft, and Lucent/Bell Labs. He has written libraries and core software that are part of the official Arduino 1.0 distribution.
Table of Contents
Preface; Who This Book Is For; How This Book Is Organized; What Was Left Out; Code Style (About the Code); Arduino Hardware and Software; Conventions Used in This Book; Using Code Examples; Safari® Books Online; How to Contact Us; Acknowledgments; Chapter 1: Introduction to Robot Building; 1.1 Why Build a Robot?; 1.2 How Robots Move; 1.3 Tools; Chapter 2: Building the Electronics; 2.1 Hardware Required; 2.2 Construction Techniques; Chapter 3: Building the Two-Wheeled Mobile Platform; 3.1 Hardware Required; 3.2 Mechanical Assembly; 3.3 Mounting the IR sensors; 3.4 Next Steps; Chapter 4: Building the Four-Wheeled Mobile Platform; 4.1 Hardware Required; 4.2 Mechanical Assembly; 4.3 Mounting the IR sensors; 4.4 Next Steps; Chapter 5: Tutorial: Getting Started with Arduino; 5.1 Hardware Required; 5.2 Arduino Software; 5.3 Arduino Hardware; 5.4 Installing the Integrated Development Environment (IDE); 5.5 Connecting the Arduino Board; 5.6 Using the IDE; 5.7 Uploading and Running the Blink Sketch; 5.8 Using Tabs; 5.9 Installing Third-Party Libraries; Chapter 6: Testing the Robot's Basic Functions; 6.1 Hardware Required; 6.2 Software Prerequisites; 6.3 Sketches Used in This Chapter; 6.4 Load and Run helloRobot.ino; 6.5 About the Sketch; 6.6 Troubleshooting; 6.7 Making the Sketch Easy to Enhance; Chapter 7: Controlling Speed and Direction; 7.1 Hardware Required; 7.2 Sketches Used in This Chapter; 7.3 Types of Motors; 7.4 Motor Controllers; 7.5 Controlling Motor Speed; 7.6 Software Architecture for Robot Mobility; 7.7 Functions to Encapsulate Robot Movements; Chapter 8: Tutorial: Introduction to Sensors; 8.1 Hardware Discussed; 8.2 Software; 8.3 Infrared Reflectance Sensors; 8.4 Sonar Distance Sensors; 8.5 Maxbotix EZ1 Sonar Distance Sensor; 8.6 Sharp IR Distance Sensor; 8.7 Proximity Sensor; 8.8 Sound Sensor; 8.9 Arduino Cookbook; Chapter 9: Modifying the Robot to React to Edges and Lines; 9.1 Hardware Required; 9.2 Sketches Used in This Chapter; 9.3 The Look Code; 9.4 Edge Detection; 9.5 Line Following; 9.6 Seeing Sketch Data; Chapter 10: Autonomous Movement; 10.1 Hardware Required; 10.2 Sketches Used in This Chapter; 10.3 Mounting a Ping Distance Sensor; 10.4 Letting the Robot Wander; 10.5 Adding Scanning; Chapter 11: Remote Control; 11.1 Hardware Required; 11.2 Sketches Used in This Chapter; 11.3 Design of the Remote Control Code; 11.4 Controlling the Robot with a TV Type IR Remote; Enhancing Your Robot; Planning; Implementing a Complex Project; Using Other Hardware with Your Robot; Alternative Motor Controllers; Debugging Your Robot; Identify the Symptoms and Localize the problem; Power Sources; Monitoring Battery Voltage; Trickle Charging; Programming Constructs; Digital I/O; Analog I/O; Math functions; Other Functions and Constructs; Arduino Pin and Timer Usage; Handling Resource Conflicts; Pin and Timer Tables;