Arduino and Kinect Projects: Design, Build, Blow Their Minds

If you've done some Arduino tinkering and wondered how you could incorporate the Kinect—or the other way around—then this book is for you. The authors of Arduino and Kinect Projects will show you how to create 10 amazing, creative projects, from simple to complex. You'll also find out how to incorporate Processing in your project design—a language very similar to the Arduino language.

The ten projects are carefully designed to build on your skills at every step. Starting with the Arduino and Kinect equivalent of "Hello, World," the authors will take you through a diverse range of projects that showcase the huge range of possibilities that open up when Kinect and Arduino are combined.

• Gesture-based Remote Control. Control devices and home appliances with hand gestures.
• Kinect-networked Puppet. Play with a physical puppet remotely using your whole body.
• Mood Lamps. Build your own set of responsive, gesture controllable LED lamps.
• Drawing Robot. Control a drawing robot using a Kinect-based tangible table.
• Remote-controlled Vehicle. Use your body gestures to control a smart vehicle.
• Biometric Station. Use the Kinect for biometric recognition and checking Body Mass Indexes.
• 3D Modeling Interface. Learn how to use the Arduino LilyPad to build a wearable 3D modelling interface.
• 360º Scanner. Build a turntable scanner and scan any object 360º using only one Kinect.
• Delta Robot. Build and control your own fast and accurate parallel robot.

What you’ll learn

• Arduino and Kinect basics
• Interfacing Kinect and Arduino through Processing
• Communicating: Serial and communication over networks
• Interacting with the physical world: Sensors and actuators
• Volumetric Scanning
• Step-by-step instructions on a variety of Arduino/Kinect projects

Who this book is for

Intermediate to experienced gadget hackers who want to learn how to combine Arduino with Kinect, or who want inspiration for innovation.

About the Authors

Enrique Ramos Melgar is an architect specializing in computational design. His research interests include natural interaction, physics-based generative design, and their impact on architecture. He is co-founder of esc-studio, an architecture and computational design practice based in London and an Adjunct Professor at McGill School of Architecture in Montreal.

Enrique previously worked at leading international architecture firms. He was an associate at Foster+Partners in London and an on-site architect at Ateliers Jean Nouvel in Paris. His interest in computing started while working on complex architecture projects and hasn't withered since.

Enrique studied architecture at Seville University and the Ecole d'Architecture de Strasbourg. He holds a Master of Science in Adaptive Architecture and Computation from the Bartlett, UCL.

Ciriaco Castro Diez is an architect with a special interest in new technologies and programming. His research focuses on human-robotic interaction and architecture design, examining methods of interaction and the use of robotics in architecture. He is co-founder of esc-studio together with Enrique Ramos and Silvia Polito. He teaches at MIATD Master program at Seville University and has been collaborating in physical computing workshops at the Bartlett, UCL.

He has worked for Foster+Partners and Amanda Levete Architects, and he has been involved in high-profile international projects and research groups on parametric design, programming, and sustainability issues.

Ciriaco studied architecture at Seville University and ETSA Valles (Barcelona) and holds a Master of Science in Adaptive Architecture and Computation from the Bartlett, UCL.

Przemek Jaworski is an architect and computational designer. Since 2011, he is also the owner of Jawor Design Studio, a small consultancy dealing with computational techniques in architecture. He teaches parametric design and computation at Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland. He worked as a member of the Specialist Modeling Group at Foster+Partners from 2006 to 2010. He graduated from Bartlett, UCL (Adaptive Architecture and Computation Msc) and Wroclaw University of Technology (MSc in Architecture and Urban Planning). His interests include semi-intelligent and self-organizing systems, real-time interactive simulations, and physical computing. Currently he is heavily involved in research on digital fabrication techniques.