Books

Welcome to my range of books, in print and digital form since 2013. They can be purchased from the publisher directly at No Starch Press, or from amazon in print and Kindle formats. I can also sell you a copy of a book directly if I have stock, only to Australian delivery addresses. If you have book suggestions or feedback (both negative and/or positive) please email john at tronixlabs dot com.

If you need the code or other files for a book, please click the relevant book cover to take you to the publisher’s website, from where you can download the required files.

AVR Workshop

AVR Workshop is a comprehensive introduction to working with the Microchip AVR 8-bit family of microcontrollers – made famous through their use in Arduino and other compatible boards. Whether you’re an absolute beginner or longtime electronics enthusiast, this book gives you the latest coding and hardware knowledge required to build 60 projects.

Rather than relying on libraries that hide operations under the hood, AVR Workshop teaches the basic C programming skills you need to work directly with ATmega328P-PU and ATtiny85 microcontrollers. You’ll get your operation up and running, then go from blinking LEDs and handling various types of user input to creating real-time clocks and digital thermometers, and even controlling small motorized devices. Once you understand the basic properties of electricity and electronic components, you’ll learn how to:

  • Detect input signals from external devices and put them to work
  • Work with popular parts like LCDs, motors, servos, and interfacing chips
  • Implement the SPI and I²C buses with AVR microcontrollers
  • Send serial data between AVR and a computer with USART
  • Use hardware interrupts, AVR timers, Pulse-Width Modulation, and EEPROM
  • Write your own AVR libraries

Whether your aim is hobbyist tinkering or full product development, AVR Workshop will give you the skills to harness a wide variety of devices, sensors, motors, displays, and more with your AVR microcontroller and bring your own ideas to life.

Arduino Workshop (2nd edition)

The Arduino is an inexpensive, flexible microcontroller platform that makes it easy for hobbyists to use electronics in DIY projects. With its wide range of input and output add-ons, sensors, indicators, displays, and motors, the Arduino offers you countless ways to create interactive devices.

Through 65 hands-on projects, Arduino Workshop will teach you the tricks and design principles of a master craftsman. This edition has been updated for the latest version of the Arduino IDE and revised to reflect current hardware and technology. It includes coverage of general electronics concepts as well as schematic diagrams and detailed images of components. You’ll experiment with touchscreens and LED displays, explore robotics, use sensors with wireless data links, and control devices remotely with a cell phone.

Throughout the book, hands-on projects reinforce what you’ve learned and show you how to apply that knowledge. As your understanding grows, the projects increase in complexity and sophistication. Along the way, you’ll learn valuable lessons in coding, including how to create your own Arduino libraries to efficiently reuse code across multiple projects.

Build projects like:

  • An electronic version of the classic six-sided die
  • A GPS logger that records and displays travel data
  • A keypad-controlled lock that opens with a secret code
  • A binary quiz game
  • A motorized remote control car with collision detection

Whatever your skill level, you’re sure to have fun as you learn to harness the power of the Arduino for your own DIY projects.

NEW TO THIS EDITION:

  • A chapter on creating your own Arduino libraries
  • Updated robotic vehicle projects
  • Newer shields that leverage GPS, 3G, and LoRa data transmission capabilities
  • A chapter on MAX7219-based numeric LED displays and LED matrix modules

Covers Arduino IDE 2.x

Arduino for Arduinians

This friendly project-based book will turn Arduino beginners into advanced Arduinians with the skills and inspiration needed to construct their own professional or hobbyist devices.

Building on Arduino techniques like those covered in the author’s celebrated Arduino Workshop, this book covers dozens of new topics and techniques. The book dives straight into constructing the building blocks of advanced Arduino projects, where readers will learn to increase interfacing speed and power efficiency, work with digital cameras and various data buses, safely control AC mains power, and other advanced skills that leverage this inexpensive, versatile microcontroller platform.