I bought an Arduino.

I went online and investigated how to use it through tutorials.

I learned about author Tom Igoe through some online videos and was fascinated by what he was doing with the Arduino.

I subsequently bought this book.

I was not disappointed.

Igoe and Sullivan use their teaching skills ..."teaching by doing," I think... to present a series of experiments on how to interface computers (specifically, microcontrollers) with the REAL world. Through the use of a variety of sensors (when I was in college we called them transducers), the authors illustrate how to "make things happen" based on what the sensors "sense".

This book uses the various incarnations of the PIC microcontroller. There is a wealth of information on the PIC and it is ubiquitous in robots, various types of device controllers, etc. But, I was particularly interested in using the Arduino controller board. So when I opened the book and found the authors' concentration on the PIC, I was disappointed to say the least. After a few pages, however, I found that the coverage was exactly what I was looking for. The programming, though NOT the Arduino Integrated Development Environment, was straightforward and revealing. I was able to translate easily from PIC Basic to Arduino sketches. And the coverage of the various kinds of sensors is fantastic!

This is a book about sensors. It is a book about how to utilize the data from sensors to control things in the real world. It is chock full of electronics, humor, projects and ideas. I recommend it highly to anyone getting started with the PIC microcontroller or the Arduino. This book is not for everyone, but if this is your interest, you money will be well spent.