Preface

The MintDuino is deceiving—this little tin of electronics is capable of providing the brains for an unlimited number of devices limited only by your imagination…and, of course, your bank account.

While the MintDuino is certainly capable of being used during a moment of inspiration, you’ll find that the real power of the device comes when you sit down, figure out what you want to make, and then start tackling your project a bit at a time. Anyone who has done circuit building or programming (or both) knows that it rarely pays to just start inserting components and writing complex sketches (programs in Arduino-speak). When trouble arises in a circuit or a program, it can be a time-consuming process to track down the error (or more likely, errors) when you have too much complexity. That’s why it’s always a good idea to break a project idea down into manageable components—let’s call them subtasks. If your big project has five major subtasks, tackling the first subtask and building a slightly less complicated circuit with a slightly less complicated sketch will save time and reduce stress. Once you’ve got the first subtask figured out, you move on to the second. By the time you’ve got all five subtasks built and their individual sketches tested, you’re likely to have an increased chance of success when you pull them all together and build The Big Project.

And that’s exactly what you’re going to do in this MintDuino Notebook. You’re going to be shown The Big Project…but you’re not going to be allowed to build it just yet. The Big project has subtasks, and first you’re going to learn how to get the subtasks to work. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be ready for the finale where you bring together all you’ve learned and tackle…The Big Project. So, what is The Big Project? Keep reading.

What You Need

The complete list of materials for this project is below, but you’ll find a partial list of components with each subtask that contains only those items used in that particular section:

Plus, you’ll need the following components, all of which are available in the Mintronics: Survival Pack:

  • 2 LEDs (one red and one green LED come with the Survival Pack, but you can use any color you have handy)

  • 1 mini breadboard

  • 1 9V battery connector

  • 3 resistors (100 ohm minimum)

  • Jumper wires (you’ll find enough wire in the Survival Pack to get you started, but you’ll need to dip into the jumper wire kit soon)

  • 2 pushbuttons

  • Enough jumper wire to get you through Subtask 3.

Conventions Used in This Book

The following typographical conventions are used in this book:

Italic

Indicates new terms, URLs, email addresses, filenames, and file extensions.

Constant width

Used for program listings, as well as within paragraphs to refer to program elements such as variable or function names, databases, data types, environment variables, statements, and keywords.

Constant width bold

Shows commands or other text that should be typed literally by the user.

Constant width italic

Shows text that should be replaced with user-supplied values or by values determined by context.

Tip

This icon signifies a tip, suggestion, or general note.

Caution

This icon indicates a warning or caution.

Using Code Examples

This book is here to help you get your job done. In general, you may use the code in this book in your programs and documentation. You do not need to contact us for permission unless you’re reproducing a significant portion of the code. For example, writing a program that uses several chunks of code from this book does not require permission. Selling or distributing a CD-ROM of examples from O’Reilly books does require permission. Answering a question by citing this book and quoting example code does not require permission. Incorporating a significant amount of example code from this book into your product’s documentation does require permission.

We appreciate, but do not require, attribution. An attribution usually includes the title, author, publisher, and ISBN. For example: “MintDuino by James Floyd Kelly (O’Reilly). Copyright 2011 Blue Rocket Writing Services, Inc., 978-1-4493-0766-0.”

If you feel your use of code examples falls outside fair use or the permission given above, feel free to contact us at .

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Content Updates

December 16, 2011

  • Modified the book’s style and trim size.

  • Added a new chapter that explains how to build the Mintduino.

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