Start automating with Arduino shield
From all the books I came across recently, the current one deserves a special attention. This is Raspberry Pi Home Automation with Arduino by Andrew K. Dennis.
As a newbie in the field of not only Raspberry Pi, but of electronics as a whole, I needed a lot of background to catch up with. All of these resistors, thermistors, bread-boards, shields, wire-color-codes, etc. - the book is not a theoretical guide in the filed but give just enough explanations for all the hardware involved. The book's chapters are typically organised as a set of tutorials. This makes it comfortably structured, and allows for quicker reading and jumping directly to your level or particular sub-theme of interest.
So lets be a bit more specific and see what is in the book. The first chapter is introductory in sense of providing historical background to the both platforms - Raspberry Pi and Arduino, and automation of the home environment. In the end we are convinced that the Pi (equipped with the Arduino shield) really represents a little revolution in the field.
The next two chapters provide the initial set-up for our automating system. From installing the operating system of choice, through constructing the shielded device, to the programming tools required for managing the test system. Here the chosen OS is the "default" option for Raspberry Pi - Raspbian Wheezy. Once the shield is installed, the programmatic communication with it needs to be carried through some library. It is shown, how to check which version of the provided arduPi library is the right one for our Pi. When ready and after the mandatory Blinking LED test we're set and ready to dive.
Chapter four is very important, because it is a proof of concept. Guiding us through making the hardware set-up of digital thermometer and finally the code that reads the measurements, it is actually the first example of a real world application of the Pi. Just reading through this chapter and automation ideas might start to pop out. And since the home is a physical environment, the underlying laws and principles are explained when necessary up to the mathematical equation and its corresponding arduPi code. We're hinted that for further and more complex experimentation the simple Geany IDE could be of great help to automate the process of compiling and running the executable binaries.
The next chapter five is the fore mentioned increasing (although quite slight) of complexity - it shows how to turn the thermometer into a thermostat. On the level of hardware the relays are introduced. On the level of software the screen and the cURL were installed in order to keep the application as an autonomously running process on Raspbian, and for the application to communicate to other programs (code) through URLs respectively.
Chapter six is dedicated to making things permanent - to better control the data by recording the measurements to a database. The mixture of SQLite, HTSQL, Apache HTTP server with WSGI (server side Python implementation) is gradually tied up so in the end all the results are written into the SQLite database file. Its data can conveniently be displayed in the simple web application just created.
The seventh chapter takes a little step aside, by exploring the task of using the combination of photoresistor and a motor shield, which is a bit different look of the previous task. They're used to automatically close/open blinds regarding the environment's luminosity. Thus it is shown that there is abundance of ideas floating around and only the lack of imagination can make them remain invisible. Discovering the new projects is subjective to everyone and hinting to some of them is the task of the last chapter eight. Here the tone is set for the real world problems. The hardware presented is the Gertboard, the GPIO pins and their meanings, the components from the previous tasks are provided with some more advanced details. Some possible applications are mentioned (like the modern 3D printing for instance).
So if you're this type of electronics enthusiast who is new to Raspberry Pi, this book is for you, regardless of your experience with soldering components. The book has a real practical value. But only if you're not afraid to get your hands a little bit dirty.
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| Start automating with Arduino shield |
As a newbie in the field of not only Raspberry Pi, but of electronics as a whole, I needed a lot of background to catch up with. All of these resistors, thermistors, bread-boards, shields, wire-color-codes, etc. - the book is not a theoretical guide in the filed but give just enough explanations for all the hardware involved. The book's chapters are typically organised as a set of tutorials. This makes it comfortably structured, and allows for quicker reading and jumping directly to your level or particular sub-theme of interest.
So lets be a bit more specific and see what is in the book. The first chapter is introductory in sense of providing historical background to the both platforms - Raspberry Pi and Arduino, and automation of the home environment. In the end we are convinced that the Pi (equipped with the Arduino shield) really represents a little revolution in the field.
The next two chapters provide the initial set-up for our automating system. From installing the operating system of choice, through constructing the shielded device, to the programming tools required for managing the test system. Here the chosen OS is the "default" option for Raspberry Pi - Raspbian Wheezy. Once the shield is installed, the programmatic communication with it needs to be carried through some library. It is shown, how to check which version of the provided arduPi library is the right one for our Pi. When ready and after the mandatory Blinking LED test we're set and ready to dive.
Chapter four is very important, because it is a proof of concept. Guiding us through making the hardware set-up of digital thermometer and finally the code that reads the measurements, it is actually the first example of a real world application of the Pi. Just reading through this chapter and automation ideas might start to pop out. And since the home is a physical environment, the underlying laws and principles are explained when necessary up to the mathematical equation and its corresponding arduPi code. We're hinted that for further and more complex experimentation the simple Geany IDE could be of great help to automate the process of compiling and running the executable binaries.
The next chapter five is the fore mentioned increasing (although quite slight) of complexity - it shows how to turn the thermometer into a thermostat. On the level of hardware the relays are introduced. On the level of software the screen and the cURL were installed in order to keep the application as an autonomously running process on Raspbian, and for the application to communicate to other programs (code) through URLs respectively.
Chapter six is dedicated to making things permanent - to better control the data by recording the measurements to a database. The mixture of SQLite, HTSQL, Apache HTTP server with WSGI (server side Python implementation) is gradually tied up so in the end all the results are written into the SQLite database file. Its data can conveniently be displayed in the simple web application just created.
The seventh chapter takes a little step aside, by exploring the task of using the combination of photoresistor and a motor shield, which is a bit different look of the previous task. They're used to automatically close/open blinds regarding the environment's luminosity. Thus it is shown that there is abundance of ideas floating around and only the lack of imagination can make them remain invisible. Discovering the new projects is subjective to everyone and hinting to some of them is the task of the last chapter eight. Here the tone is set for the real world problems. The hardware presented is the Gertboard, the GPIO pins and their meanings, the components from the previous tasks are provided with some more advanced details. Some possible applications are mentioned (like the modern 3D printing for instance).
So if you're this type of electronics enthusiast who is new to Raspberry Pi, this book is for you, regardless of your experience with soldering components. The book has a real practical value. But only if you're not afraid to get your hands a little bit dirty.
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