Book Image

Arduino for Kids

By : Rishi Gaurav Bhatnagar, Vijay Varada
Book Image

Arduino for Kids

By: Rishi Gaurav Bhatnagar, Vijay Varada

Overview of this book

The mission of this book is to integrate technology with the tools that children already use for crafts so that they feel that the technology is an extension of their playtime. We use coding, sensors, and micro-controllers integrated with art and craft supplies, origami, and Playdough. There are 10 fun-filled chapters that talk to children directly, and give clear instructions for non-technical parents too. We use Arduino as the controller of choice due to its easy availability and large community. By the end of the book, children will comfortably be able to set up their Arduino, read and understand code, manipulate code, and ultimately write their own code for projects. They will also be able to use basic sensors and know how components connect to each other. All the learning takes place with lots of colorful pictures and the circuits are neatly presented using wiring.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Arduino for Kids
Credits
Foreword
About the Authors
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Customer Feedback
Preface

Motors and movement


Since we will need to make things move in this project, we will be using a kind of motor. A motor is a device that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy, in other words, one that converts electricity into motion.

Various types of motors

Image source: https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/016/662/medium800/components_IMG_4846.jpg?1400434765

There are a vast number of motors out there... depending on the type of motion needed (linear or rotary), motor construction (brushed, brushless, stepper motor), type of current (AC or DC), and so on. Depending on what kind of motion we are looking for, which in turn depends on our application, we need to choose a motor that suits our requirements.

For our project, we will be using a Servo Motor, whose specialty is that it can move by specific amounts, or to a specific position, and even control its acceleration and velocity. Servo motors are traditionally used in RC cars and airplanes, but they can be used for...