Arduino workshop: a hands-on introduction with 65 projects

394 Pages·2013·10.14 MB·English

by  John Boxall

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The Arduino is a cheap, flexible, open source micro- • A handy tester that lets you check the voltage of any A H A N D S - O N I N T R O D U C T I O N
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controller platform designed to make it easy for hobbyists single-cell battery
W I T H 6 5 P R O J E C T S
to use electronics in homemade projects. With an almost
• A keypad-controlled lock that requires a secret code II
unlimited range of input and output add-ons, sensors, indi-
to open
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cators, displays, motors, and more, the Arduino offers you
You’ll also learn to build Arduino toys and games like: J O H N B O X A L L
countless ways to create devices that interact with the
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world around you.
• An electronic version of the classic six-sided die
In Arduino Workshop, you’ll learn how these add-ons
• A binary quiz game that challenges your number
work and how to integrate them into your own projects. conversion skills WW
You’ll start off with an overview of the Arduino system
but quickly move on to coverage of various electronic • A motorized remote control tank with collision detection
components and concepts. Hands-on projects throughout to keep it from crashing OO
the book reinforce what you’ve learned and show you
Arduino Workshop will teach you the tricks and design
how to apply that knowledge. As your understanding grows, principles of a master craftsman. Whatever your skill level, RR
the projects increase in complexity and sophistication.
you’ll have fun as you learn to harness the power of the
Among the book’s 65 projects are useful devices like: Arduino for your own DIY projects. KK
• A digital thermometer that charts temperature changes
ABOUT THE AUTHOR SS
on an LCD
John Boxall (http://www.tronixstuff.com/) has been
• A GPS logger that records data from your travels, which HH
writing Arduino tutorials, projects, and kit and accessory
can be displayed on Google Maps
reviews for years. Arduino Workshop is his first book.
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PP
THE FINEST IN GEEK ENTERTAINMENT™
www.nostarch.com
B
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“I LIE FLAT.” $29.95($31.95CDN) A
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This book uses RepKover—a durable binding that won’t snap shut. HARDWARE/ELECTROSHELVE IN: L
N
ICS
Arduino Workshop

A r d u i n o
W o r k s h o p
A hands-on introduction
with 65 projects
by John Boxall
San Francisco
Arduino Workshop. Copyright © 2013 by John Boxall.
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the
prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher.
Printed in USA
First printing
17 16 15 14 13 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
ISBN-10: 1-59327-448-3
ISBN-13: 978-1-59327-448-1
Publisher: William Pollock
Production Editor: Serena Yang
Cover Illustration: Charlie Wylie
Interior Design: Octopod Studios
Developmental Editor: William Pollock
Technical Reviewer: Marc Alexander
Copyeditor: Lisa Theobald
Compositor: Susan Glinert Stevens
Proofreader: Emelie Battaglia
Circuit diagrams made using Fritzing (http://fritzing.org/)
For information on distribution, translations, or bulk sales, please contact No Starch Press, Inc. directly:
No Starch Press, Inc.
38 Ringold Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
phone: [phone]; fax: [phone]; [email protected]; www.nostarch.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record of this book is available from the Library of Congress.
No Starch Press and the No Starch Press logo are registered trademarks of No Starch Press, Inc. Other product and
company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than use a trademark
symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, we are using the names only in an editorial fashion and to
the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark.
The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis, without warranty. While every precaution has been
taken in the preparation of this work, neither the author nor No Starch Press, Inc. shall have any liability to any
person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the infor-
mation contained in it.
For the two people who have always believed in me:
my mother and my dearest Kathleen

Brief Contents
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix
Chapter 1: Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 2: Exploring the Arduino Board and the IDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Chapter 3: First Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Chapter 4: Building Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Chapter 5: Working with Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Chapter 6: Numbers, Variables, and Arithmetic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
Chapter 7: Liquid Crystal Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147
Chapter 8: Expanding Your Arduino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Chapter 9: Numeric Keypads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Chapter 10: Accepting User Input with Touchscreens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Chapter 11: Meet the Arduino Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207
Chapter 12: Motors and Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .225
Chapter 13: Using GPS with Your Arduino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Chapter 14: Wireless Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .271
Chapter 15: Infrared Remote Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Chapter 16: Reading RFID Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .295
Chapter 17: Data Buses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Chapter 18: Real-time Clocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
Chapter 19: The Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .337
Chapter 20: Cellular Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
viii Brief Contents
Contents in d e tAil
AcknoWledgments xix
1
getting stArted 1
The Possibilities Are Endless . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Strength in Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Parts and Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Required Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Mac OS X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Windows XP and Later . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Ubuntu Linux 9 .04 and Later . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Looking Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2
exploring the Arduino BoArd And the ide 19
The Arduino Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Taking a Look Around the IDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
The Command Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
The Text Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
The Message Window Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Creating Your First Sketch in the IDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
The Setup Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Controlling the Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
The Loop Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Verifying Your Sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Uploading and Running Your Sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Modifying Your Sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Looking Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3
First steps 33
Planning Your Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
About Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Voltage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Electronic Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
The Resistor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
The Light-Emitting Diode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
The Solderless Breadboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Project #1: Creating a Blinking LED Wave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
The Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
The Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43