Arduino Without Prior Knowledge: Create your own first project within 7 days (Become an Engineer Without Prior Knowledge)

I am a recently retired engineer, counting myself as computer literate, across the likes of MS Office, GIS, CAD etc. with extensive coding and scripting experience in the latter two, as well as ‘turnkey’ development in BASIC. I’ve dabbled in a number of computer languages but not C (the basis of Arduino coding). With more time on my hands, I have been looking at the Arduino platform to facilitate mechanising some aspects of my erstwhile hobby - photography – specifically panning and tracking for video clips, both realtime and in timelapse.This book seemed to be the ideal first step and I was pleased to read in the Introduction that it seemed that the book was written for me! The author setting out roughly who his target reader is - those having a little computer knowledge but little hands-on electronics experience.The book is a black & white imprint (via Amazon); unfortunately, it is more a greyscale impression rather than B&W. Some of the illustrations lose their impact and clarity, with coloured wires etc. with detail in the diagrams merging. It is therefore useful and very commendable for the author to offer a free service of forwarding, via email, a PDF of his original text, with full colour images. Amazon offers the same but I couldn’t see how to achieve this “two in one service” via the Amazon app .The book is very well structured, with explanations for those with no electronic experience; the basic components explained and their applications outlined. Number systems e.g. binary are covered, including why and how computers, microcontrollers, etc. need to operate at the simplest level (off and on!)The book then approaches the Arduino platform, from its beginnings, to the various current ‘flavours’ of the hardware and related ‘bits and bobs’ and then on to the IDE (integrated development environment) i.e. the software within which Arduino programming (sketches) are formed and uploaded to and run on the hardware.Examples are given, explained and walked through, so that the reader develops a clear understanding of how things work and how their own projects may be approached. Advice on avoiding potential pitfalls will certainly be useful later.The book would seem to have been translated from the author’s native German. Conventions widely used in Europe are used (e.g. commas for decimal points and full stops for thousands dividers) and have not been converted for this edition, to those adopted by most English speaking nations. The choice of some words seems a little out of the ordinary but not to the point of confusing or misleading. A couple of times I spotted errors e.g. “A potentiometer, often called a potentiometer for short,”, which will likely get picked up in future editions, either of the printed version or the kindly supplied PDF.Not wishing to unduly criticise the author, I will offer him my thoughts with a marked up copy of his PDF for constructive observations on potential use of words, phrases, etc. that might make it more ‘natural’ for the English reader: plus point out the typos (very few) I have spotted.In summary, the book is well structured, with the various subjects explained in sufficient detail so that the subject is covered but not to put the reader off, or leaving them fealing like there was more to explain.Clearly, the Arduino platform is already used extensively and becoming more widely adopted by a whole host of developers for a whole host of reasons and projects. This book, of just over 100 pages, cannot do the subject full justice but it achieves what it sets out to achieve – a good grounding, providing enough knowledge and capability to develop one’s first project, with a whetting of the appetite to delve deeper into the subject. The cover of the book states that is aimed at those without prior knowledge and promises the creation of first project within a week – a goal which it easily achieves. I am extremely happy that I used this book as my guide, as a first foray into the world that is Arduino, and to be able to achieve what I set out to gain from using the platform. I have no doubt that other readers will think likewise. A truly useful text, that keeps one interested, captivated, and wanting to keep on coding. And besides, great value for money.Well done Benjamin !

Menny thanks

This book is really useful and informative. It also comes with a E book which is better as the images are clearer and easier to see. And also very useful pages for faults and common mistakes. I would really recommend this book for beginners and people with little knowledge.

Likes: simple enough for dummies.Dislikes: price could be lower.

Purchase as a present. Good as far as I know ✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️

I bought this book as a Kindle book. The book is just what I needed as a newcomer to Arduino. Description and mini projects are very clear. Author was fast in sending the codes and digital copy. Happy buy.

Brilliant reference guide to getting under the bonnet of the Arduino ecosystem.

Just what I needed. I had not a clue about Arduino but heard it was worth doing. This book was ideal. Not too advanced, was able to carry out some tasks within 1/2 hour. Ideal for newbie

Great book to get a basic understanding, plus with its included references along the way, you can explore for greater understanding of the basics or beyond.

I had recently purchased 3 books from this series (Arduino, Python, and 3D Printing). I bought them because I plan to send kid to the STEM camp, and those are on the program description. So I thought having some background study wont hurt, for both kid and myself. All 3 books have the right amount of information for the beginner, the scope and the depth of the knowledge are just right, things are explained clearly yet concisely, easy to understand, and I enjoyed reading them. The author is friendly and sent me the free PDF eBooks quickly upon my request. For 3D printing book, the PDF has a much clearer color pictures of the screen captures of the control app UI, so don't be shy to ask for it (email is in the book). The author, Ben, is willing to answer questions raised from the reading, so that is plus.

My background is in Analog electronics long before the digital age. Now I am retired and playing with Arduino and Raspberry Pi as a hobby. In my day a computer took up an entire room and needed to be air conditioned to keep the equipment cool. This book comes in handy explaining how to use microcomputers. I have a few 3D printers and some CNC machines, so I need to catch up.

OK as an intro, but quite basic and probably better using free internet docs and youtube tutorials. Having said that the book covers the basics for anyone with NO knowledge of electricity and computers and so in that respect it is a 5 star but as just an into to Ardiuno only 3 stars IMHO.

alot of great information and well written