Introduction

THIS IS A BOOK OF PROJECTS. They are projects designed to appeal to the Evil Genius in everyone, whether those persons are new to home construction or experienced project-makers.

Most projects require some knowledge of electronics and the ability to solder. Two projects—the trebuchet and the ping-pong ball minigun—have nothing to do with electronics whatsoever. A handful of the projects, like the persistence-of-vision display, require the use of an Arduino microcontroller module. Some of the projects can be completed in an evening, while others may take several weekends to finish.

What all the projects have in common is that they are all, in some way or another, at least a little “dangerously mad” and have a certain “wow” factor. So whatever your skill level, there should be a project for you in this book.

Each project includes a parts list and step-by-step instructions, accompanied by numerous diagrams and photographs. There is a “Theory” section at the end of most chapters that gives background information about how the projects work. So, even if you are new to construction, you should find that if you start with some of the simpler projects, you will soon feel confident enough to tackle some of the more difficult ones.

Ratings

To give you a clue as to what you are in for before starting a project, each project is rated according to the amount of time it will likely take and the level of technical expertise required.

So it should be possible to complete a project rated as “Small” in half a day to a day. A “Medium” project will probably take you a weekend, and a “Large” project maybe more than one weekend. Your mileage may vary—and as is always the case with such things, it will depend very much on whether things go smoothly or not.

The star ratings for difficulty are as follows:

Does not require any soldering or any actions more complex than measuring, cutting, drilling, and gluing.

A small amount of soldering is required, but no circuit boards will need to be made, and no microcontrollers must be programmed.

A simple design will need to be made, which may use a small stripboard. You should be reasonably proficient at soldering and able to use a multimeter.

A complex design must be constructed, requiring the ability to solder a stripboard. Also, some mechanical construction is necessary.

The Web Site

A web site accompanies this book (www.dangerouslymad.com), where you will find:

Source code for the projects that use the Arduino microcontroller

A message generator for the persistence-of-vision display in Chapter 8

Videos and photographs of the completed projects

Ways of contacting the author

Errata

Arduino

Three of the projects in this book use Arduino microcontroller boards. These readymade boards offer a very easy way of using a microcontroller. They have a USB connection for programming and are accompanied by an easy-to-use development environment.

Chapter 8 contains the first project to use an Arduino board and includes step-by-step instructions for the installation and setup of the Arduino software.

For more information about Arduino, please refer to the official Arduino web site, www.arduino.cc, or you may wish to buy 30 Arduino Projects for the Evil Genius, also by this author.

Electronic Construction

The Appendix contains a primer on the basics of electronic construction. If you are new to electronics, you should find this a useful resource, and you should probably read it before you embark on one of the projects involving electronics.

Getting Started

So, it’s time to get started. Browse through the following projects and see which one inspires your inner Evil Genius.