Most Popular Books by Simon Monk

Build your own secret laboratory with 30 coding and electronic projects! The BBC micro:bit is a tiny, cheap, yet surprisingly powerful computer that you can use to build cool things and experiment with code. The 30 simple projects and experiments in this book will show you how to use the micro:bit to build a secret science lab complete with robots, door alarms, lie detectors, and more--as you learn basic coding and electronics skills. Here are just some of the projects you''ll build: A "light guitar" you can play just by moving your fingers A working lie detector A self-watering plant care system A two-wheeled robot A talking robotic head with moving eyes A door alarm made with magnets Learn to code like a Mad Scientist!

A fully updated guide to quickly and easily programming Arduino Thoroughly revised for the new Arduino Uno R3, this bestselling guide explains how to write well-crafted sketches using Arduino’s modified C language. You will learn how to configure hardware and software, develop your own sketches, work with built-in and custom Arduino libraries, and explore the Internet of Things—all with no prior programming experience required! Electronics guru Simon Monk gets you up to speed quickly, teaching all concepts and syntax through simple language and clear instruction designed for absolute beginners. Programming Arduino: Getting Started with Sketches, Second Edition, features dozens of easy-to-follow examples and high-quality illustrations. All of the sample sketches featured in the book can be used as-is or modified to suit your needs. An all-new chapter teaches programming Arduino for Internet of Things projects Screenshots, diagrams, and source code illustrate each technique All sample programs in the book are available for download

"The world of Raspberry Pi is evolving quickly, with many new interface boards and software libraries becoming available all the time. In this cookbook, prolific hacker and author Simon Monk provides more than 200 practical recipes for running this tiny low-cost computer with Linux, programming it with Python, and hooking up sensors, motors and other hardware--including Arduino. You''ll also learn basic principles to help you use new technologies with Raspberry Pi as its ecosystem develops. Python and other code examples from the book are available on GitHub. This cookbook is ideal for programmers and hobbyists familiar with the Pi through resources such as Getting Started with Raspberry Pi (O''Reilly)."--

Programming Arduino Under the hood Interrupts and timers Making Arduino faster Low power Arduino Memory Using 12C Interfacing with SPI devices Serial UART programming USB programming Network programming Digital signal processing Managing with one process Writing libraries.

Bring your electronic inventions to life! "This full-color book is impressive...there are some really fun projects!" -GeekDad, Wired.com Who needs an electrical engineering degree? This intuitive guide shows how to wire, disassemble, tweak, and re-purpose everyday devices quickly and easily. Packed with full-color illustrations, photos, and diagrams, Hacking Electronics teaches by doing--each topic features fun, easy-to-follow projects. Discover how to hack sensors, accelerometers, remote controllers, ultrasonic rangefinders, motors, stereo equipment, microphones, and FM transmitters. The final chapter contains useful information on getting the most out of cheap or free bench and software tools. Safely solder, join wires, and connect switches Identify components and read schematic diagrams Understand the how and why of electronics theory Work with transistors, LEDs, and laser diode modules Power your devices with a/c supplies, batteries, or solar panels Get up and running on Arduino boards and pre-made modules Use sensors to detect everything from noxious gas to acceleration Build and modify audio amps, microphones, and transmitters Fix gadgets and scavenge useful parts from dead equipment

Go beyond the basics with this up to date Arduino programming resourceTake your Arduino programming skills to the next level using the hands-on information contained in this thoroughly revised, easy to follow TAB guide. Aimed at programmers and hobbyists who have mastered the fundamentals, Programming Arduino Next Steps: Going Further with Sketches, Second Edition reveals professional programming tips and tricks. This up-to-date edition covers the Internet of Things (IoT) and features new chapters on interfacing your Arduino with other microcontrollers. You will get dozens of illustrated examples and downloadable code examples that clearly demonstrate each powerful technique.Discover how to:•Configure your Arduino IDE and develop your own sketches•Boost performance and speed by writing time-efficient sketches •Optimize power consumption and memory usage •Interface with different types of serial busses, including I2C, 1-Wire, SPI, and TTL Serial •Use Arduino with USB and UART •Incorporate Ethernet, Bluetooth, and DSP•Program Arduino for the Internet •Manage your sketches using One Process•Accomplish more than one task at a time―without multi-threading •Create your own code library and share it with other hobbyists

"Fully updated throughout"--P. [4] of cover.

Create your own electronic devices with the popular IOIO ("yoyo") board, and control them with your Android phone or tablet. With this concise guide, you''ll get started by building four example projects--after that, the possibilities for making your own fun and creative accessories with Android and IOIO are endless. To build Android/IOIO devices, you write the program on your computer, transfer it to your Android, and then communicate with the IOIO via a USB or Bluetooth connection. The IOIO board translates the program into action. This book provides the source code and step-by-step instructions you need to build the example projects. All you have to supply is the hardware. Learn your way around the IOIO and discover how it interacts with your Android Build an intruder alarm that sends a text message when it detects movement Make a temperature sensing device that logs readings on your Android Create a multicolor LED matrix that displays a Space Invader animation Build an IOIO-powered surveillance rover that you control with your Android Get the software and hardware requirements for creating your own Android/IOIO accessories

If you’re among the many hobbyists and designers who came to electronics through Arduino and Raspberry Pi, this cookbook will help you learn and apply the basics of electrical engineering without the need for an EE degree. Through a series of practical recipes, you’ll learn how to solve specific problems while diving into as much or as little theory as you’re comfortable with. Author Simon Monk (Raspberry Pi Cookbook) breaks down this complex subject into several topics, from using the right transistor to building and testing projects and prototypes. With this book, you can quickly search electronics topics and go straight to the recipe you need. It also serves as an ideal reference for experienced electronics makers. This cookbook includes: Theoretical concepts such as Ohm’s law and the relationship between power, voltage, and current The fundamental use of resistors, capacitors and inductors, diodes, transistors and integrated circuits, and switches and relays Recipes on power, sensors and motors, integrated circuits, and radio frequency for designing electronic circuits and devices Advice on using Arduino and Raspberry Pi in electronics projects How to build and use tools, including multimeters, oscilloscopes, simulations software, and unsoldered prototypes

Take your creations to the next level with FPGAs and Verilog This fun guide shows how to get started with FPGA technology using the popular Mojo, Papilio One, and Elbert 2 boards. Written by electronics guru Simon Monk, Programming FPGAs: Getting Started with Verilog features clear explanations, easy-to-follow examples, and downloadable sample programs. You’ll get start-to-finish assembly and programming instructions for numerous projects, including an LED decoder, a timer, a tone generator—even a memory-mapped video display! The book serves both as a hobbyists’ guide and as an introduction for professional developers. • Explore the basics of digital electronics and digital logic • Examine the features of the Mojo, Papilio One, and Elbert 2 boards • Set up your computer and dive in to Verilog programming • Work with the ISE Design Suite and user constraints files • Understand and apply modular Verilog programming methods • Generate electrical pulses through your board’s GPIO ports • Control servomotors and create your own sounds • Attach a VGA TV or computer monitor and generate video • All source code and finished bit files available for download

In this TAB book, bestselling electronics author Simon Monk shows maker-entrepreneurs how to use Fritzing’s open-source software and services to create electronics prototypes, design and manufacture printed circuit boards (PCBs), and bring professional-quality electronic products to market. Fritzing for Inventors: Take Your Electronics Project from Prototype to Product explains how to use this set of free, open-source electronics prototyping tools to lay out breadboards, create schematics, and design professional-quality printed circuit boards (PCBs). No engineering skills needed! Whether you’re a hobbyist, artist, inventor, or student, you’ll be able to develop a product from schematic to prototype to professional-quality printed circuit board, all from one easy-to-use software package. Fritzing works well with prototyping boards such as Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and BeagleBone. This DIY guide covers the whole lifecycle of product development for a hobbyist entrepreneur. It takes you from initial concept, to prototyping, to PCB production, to distribution. Along the way, it examines the sourcing of components, product testing, and even how to price products for wholesale and retail. Simon Monk is a bestselling TAB electronics author and popular presenter at MakerFaires Well-illustrated tutorial with screen captures, easy-to-follow instructions, and step-by-step projects Describes an up-to-date contemporary approach to PCB design, including surface-mount designs Explains how to become a maker entrepreneur by using crowdfunding and indie marketplaces for technical products

Provides instructions for projects using .NET Gagetgeer, including a spy camera and a joystick module.

Program your own Raspberry Pi projects Create innovative programs and fun games on your tiny yet powerful Raspberry Pi. In this book, electronics guru Simon Monk explains the basics of Raspberry Pi application development, while providing hands-on examples and ready-to-use scripts. See how to set up hardware and software, write and debug applications, create user-friendly interfaces, and control external electronics. Do-it-yourself projects include a hangman game, an LED clock, and a software-controlled roving robot. Boot up and configure your Raspberry Pi Navigate files, folders, and menus Create Python programs using the IDLE editor Work with strings, lists, and functions Use and write your own libraries, modules, and classes Add Web features to your programs Develop interactive games with Pygame Interface with devices through the GPIO port Build a Raspberry Pi Robot and LED Clock Build professional-quality GUIs using Tkinter

Where will you be when the zombie apocalypse hits? Trapping yourself in the basement? Roasting the family pet? Beheading reanimated neighbors? No way. You’ll be building fortresses, setting traps, and hoarding supplies, because you, savvy survivor, have snatched up your copy of The Maker''s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse before it’s too late. This indispensable guide to survival after Z-day, written by hardware hacker and zombie anthropologist Simon Monk, will teach you how to generate your own electricity, salvage parts, craft essential electronics, and out-survive the undead.,pu003eTake charge of your environment: –Monitor zombie movement with trip wires and motion sensors –Keep vigilant watch over your compound with Arduino and Raspberry Pi surveillance systems –Power zombie defense devices with car batteries, bicycle generators, and solar power Escape imminent danger: –Repurpose old disposable cameras for zombie-distracting flashbangs –Open doors remotely for a successful sprint home –Forestall subplot disasters with fire and smoke detectors Communicate with other survivors: –Hail nearby humans using Morse code –Pass silent messages with two-way vibration walkie-talkies –Fervently scan the airwaves with a frequency hopper For anyone from the budding maker to the keen hobbyist, The Maker’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is an essential survival tool. Uses the Arduino Uno board and Raspberry Pi Model B+ or Model 2

Design custom printed circuit boards with EAGLE Learn how to make double-sided professional-quality PCBs from the ground up using EAGLE--the powerful, flexible design software. In this step-by-step guide, electronics guru Simon Monk leads you through the process of designing a schematic, transforming it into a PCB layout, and submitting standard Gerber files to a manufacturing service to create your finished board. Filled with detailed illustrations, photos, and screenshots, Make Your Own PCBs with EAGLE features downloadable example projects so you can get started right away. Install EAGLE Light Edition and discover the views and screens that make up an EAGLE project Create the schematic and board files for a simple LED project Find the right components and libraries for your projects Work with the Schematic Editor Lay out PCBs with through-hole components and with surface mount technology Build a sound level meter with a small amplifier and ten LEDs Generate Gerber design files to submit for fabrication Solder through-hole PCBs and SMD boards Design a plug-in Arduino shield Build a Raspberry Pi expansion board Automate repetitive tasks using scripts and User Language Programs Create your own libraries and parts and modify existing components

Beginning with the basics and moving gradually to greater challenges, this book takes you step-by-step through experiments and projects that show you how to make your Arduino or Raspberry Pi create and control movement, light, and sound. In other words: action! The Arduino is a simple microcontroller with an easy-to-learn programming environment, while the Raspberry Pi is a tiny Linux-based computer. This book clearly explains the differences between the Arduino and Raspberry Pi, when to use them, and to which purposes each are best suited. Using these widely available and inexpensive platforms, you''ll learn to control LEDs, motors of various types, solenoids, AC (alternating current) devices, heaters, coolers, displays, and sound. You''ll even discover how to monitor and control these devices over the Internet. Working with solderless breadboards, you''ll get up and running quickly, learning how to make projects that are as fun as they are informative. In Make: Action, you''ll learn to: Build a can crusher using a linear actuator with your Arduino Have an Arduino water your plants Build a personal traffic signal using LEDs Make a random balloon popper with Arduino Cool down your beverages with a thermostatic drink cooler you build yourself Understand and use the PID control algorithm Use Raspberry Pi to create a puppet dance party that moves to your tweets!

The Photon is an open source, inexpensive, programmable, WiFi-enabled module for building connected projects and prototypes. Powered by an ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller and a Broadcom WiFi chip, the Photon is just as happy plugged into a hobbyist''s breadboard as it is into a product rolling off of an assembly line. While the Photon--and its accompanying cloud platform--is designed as a ready-to-go foundation for product developers and manufacturers, it''s great for Maker projects, as you''ll see in this book. You''ll learn how to get started with the free development tools, deploy your sketches over WiFi, and build electronic projects that take advantage of the Photon''s processing power, cloud platform, and input/output pins. What''s more, the Photon is backward-compatible with its predecessor, the Spark Core.

Quickly write innovative programs for your micro:bit—no experience necessary!This easy-to-follow guide shows, step-by-step, how to quickly get started with programming and creating fun applications on your micro:bit.. Written in the straightforward style that Dr. Simon Monk is famous for, Programming the BBC micro:bit: Getting Started with MicroPython begins with basic concepts and gradually progresses to more advanced techniques. You will discover how to use the micro:bit''s built-in hardware, use the LED display, accept input from sensors, attach external electronics, and handle wireless communication.•Connect your micro:bit to a computer and start programming!•Learn how to use the two most popular MicroPython editors •Work with built-in functions and methods—and see how to write your own•Display text, images, and animations on the micro:bit’s LED matrix•Process data from the accelerometer, compass, and touch sensor•Control external hardware by attaching it to the edge connector•Send and receive messages via the built-in radio module•Graphically build programs with the JavaScript Blocks Editor