Arduino Robotics

This book will show you how to use your Arduino to control a variety of different robots, while providing step-by-step instructions on the entire robot building process. you'll learn Arduino basics as well as the characteristics of different types of motors used in robotics. You also discover controller methods and failsafe methods, and learn how to apply them to your project. The book starts with basic robots and moves into more complex projects, including a GPS-enabled robot, a robotic lawn mower, a fighting bot, and even a DIY Segway-clone.

• Introduction to the Arduino and other components needed for robotics
• Learn how to build motor controllers
• Build bots from simple line-following and bump-sensor bots to more complex robots that can mow your lawn, do battle, or even take you for a ride

What you’ll learn

• Basics of motor-control
• Basics of PCB design and fabrication
• R/C control and decoding
• Autonomous sensor guidance
• Frame building from various materials
• Instructions for a variety of robot designs

About the Authors

John-David “JD” Warren is an electronics hobbyist, builder, and relentless tinkerer. As a child, he took apart everything he owned to figure out how it worked. Since then he has built many different projects ranging from anelectric fishing pole to a remote-controlled lawn mower, which was featured on the cover of MAKE magazine in April 2010. Having worked as a builder doing carpentry, plumbing, and electrical work for 8 years, his knowledge is founded in real world experience rather than textbook recitation.

In addition to building robots and remote controlled toys, he enjoys automating everyday tasks, blinking LEDs, designing and etching PCBs, and lots of random things in between. Much of his time has been spent researching, building, and testing various motor-controllers to make his bots move. As a self-proclaimed “poor man's roboticist,” he will always try to find the cheapest way to do something – usually by building it himself.

JD graduated from the University of Alabama in Birmingham with a degree in Business Management. He currently lives in Birmingham, Alabama.

Josh Adams is a developer and architect with over nine years of professional experience building production-quality software and managing projects. Josh is Isotope Eleven's lead architect, and is responsible for overseeing architectural decisions and translating customer requirements into working software. Josh graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) with Bachelor of Science degrees in both Mathematics and Philosophy.

Harald Molle has been a computer engineer since 1984. He started his career by becoming a researcher at a university in the Southwest of Germany before cofounding an embedded systems company. Harald is also an expert SCUBA diver, a passion he is trying to combine with his work by developing a GPS-controlled robot to survey lakes.