I recently wrote a book titled 'Arduino Robotics' that goes into some of the fundamentals of electricity and electronics, followed by a couple of chapters on how the Arduino works with motors and sensors, and finally a collection of 10 robotics projects, all of which use the Arduino. While some of the projects can get pretty hands-on, they are (hopefully) simplified to be easier to understand, cutting out as much of what is not needed as possible.
I started out writing this book and was going to provide 10 robotics projects with step by step instructions on how to build each. I soon realized that my deadline was quite aggressive (6 months!), and that there was quite a bit more information to go over before just delving in and building a robot. This prompted the writing of chapters 1-3, which serves as a primer to get you ready for the things presented thoughout the book.
Here is a chapter list:
For more information, see the Amazon page (including a preview).
I plan on this website being a place for readers to interact by posting on the forum (coming soon) to ask a question or share an idea, posting pictures and a description of a robot that you built from the book, and soon have robot parts (and kits) available to buy for the book projects.
Check out the google site with the code and file attachments:
For now, here are some videos of some bots from the book:
Chapter 4: Linus the Line bot, uses Infrared emitter/detectors to check how well a surface reflects light. Linus uses his reflective sensors to follow a black line on an otherwise white surface by adjusting the two drive motors to keep him centered on the line. See a video here:
Chapter 5: Wally the Wall bot uses ultrasonic range finder (ping) sensors to check its own distance from the nearest wall. It will then follow that wall around the room, staying 12" away from the wall as it travels - if it gets too far away it will travel back and vice versa. See it in action:
Chapter 10: The Lawnbot remote controlled lawnmower.
Chapter 11: The Seg-bot balancing rideable poor-man's segway
If you have any questions concerning my book or need assistance with one of the projects, please feel free to ask: johndavid400 at gmail dot com