John Baichtal

Joe Meno

The authors take readers on a story-packed adventure through the history of LEGO, from its humble beginnings in a small Danish village to its ascent to the summit of the toy world. They learn hundreds of obscure LEGO facts as they're surrounded by countless fantastically complex and challenging models built by some of the most famous adult LEGO builders.

The Cult of LEGO

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!

Upgrade, Accessorize, and Customize with Electronics, Mechanics, and Metalwork

Make: Bicycle Projects

Absolutely no experience needed! Learn robot building from the ground up, hands-on, in full color! Love robots? Start building them. It’s way easier than you ever imagined! John Baichtal has helped thousands of people get started with robotics. He knows what beginners need to know. He knows your questions. He knows where you might need extra help. Now, he’s brought together this practical knowledge in one incredibly easy tutorial. Hundreds of full-color photos guide you through every step, every skill. You’ll start simple, as you build a working robot in the very first chapter. Then, you’ll grow your skills to expert-level: powering motors, configuring sensors, constructing a chassis, even programming low-cost Arduino microcontrollers. You’ll learn hands-on, through real step-by-step projects…and go straight to the cutting-edge with in-depth sidebars. Wondering just how much you can really do? Baichtal shows you 30 incredible robots built by people just like you! John Baichtal’s books about toys, tools, robots, and hobby electronics include Hack This: 24 Incredible Hackerspace Projects from the DIY Movemen t; Basic Robot Building With Lego Mindstorms NXT 2. 0; Arduino for Beginners; MAKE: Lego and Arduino Projects for MAKE (as coauthor); and the forthcoming Building Your Own Drones: The Beginner’s Guide to UAVs and ROVs. A founding member of the pioneering Twin Cities Maker hackerspace, he got his start writing for Wired’s legendary GeekDad blog, and for DIYer bible MAKE Magazine. Make your robots move with motors and wheels Build solar-powered robots that work without batteries Control robots via Wi-Fi, radio, or even across the Internet Program robots to respond to sensor inputs Use your standard TV remote to control your robots Create robots that detect intruders and shoot them with Nerf® darts Grab and carry objects using claws and grippers Build water-borne robots that float, submerge, and “swim” Create “artbots” that paint or draw original artworks Enable your robots to send text messages when they take specific actions Discover today’s new generation of hobbyist-friendly robotics kits Organize your ultimate robot-builder’s toolbox Master simple safety routines that protect you whatever you’re building

The Beginner's Guide to Building Robots

Robot Builder

Adam Wolf

Matthew Beckler

Provides step-by-step instructions for building a variety of LEGO Mindstorms NXT and Arduino devices.

Projects for Extending MINDSTORMS NXT with Open-source Electronics

Make: Lego and Arduino Projects

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.

Projects for extending MINDSTORMS NXT with open-source electronics

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.

Build Light-Up Costumes, Sci-Fi Gadgets, and Other Clever Inventions

10 LED Projects for Geeks

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.

24 Incredible Hackerspace Projects from the DIY Movement

Hack This

James Floyd Kelly

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.

Basic Robot Building With LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0

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.

Hacking Your LEGO Mindstorms EV3 Kit

Jimmy DiResta

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

John Baichtal

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