The 10-day journey includes various practical aspects of the Arduino platform, presented in a clear and concise manner. Each chapter in this book is intended to correspond to a day's worth of study. Each chapter introduces and demonstrates unique practical fundamentals through hands-on examples; that must be assimilated to become self-reliant on the topic of Arduino prototyping.
Chapter 1, Boot Camp, welcomes you with this Boot Camp chapter and proceeds to guide you on how to use the book. It lists the hardware components and devices that must be procured in order to follow through the learning path outlined in the chapters.
Chapter 2, The Arduino Platform, introduces you to the Arduino platform. First, we will see what the Arduino platform is all about. Then, there will be quick introductory topics regarding fundamentals for getting started. This will be followed by a quick but in-depth look at the first Arduino code.
Chapter 3, Day 1 - Building a Simple Prototype, starts your journey by learning to build a simple device prototype. This will be your first hardware-software integrated prototype. Two easy-to-work prototypes with examples have been chosen for this chapter. The first example will be to emit light patterns. While the second example will be to emit basic sounds and play a musical tone.
Chapter 4, Day 2 - Interfacing with Sensors, describes how to work with sensors in general. You might have seen automatic doors that slide open once somebody goes near the door. These automatic systems are usually based on sensors, microcontrollers and embedded software. In this chapter, we will learn the fundamental technique of interfacing with sensors in general.
Chapter 5, Day 3 - Building a Compound Device, takes a step ahead by explaining how to build compound device prototypes using the Arduino platform. Compound devices are a very important topic as real-world devices are usually composed of multiple devices integrated with a central microcontroller. This chapter will provide a hands-on example to building a compound device.
Chapter 6, Day 4 - Building a Standalone Device, facilitates building real-world device prototypes. Independent power sources, not from a computer’s USB port, will be used so that the device prototype can work without being connected to a computer. In this chapter, we will learn how to make standalone devices that have their independent power sources, a power switch, and a container.
Chapter 7, Day 5 - Using Actuators, proceeds to work on our first project that uses diodes and transistors with a DC motor (an example of an actuator) powered from an independent battery-based power source. This is an advanced level chapter and is designed with a lot of concepts and components, which builds upon the knowledge gathered so far from the previous chapters.
Chapter 8, Day 6 - Using AC Powered Components, presents a unique presentation for introduction to the fundamentals of interfacing and controlling AC-powered electrical devices with the Arduino platform. This topic was specifically chosen for a wholesome completeness of the 10-day crash course.
Chapter 9, Day 7 - The World of Transmitters, Receivers, and Transceivers, reveals an exciting chapter on infrared transmitters and receivers. As you read through, this chapter will unravel and demystify some embedded world techniques used for transmitting and receiving data from one device to another using wireless signals.
Chapter 10, Day 8 - Short Range Wireless Communications, introduces us to hands-on techniques used for transmitting and receiving data from one device to another using wireless radio signals (RF and Bluetooth). We will start learning wireless communications using Radio Frequency (RF).
Chapter 11, Day 9 - Long Range Wireless Communications, provides a fascinating introduction to the exciting world of telephony. In this chapter, we will learn how to use a GSM module with the Arduino platform.
Chapter 12, Day 10 - The Internet of Things, explains how to use the Arduino platform in the fast emerging Internet of Things world. All of us have heard about the buzzword IoT (Internet of Things). The Internet of Things is a growing network of physical devices that can connect to the existing Internet and exchange data with other devices.
All the chapters have working Arduino code and circuit building specifications and instructions.