Physical Computing: Sensing and Controlling the Physical World with Computers
-
Stars:
- Publisher: Course Technology PTR
- Since: 2004-05-28
- Media: Paperback
- ISBN-10: 159200346X
Users who read this book
1 books read
 |
jkoba0512 7 months ago |
Physical Computing |
1 books read
Reviews on Amazon
(23people)- I bought an Arduino.
<
>I went online and investigated how to use it through tutorials. <
>I learned about author Tom Igoe through some online videos and was fascinated by what he was doing with the Arduino. <
>I subsequently bought this book. <
>I was not disappointed. <
>Igoe and Sullivan use their teaching skills ..."teaching by doing," I think... to present a series of experiments on how to interface computers (specifically, microcontrollers) with the REAL world. Through the use of a variety of sensors (when I was in college we called them transducers), the authors illustrate how to "make things happen" based on what the sensors "sense". <
>This book uses the various incarnations of the PIC microcontroller. There is a wealth of information on the PIC and it is ubiquitous in robots, various types of device controllers, etc. But, I was particularly interested in using the Arduino controller board. So when I opened the book and found the authors' concentration on the PIC, I was disappointed to say the least. After a few pages, however, I found that the coverage was exactly what I was looking for. The programming, though NOT the Arduino Integrated Development Environment, was straightforward and revealing. I was able to translate easily from PIC Basic to Arduino sketches. And the coverage of the various kinds of sensors is fantastic! <
>This is a book about sensors. It is a book about how to utilize the data from sensors to control things in the real world. It is chock full of electronics, humor, projects and ideas. I recommend it highly to anyone getting started with the PIC microcontroller or the Arduino. This book is not for everyone, but if this is your interest, you money will be well spent. - Though, I haven't finish reading this book yet, explains everything from basic electronics to microcontroller based projects. Explains common electronic components and microprocessor functions. I bought this book to get to know the functionality of microcontroller (& other electronics components) in order get started another embedded programming project. I followed the other reviews to this particular book and I would recommend to other beginners.
- Overall the book does an excellent job covering a wide range of logically-organized material. This ranges from getting information into a microcontroller (reading a sensor or pushbutton), to processing that information, to acting on it (e.g. running a a motor or passing it to a desktop machine).
<
> <
>The book is strong at the technical level. It shows actual circuits (although photos can be somewhat murky), gives code for a number of specific microcontrollers, lists part numbers, describes existing communication standards, and so on. <
> <
>The book is weaker at the theoretical level. Since it doesn't often attempt to go into theory, that's mostly OK. However, the opening analogy of electricity to water flow is wrong (voltage is like water pressure, not like the speed of water). This made me wonder what other errors the book might contain, in material that I'm not so familiar with. <
> <
>As a final complaint, sometimes the phrasing can be vague or confusing. Almost always the problem is clarified a few sentences on, but it's still distracting. A fairly high-profile example is the title of Chapter 6, "The 'Big Four' Schematics, Programs, and Transducers." The title is intended to convey that the chapter covers schematics, programs, and transducers for "the Big Four" (digital input, digital output, analog input, and analog output). However as a stand-alone title it conveys nothing, and trips me up since a list of three items follows a reference to "the big four." A colon or some other punctuation might help, but better would be to just call it "Handling Transducers" or something else as straightforward. <
> <
>I would recommend this book to anybody interested in interfacing microcontrollers with the physical environment. However if you don't have a basic electronics background, I would suggest supplementing this book with Brindley's Starting Electronics, which introduces individual components via a very nice hands-on approach. - I really enjoyed this book. It was clearly written and progressed at a pace that could take a beginner to a novice in a short time. There is some basic fundamental theory at the start building into hands on projects in a few chapters. When reading this book it is a lot easier to understand if you assemble the projects while reading the chapter (as recommended by the author).
- Este libro es una muy buena introducción a los principios de la electrónica aplicados a microcontroladores. Existen muchos ejemplos en el uso de diversos componentes,como : servo motores, sensores, circuitos. Con los que se puede alcanzar altos niveles de interactividad. El libro parte desde lo básico hasta involucrarse con telepresencia a traves de internet..etc...Muy recomendable.
<
> <
>Marcos Chilet <
>Diseño, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
