Product Description

Building electronic projects that interact with the physical world is good fun. But when devices that you've built start to talk to each other, things really start to get interesting. Through a series of simple projects, you'll learn how to get your creations to communicate with one another by forming networks of smart devices that carry on conversations with you and your environment. Whether you need to plug some sensors in your home to the Internet or create a device that can interact wirelessly with other creations, Making Things Talk explains exactly what you need.

This book is perfect for people with little technical training but a lot of interest. Maybe you're a science teacher who wants to show students how to monitor weather conditions at several locations at once, or a sculptor who wants to stage a room of choreographed mechanical sculptures. Making Things Talk demonstrates that once you figure out how objects communicate -- whether they're microcontroller-powered devices, email programs, or networked databases -- you can get them to interact.

Each chapter in contains instructions on how to build working projects that help you do just that. You will:

• Make your pet's bed send you email
• Make your own seesaw game controller that communicates over the Internet
• Learn how to use ZigBee and Bluetooth radios to transmit sensor data wirelessly
• Set up communication between microcontrollers, personal computers, and web servers using three easy-to-program, open source environments: Arduino/Wiring, Processing, and PHP.
• Write programs to send data across the Internet based on physical activity in your home, office, or backyard
• And much more

With a little electronics know-how, basic (not necessarily in BASIC) programming skills, a couple of inexpensive microcontroller kits and some network modules to make them communicate using Ethernet, ZigBee, and Bluetooth, you can get started on these projects right away. With Making Things Talk, the possibilities are practically endless.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10387 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 428 pages

About the Author
Tom Igoe teaches courses in physical computing and networking, exploring ways to allow digital technologies to sense and respond to a wider range of human physical expression. Coming from a background in theatre, his work centers on physical interaction related to live performance and public space. Along with Dan O'Sullivan, he co-authored the book "Physical Computing: Sensing and Controlling the Physical World with Computers," which has been adopted by numerous digital art and design programs around the world. Projects include a series of networked banquet table centerpieces and musical instruments; an email clock; and a series of interactive dioramas, created in collaboration with M.R. Petit. He has consulted for The American Museum of the Moving Image, EAR Studio, Diller + Scofidio Architects, Eos Orchestra, and others. He hopes someday to work with monkeys, as well.

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Customer Reviews

Electronic Fun Without Soldering
This is a lovely book. It is packed full of projects for building embedded controllers which use almost every practical form of interface technology: lights, motors, switches, blue-tooth, rfid, USB, etc. Just about anything you might like to try. Then the book's three great strengths emerge: you don't need to solder, electronics modules are low-cost, and the software is free. All of the projects are assembled using breadboard and wires, removing one difficulty in this age of surface mount chippery. The Arduino controller is advertised in Europe for 22 euro's, and the software is available as Open Source. Together these put projects into the price range of smart, dextrous 10 year olds with doting parents. The projects are very well illustrated with circuit diagrams and close-up pictures showing the details of assembly. For anyone who wants to go beyond the constraints of lego mindstorms, or just build computer control then have it disappear inside every day objects this is the book of experiments and techniques to get. I think every Computer Science or Engineering undergrad. should take a course using this book. Excellent value. Amazon should sell the controller and key modules to make the whole experience seamless.

A great book! If you have an Arduino then buy it
I've recently got into the Arduino microcontroller, it's a really useful little gadget and I'd mastered the basics of it: turning on LEDs, simple serial communication with an LCD display and other basic electronics but I thought I'd bitten off more than I could chew when I bought a bluetooth module to hook the arduino up wirelessly with my computer.

Not so! This book is brilliant and one of the projects early on in the book covered exactly what I needed to know. The projects are detailed and all the code is provided (although it would be better if it was on a CD as well). It has really pushed me to the next level!!

Cracking book
Although this isn't a manual for the arduino (or related microprocessors) this book will really help if you are doing anything with them. The theory is well presented, well explained Computer Science ... a very good book.