Most Popular Books by John Baichtal

Absolutely no experience needed! Build your drone, step-by-step, with this full-color, hands-on guide! You’ve heard about drones. You’ve seen drones. Now, build your own—it’s a lot easier than you think! Drones are the newest frontier for the DIY/maker community, and you don’t need to be a technical expert to build one. John Baichtal, the #1 author of hardware hacking books for beginners, will teach you all the skills you need. First, Baichtal shows you the amazing drones others have built. Then, he walks you through several complete projects: quadcopters, UAVs, ROVs, and more. Not ready to start from scratch? No problem: Baichtal helps you choose from today’s best new kits. Hundreds of full-color step-by-step photos teach you every step, every skill. When you’re ready for more advanced concepts, Baichtal explains them in plain English. Discover what drones are and why they’re so exciting Explore today’s most imaginative projects, from 3D-printed mini quadcopters to floating robot armies Compare kits, from $200 up: Parallax ELEV-8, DJI Phantom 2 Vision+, OpenROV, Actobotics Nomad, Brooklyn Aerodrome Flack, and more Create your own practical Drone Builder’s Workbench Build complete rocket, blimp, waterborne, and automotive drones Construct both fully autonomous and radio-controlled drones Choose and assemble your chassis (airframe), motor, props, flight control, power system, accessories, and software Integrate Arduino to make radio-controlled drones operate autonomously Teach a drone to navigate via RFID tags Learn all the basic electronics and programming you’ll need

"Loaded with full-color step-by-step illustrations!"--Cover.

This easy tutorial explains all aspects of robot building. It teaches basic robot programming, and gives you all the cut-and-paste code you''ll need for some pretty sophisticated projects

Presents instructions for creating and enhancing a variety of projects, including a sandwich-making robot, a Twitter-monitoring Christmas tree, and a bronze-melting blast furnace.

What is a bicycle? The answer is a little trickier than you might think. More than just a form of transportation, your bike is a framework on which you can explore and display your own inventiveness.With a full history of the bicycle and information about commercial mods such as adding baby seats and fenders--as well as instruction on wheels, tires, and regular maintenance--this book gives you the tools and ideas to hack your ride your own way. You''ll not only find out how to strip down your bike so that you can actually put it back together again, but you''ll create a complete bike hacker''s workbench, ready for any idea you might have! In Make: Bicycle Projects, you''ll learn to: Add EL wire, LEDs, and NEOPixels for cool nighttime travel Install a SpokePOV kit to see things only your bike sees Add a DIY Smartphone Rig that keeps you connected Paint your bike so that it stays painted Turn your geared steed into a fixie Weld and braze your frame Make a rad chopper Let the sun power your projects Give an audio component to your frame for alarms, horns, and just making noise Haul cargo in a basket or mini-trailer Turn your ride into a veritable party trailer replete with color organ!

In The Cult of LEGO, Wired''s GeekDad blogger John Baichtal and BrickJournal founder Joe Meno take you on a magnificent, illustrated tour of the LEGO® community, its people, and their creations. The Cult of LEGO introduces us to fans and builders from all walks of life. People like professional LEGO artist Nathan Sawaya; enigmatic Dutch painter Ego Leonard (who maintains that he is, in fact, a LEGO minifig); Angus MacLane, a Pixar animator who builds CubeDudes, instantly recognizable likenesses of fictional characters; Brick Testament creator Brendan Powell Smith, who uses LEGO to illustrate biblical stories; and Henry Lim, whose work includes a series of models recreating M.C. Escher lithographs and a full-scale, functioning LEGO harpsichord. Marvel at spectacular LEGO creations like: –A life-sized Stegosaurus and an 80,000-brick T. Rex skeleton –Detailed microscale versions of landmarks like the Acropolis and Yankee Stadium –A 22-foot long, 350-pound re-creation of the World War II battleship Yamato –A robotic, giant chess set that can replay historical matches or take on an opponent –A three-level, remote-controlled Jawa Sandcrawler, complete with moving conveyor belt Whether you''re a card-carrying LEGO fanatic or just thinking fondly about that dusty box of LEGO in storage, The Cult of LEGO will inspire you to take out your bricks and build something amazing.

Minecraft has sold more than one hundred million copies worldwide (about 25 million of those units for the PC and Mac). According to Mojang, since the beginning of 2016 Minecraft continues to average 53,000 copies sold per day. Microsoft bought Minecraft (and Mojang) in 2014 for $2.5 billion. In 2016, Microsoft released a version of Minecraft specifically for educators called MinecraftEdu that is used by thousands of teachers around the world. Minecraft for Makers explores the intersection of this creative and beloved electronic game with the real world. It gives readers the opportunity to take familiar objects from the game - such as blocks, jack o''lanterns, and mobs - and make real-world versions of them. Begin with simple crafting projects using wood, paint, and LEGOs. Then move up to projects that involve basic electronics with LEDs. And, finally, advance to Arduino microcontroller projects that teach programming skills and basic robotics. The skills build progressively on one another, from chapter to chapter, and the emphasis is on fun all the way! Chapters include: Basic Projects (Item Frame with Diamond Sword, LEGO Minecraft Block, Minecraft Chess Pieces) LED Projects (Glowing Minecraft Block, Glowstone Chandelier, Minecraft Chess Board) Arduino Projects (Minecraft Jack O''Lantern, Night and Day Clock, Robot Creeper)

Maker Pro is a book of essays by more than a dozen prominent and up-and-coming professional makers (Maker Pros). Each essay includes advice and stories on topics such as starting a kit-making business, taking a hardware project open-source, and plenty of encouragement to "quit your day job." This book is a reference for anyone who dreams of turning a hobby into a small business, and features stories from well-known professional makers; it will turn aspiration into inspiration.

Basic Robot Building with LEGO® Mindstorms® NXT 2.0 ABSOLUTELY NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED! Learn LEGO® Mindstorms® NXT 2.0 from the ground up, hands-on, in full color! Ever wanted to build a robot? Now’s the time, LEGO® Mindstorms® NXT 2.0 is the technology, and this is the book. You can do this, even if you’ve never built or programmed anything! Don’t worry about where to begin: start right here. John Baichtal explains everything you need to know, one ridiculously simple step at a time... and shows you every key step with stunningly clear full-color photos! You won’t just learn concepts–you’ll put them to work in three start-to-finish projects, including three remarkable bots you can build right this minute, with zero knowledge of programming or robotics. It’s going to be simple–and it’s going to be fun. All you need is in the box–and in this book! Unbox your LEGO® Mindstorms® NXT 2.0 set, and discover exactly what you’ve got Build a Backscratching Bot immediately Connect the NXT Intelligent Brick to your computer (Windows or Mac) Navigate the Brick’s menus and upload programs Start writing simple new programs–painlessly Build the Clothesline Cruiser, a robot that travels via rope Program your robot’s movements Learn to create stronger, tougher models Help your robot sense everything from distance and movement to sound and color Build a miniature tank-treaded robot that knows how to rebound Write smarter programs by creating your own programming blocks Discover what to learn next, and which additional parts you might want to buy JOHN BAICHTAL is a contributor to MAKE magazine and Wired’s GeekDad blog. He is the co-author of The Cult of Lego (No Starch) and author of Hack This: 24 Incredible Hackerspace Projects from the DIY Movement (Que). Most recently he wrote Make: Lego and Arduino Projects for MAKE, collaborating with Adam Wolf and Matthew Beckler. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with his wife and three children.

EV3 without limits! Build 5 amazing robotics projects that take DIY to a whole new level! You can do way more with your LEGO Mindstorms EV3 kit than anyone ever told you! In this full-color, step-by-step tutorial, top-maker and best-selling author John Baichtal shows you how to transcend Mindstorms’ limits as you build five cutting-edge robotics projects. You’ll discover just how much you can do with only the parts that came with your kit–and how much farther you can go with extremely low-cost add-ons like Arduino and Raspberry Pi. You’ll learn how to reprogram your Mindstorms Intelligent Brick to add additional hardware options and create more complex programs. Hundreds of full-color, step-by-step photos teach you every step, every skill. Whenever you’re ready for advanced techniques, Baichtal explains them in plain English. Here’s just some of what you’ll learn how to do: Build a drawing Plotter Bot that gyrates to draw new patterns Hack Mindstorms’ wires–and control robots without wires Create a remote-controlled crane, and operate it from your smartphone Use the EV3 brick to control third-party electronic modules of all kinds Replace the EV3 brick with smarter, more flexible Arduino, Raspberry Pi, or BeagleBone Black hardware Build a robotic flower whose petals open and close based on time of day Use third-party sensors to build robots that can sense practically anything Load an alternate operating system onto your EV3 brick 3D print, laser, and mill your own perfect LEGO parts Create ball contraptions, and extend them with your own custom parts Make a pole-climbing robot–and hook up an altimeter to track its height This book is not authorized or endorsed by the LEGO® Group. Register Your Book at www.quepublishing.com/register and receive 35% off your next purchase.

Make amazing robots and gadgets with two of today’s hottest DIY technologies. With this easy-to-follow guide, you’ll learn how to build devices with Lego Mindstorms NXT 2.0, the Arduino prototyping platform, and some add-on components to bridge the two. Mindstorms alone lets you create incredible gadgets. Bring in Arduino for some jaw-dropping functionality—and open a whole new world of possibilities. Build a drink dispenser, music synthesizer, wireless lamp, and more Each fun and fascinating project includes step-by-step instructions and clear illustrations to guide you through the process. Learn how to set up an Arduino programming environment, download the sketches and libraries you need, and work with Arduino’s language for non-programmers. It’s a perfect book for students, teachers, hobbyists, makers, hackers, and kids of all ages. Build a Drawbot that roams around and traces its path with a marker pen Construct an analog Mindstorms clock with hands that display the correct time Create a machine that mixes a glass of chocolate milk at the touch of a button Make a Gripperbot rolling robotic arm that you control wirelessly with Arduinos mounted on your arms Explore electronic music by building a guitar-shaped Lego synthesizer Build a Lego lamp with on/off and dimmer switches that you control with a smartphone application Jump feet first into the world of electronics, from learning Ohm’s Law to working with basic components You''ll need the Bricktronics shield created for this book by Open Source Hardware kit maker Wayne and Layne, or you can build a breadboarded equivalent (see Chapter 10) for about $25 in parts.

Jimmy DiResta has made a name for himself with his inventiveness and workshop skills, creating dozens of projects for YouTube videos and television shows such as Hammered and Against the Grain on the DIY network. In Make: Workshop Mastery With Jimmy DiResta, Jimmy and co-author John Baichtal teach readers essential workshop skills with over a dozen projects that explore everything from mold-making to CNC routing on to metalsmithing.Projects in this book include: Tool-drawer cabinet A chess set One-sheet metal stool A machete Crowbar-hammer mashup An electric guitar with a carved body Your own sign A leather backpack

Even if you''ve never touched a 3D printer, these projects will excite and empower you to learn new skills, extend your current abilities, and awaken your creative impulses. Each project uses a unique combination of electronics, hand assembly techniques, custom 3D-printed parts, and software, while teaching you how to think through and execute your own ideas. Written by the founder of Printrbot, his staff, and veteran DIY authors, this book of projects exemplifies the broad range of highly personalized, limit-pushing project possibilities of 3D printing when combined with affordable electronic components and materials. In Make: 3D Printing Projects, you''ll: Print and assemble a modular lamp that''s suitable for beginners--and quickly gets you incorporating electronics into 3D-printed structures. Learn about RC vehicles by fabricating--and driving--your own sleek, shiny, and fast Inverted Trike. Model a 1950s-style Raygun Pen through a step-by-step primer on how to augment an existing object through rapid prototyping. Fabricate a fully functional, battery-powered screwdriver, while learning how to tear down and reconstruct your own tools. Get hands-on with animatronics by building your own set of life-like mechanical eyes. Make a Raspberry Pi robot that rides a monorail of string, can turn corners, runs its own web server, streams video, and is remote-controlled from your phone. Build and customize a bubble-blowing robot, flower watering contraption, and a DIY camera gimbal.

Virtually build any LEGO creation you can imagine—with any LEGO part ever made! This fun guide shows how to create just about anything from virtual LEGO blocks using free software. Learn how to install and customize LEGO Digital Designer, navigate the user interface, and get started on your own projects. LDraw and Mecabricks are also clearly explained. Building with Virtual LEGO: Getting Started with LEGO Digital Designer, LDraw, and Mecabricks features DIY projects that illustrate each technique and software tool. You will see how to upload and share your creations online—even modify projects that others have built! Find out how to: • Download, set up, and configure LEGO Digital Designer • Navigate the LDD user interface, menus, and tools • Identify the different Lego parts and explore brick palettes • Quickly and easily start creating your own LEGO models • Access the huge library of out-of-print LEGO bricks in LDraw, including those designed by hobbyists • Get up and running on Mecabricks and launch creative projects online • Write clear instructions and share them with other virtual LEGO enthusiasts • Create custom bricks and participate in the LDraw parts design process

- Schritt-für-Schritt-Bauanleitungen für einen Quadcopter, eine Rakete, ein Luftschiff, ein Wasserfahrzeug und ein autonomes Bodenfahrzeug - Bau sowohl völlig autonomer als auch ferngesteuerter Fahrzeuge - Auswahl und Zusammenbau von Fahr- und Flugwerk, Motoren, Propellern, Flugsteuerung, Energieversorgung und weiterem Zubehör sowie Verwendung der erforderlichen Software In der DIY- und Maker-Szene sind Drohnen ein absolutes Trendthema. Warum also nicht selbst eine bauen? Das ist einfacher, als man denkt! Sie müssen dafür kein Technikexperte sein. Anhand zahlreicher farbiger Abbildungen und Schritt-für-Schritt-Anleitungen erläutert John Baichtal in diesem Buch alle Bereiche, die beim Bau eigener Drohnen eine Rolle spielen. Dazu gehören nicht nur die Elektronik, sondern auch Motoren, Verfahren zum Bau des Flugwerks sowie die benötigten Werkzeuge. Projekte aus dem Buch: - als Hauptprojekt ein Quadcopter: vom Flugwerk über Motoren und Propeller, bis hin zu Flugsteuerung und Energieversorgung - eine Raketen-Drohne, die als Nutzlast einen Arduino befördert - ein Luftschiff, das mithilfe von Heliumballons fliegt - ein ferngesteuertes Wasserfahrzeug - ein Rover, der RFID-Etiketten zur Navigation verwendet Aus dem Inhalt: - Auswahl und Zusammenbau von Fahr- und Flugwerk, Motoren, Propellern, Flugsteuerung, Energieversorgung und weiterem Zubehör sowie Verwendung der erforderlichen Software - Arduino-Integration zur Automatisierung ferngesteuerter Drohnen - Steuerung einer Drohne mithilfe von RFID-Transpondern - Grundlagen der Elektronik und der Arduino-Programmierung

モノを作ることを職業にした十数名のMakerによるエッセイとインタビュー集。登場するMakerは幅広い分野から選定。

Lego est bien plus qu''un simple jouet : c''est un mode de vie. Culture Lego vous embarque pour un captivant voyage illustré au coeur de la communauté Lego et de ses créations. Vous y rencontrerez des passionnés de tous horizons, comme l''artiste plasticien Nathan Sawaya, le réalisateur de stop motions en briques Lego, David Pagano, l''énigmatique Ego Leonard et les nombreux et fervents AFOL (adult fans of Lego) qui consacrent un nombre d''heures incalculable à leurs chefs-d''oeuvre. Au fil des pages, de nombreuses photographies couleurs vous dévoileront les modèles incroyablement créatifs et complexes imaginés par la communauté Lego. Vous admirerez un stégosaure grandeur nature, un Yankee Stadium miniature, un cuirassé de la Seconde Guerre mondiale de près de 7 mètres de long, un gigantesque jeu d''échec dont les pièces sont contrôlés grâce à des boîtiers Mindstorms ou encore un char des sables jawa télécommandé (avec un tapis roulant qui fonctionne !). Vous pénétrerez les conventions, dans lesquelles les passionnés se rencontrent et exposent leur travail. Enfin, vous découvrirez le côté sérieux de Lego et son utilisation dans les thérapies, les créations de prototypes et les activités de développement d''esprit d''équipe. Que vous soyez un AFOL patenté ou que vous repensiez affectueusement à votre vieille caisse de Lego qui prend la poussière dans le garage, la formidable épopée que vous proposent John Baichtal et Joe Meno dans l''univers Lego vous incitera à ressortir vos briques pour d''extraordinaires constructions !

10 LED Projects for Geeks is a collection of interactive and customizable projects that all have the humble LED in common, but don''t write them off as basic! You''ll learn how to make challenging and imaginative gadgets like a magic wand that controls lights using hand gestures, a pen-sized controller for music synthesizers, a light strip that dances to the beat of music, and even an LED sash that flashes scrolling text you send from your phone. Every project includes photos, step-by-step directions, colorful circuit diagrams, and the complete code to bring the project to life. As you work your way through the book, you''ll pick up adaptable skills that will take your making abilities to the next level. You''ll learn how to: Design versatile circuits for your own needs; Build and print a custom printed circuit board; Create flexible circuits which you can use to make any wearable you dream up; Turn analog signal into digital data your microcontroller can read; Use gesture recognition and wireless interaction for your own Internet of Things projects; Experiment with copper tape and create circuits with paper and foil; Build ''smart'' gadgets that make decisions with sensors If you want to experiment with LEDs and circuits, learn some new skills, and make cool things along the way, 10 LED Projects for Geeks is your first step.