| | |  | Manager's Guides to Computing | Home » » » Practical Arduino: Cool Projects for Open Source Hardware (Technology in Action) | | | | | | | Description: | | The Arduino is growing in popularity. As a fast, low-cost, open source platform with an active development community, it is quickly surpassing the Basic Stamp as the platform of choice for physical computing enthusiasts. This book includes a broad range of intermediate to advanced projects specifically for the Arduino using the easy-to-learn Arduino language (based on the Processing programming language). Other works currently on the market target the beginner to intermediate levels, and may cover other boards rather than the Arduino. | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Jonathan Oxer | | Paperback:
| 456 pages | | Publisher:
| Apress | | Publication Date:
| December 28, 2009 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 1430224770 | | Product Length:
| 9.2 inches | | Product Width:
| 7.4 inches | | Product Height:
| 1.1 inches | | Product Weight:
| 1.7 pounds | | Package Length:
| 9.2 inches | | Package Width:
| 7.4 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.1 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.4 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 28 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 28 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
38 of 38 found the following review helpful:
 Not a Beginners Reference -- More for Advanced ProjectsJan 19, 2010
By Brent Thorley
I am a beginner to the Arduino, and received this book just a few days ago with my shipment of a Arduino Duemilanove starter kit. In short, this book is not for beginners.
My background is that of a mechanical engineer, so I'm more technically inclined than most. I have not programmed, or coded, anything in the last 10 or so years, and I have not programmed in C.
This book should really be entitled ADVANCED Arduino. It is lacking some basic overview chapters or appendices to get a beginner up and running. Another very useful reference would be a Programming Language appendix that really covers the programming structures available and suggestions on how to get the most out of the language. For that, I found a useful PDF reference by Brian Evans on the web.
I was hoping this book would have covered some interfacing with motors. An overview on interfacing with different types of motors, including DC Brush, Brushless, hobby servos, and servo motors with encoders or larger motor types would be very helpful. One of my first projects that I am tackling is using an Accelerometer, but I need the resolution via a digital interface. A project including an SPI data interface would have also been appreciated.
I'm sure I will be referencing this book in the future. Some of the projects are quite amazing. I've never thought about interfacing the Arduino to an automobile for real time telemetry!
37 of 37 found the following review helpful:
 Recommended Companion Book to Expand your Arduino Design and Programming skillsJan 16, 2010
By Neil G. Matthews
The authors have well and truly delivered what they've outlined as their goal in the Introduction section, namely "We want you to take these projects as inspiration and examples of how to apply a variety of handy techniques and then adapt them to suit your own requirements, coming up with new ideas that put ours to shame". Frankly I'm impressed with what Jonathan and Hugh have achieved. They've packed in an incredible amount of information in over 400 pages using 14 broad coverage real-world projects demonstrating how to put the Arduino to practical use. Importantly, they've included some succinct and relevant background information on basic electronic theory and implementation that will save readers days of frustration in getting their circuits working. Nothing kills off the excitement of working on projects than not being able to find why something won't work as intended. With Arduino projects, there is the added difficulty that 'bugs' could be in the software and/or hardware. Excellent title - Practical. Says it all.
I like the Contents at a Glance page in addition to the detailed Contents. Use the former to get you quickly to a project of interest or the detailed Contents to quickly search out techniques relevant to your latest brainstorm.
The included source code easy to read and well explained. Great to see it is also available on line - an essential requirement for this type of book.
Circuit diagrams (schematics) clear are easy to read. I support the authors' approach in encouraging readers to develop skills in reading these.
A useful index - I find it very annoying when books that are likely to be used as a reference omit one.
Do yourself a favour and read the Resources chapter first. Rather than a list of Internet references, this 27 page chapter contains practical tips on interfacing the Arduino with the outside world. An excellent walk-through on how to create an Arduino Library is also included to encourage you to share your solutions in accordance with the Open Source philosophy of the book and the Arduino platform.
The only disappointment was the quality of reproduction of many of the photographs; I assume the muddy contrast is the result of a compromise in the printing process. That said, the book price really is very good value for the range of material covered.
I have over a decade of experience in electronics design and manufacture with an international electronics company (Philips) and many years of experience in Engineering and IT Project Management. While I've enjoyed working with PCs as a hobby for nearly 30 years, I've only dabbled in programming. The Arduino has enabled me to rediscover the fun of electronics and develop my programming skills - I've been having fun with Arduinos for just one year. This book will give me inspiration for years to come.
Neil Matthews
B. Tech. Electronic Engineering, MBA
24 of 24 found the following review helpful:
Old dog...new tricksMay 11, 2010
By Dr. Jack Purdum
"Jack in Indy"
I've been teaching programming for almost 25 years, mostly in C, and have been a licensed amateur radio operator for over 50 years so I know enough electronics to be dangerous. As an author myself, I know how hard it is to write a book on programming. I can't even imagine adding hardware descriptions to the task. As daunting as that might seem to me, Oxer and Blemings have done a wonderful job of covering both elements in Practical Arduino.
Chapter 1 begins with a discussion of very basic electronics (e.g., Ohm's Law, capacitance, etc.) and elementary safety issues. It also covers the minimal tools one needs to build each project that forms a chapter in the book. There are 16 chapters in the book, and 14 of those chapters discuss a project you can build. Most of the projects can be built with the ATMega128 or 328 CPU, although the last project (a telemetry system for an automobile) requires the horsepower of a 1280 CPU.
Essentially, each chapter begins with short description of the components you need to complete the project. Early in the book they even tell you several places to purchase specialized parts that might not be available at your local Radio Shack or equivalent. By the way, eBay has a bazillion electronic components for sale at very low prices. Amazon is also a good place to look, especially for the Arduino and the tools. If nothing else, they're a good way to discover what you should be paying for components.
Each chapter then proceeds to walk you through the construction of the project for that chapter. The topics were selected to highlight major tasks often encountered when using microcontroller (e.g., sensors, controllers, serial communications, etc.). None of the topics are the "blinky LED" type. All are serious projects and are designed for real work.
Actually, I purchased the book for a very specific problem I was having building a project that required multiplexing. Since that word didn't even exist when I started dabbling with electronics, I hoped this book would provide some answers...which it did, and then some. Not only did I learn how to multiplex an Arduino, I learn how to Charlieplex a circuit! In most cases, the authors not only tell you how to do something, but also why you are doing it. That's an admirable goal for any book that is trying to teach something to the reader and they've done it very well.
While I bought the book to address a single, specific problem, I ended up reading it from cover-to-cover. There are little nuggets of knowledge hidden in each and every chapter...each worth ferreting out. Each chapter also discusses the software necessary to drive the project. Software issues are also discussed, mostly using C code that is easy to follow. While the code is not C++ or purely Object Oriented, if you're into OOP like I am, it's a simple step to make the code OOP-friendly.
I've probably read a half dozen books now on the Arduino, but this is the one that has really answered my questions. It has a useful index, which is always a good sign of a well-written book. If you can only afford one book on the Arduino, make it this one...you won't be disappointed.
14 of 16 found the following review helpful:
Arduino Development From ABC's To Hardware & Software ProfessionalJan 05, 2010
By Ira Laefsky
"Ira Laefsky"
This is the best book for Arduino Accomplishment!!! Other pamphlets and freely available websites and literature, describe the Arduino in terms of hobbyist and artist physical computing experimentation--This 422 page mammoth illustrated book takes the user from simple Hello World experiments in hardware and software to accomplishment in engineering Professional-level Commercial and Real-time Research Systems. While this book about the inexpensive yet powerful Arduino Open-Source Physical Computing platform can be read and understood by anyone, regardless of their previous experience with software and hardware development, it is unlike any previous attempt to describe the Arduino System in that it carefully illustrates the Design, Development and Construction of Professional-Level Products for Industry, Automotive Applications and Real-Time Systems. Even the skills needed for Professional-level Packaging of the Arduino-based Product are carefully described--so that the powerful Physical Computing projects you build will look and feel as Professional as Commercial Products. The only slight criticism I would have of this excellent, necessary and one-of-a-kind volume is that some of the black and white illustrations would benefit from higher contrast printing.
Careful yet easily understood text describes the theory, development and fabrication of each project, electronic schematics are given along with photographic illustrations of the components and procedures one must follow to construct these projects and develop your own skills to develop sophisticated, functional and attractive systems. This is a valuable and very necessary book for anyone who deals with the Arduino, whether as a hobbyist, electronics consultant or academic and it is the first of its kind carrying the hobbyist to a professional level. I give it a well-deserved five-star review.
--Ira Laefsky
MSE/MBA Engineering and New Product Consultant
17 of 20 found the following review helpful:
 Very DisappointingAug 07, 2010
By D. R. Crawford
The first thing you notice when you open this book is that it seems to've been printed on recycled Charmin. After that, you'll notice right away how much trouble the authors and publishers took on the photos, i.e. just about none whatsoever. Instead of color photos, we are treated to the exciting world of monochrome. Ah, but not just any monochrome. No sir! The authors evidently went to all the trouble of finding one of Matthew Brady's original cameras, last used to photograph Civil War battlefields. They do provide lots of dim, dark, nearly zero-contrast photos, many of which are almost adequate. The publishers then took these lovely photos and reproduced them with what appears to've been a 1970's copier, still using the original toner cartridge I think. To economize on all that expensive recycled Charmin, the authors have painstakingly avoided any white space and have given us pages that have all the readability of medieval German.
THIS IS NOT A BOOK FOR BEGINNERS. The title should have used the word "Advanced" instead of "Practical". There are no easy introductory projects in this book, not one. Also, they seem to be horrified by the idea of easy-to-use breadboards and instead invite us to spend endless hours with a soldering iron, hoping that we can interpret those murky photos and not make any mistakes. As to the quality of the information so densely provided, it may be that once you have struggled through it all, you will have gotten really useful data from this book. I think you'll need to be a real Arduino expert though and extremely patient to boot. To me, the whole thing is spoiled by being so poorly presented. However, if you're one of those people who think form and style count for nothing, I'm sure you will truly appreciate this book. Good luck.
Update as of 10/15/10: Now that I have read the comment attached to this review by one of the authors, I feel sorry for them. Evidently the poor presentation was mainly the fault of the publishers, who appear to have been churlish and unresponsive. I would really like to know what the book would've looked like had the authors had their way. I naively assumed that the publishers took exactly what the authors gave them and simply reproduced it en masse. Evidently it is critically important to select the right publishers; a book that would otherwise have been well received and useful to its buyers might well end up being skewered by heartless reviewers like me.
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