After being the reviewer for the BeagleBone Robotic Projects, I’m honored to be the reviewer for another book about robotic projects named Raspberry Pi Robotic Projects. I will go no further to talk about the differences about BeagleBone and Raspberry Pi, all I know is that they are both cool and amazing. To start to play with Raspberry Pi, I suggest that you can list the book Raspberry Pi Robotics Projects as an option.

In this post, I will give you a very quick overview of the book and tell why it’s worth it.

Getting Started with Raspberry Pi

Have no idea what is really Raspberry Pi? Well, just treat it as your Mini Computer. The truth is, it got almost everything what a PC should be equipped with. What’s more, it runs Linux which means you can do tons of things with it!

Yes, yes, Raspberry Pi is leading the open hardware community somehow, people design, manufacture, develop and play. Geeks use it for their geek life!

In chapter 1, you will be informed the hardware and software of Raspberry Pi and begin to be friends with her.

Programming Raspberry Pi

As you want to make Raspberry Pi do something really amazing, you should know how to talk to her. Well, you program to talk. So in chapter 2, we will show you how to get comfortable with the way talking(programming). Besides to knowing Linux, use Python and C/C++ is cool:–)

Providing Speech Input and Output

What? You want to talk to her, really. I mean by speaking. Well, that should not be problem. Let’s give our robot ears and mouth. Chapter 3 will show you how to use PocketSphinx to accept your voice commands and utilize Espeak to make Raspberry Pi talk in a robot voice.

Adding Vision to Raspberry Pi

How can a beautiful girl be blind! So to make Rasberry Pi see the amazing world, chapter 4 will tell you how to connect the USB cemara to Raspberry Pi and begin to use OpenCV, which is a fully featured vision library to detect colored objects.

Creating Mobile Robots on Wheels

Let’s roll! To see the beatiful world around, we need to make our robot able to move. Chapter 5 will show you how to add motor controller to Raspberry Pi and let her run at free will.

Making the Unit Very Mobile – Controlling the Movement of a Robot with Legs

A girl should really walk, doesn’t it? No problem, chapter 6 tells how to get started with servos and make your mobile platform truly mobile just as a person.

Avoiding Obstacles Using Sensors

Oh, there is a wall in front, danger! Don’t worry, our Raspberry Pi knows everything and will avoid it easily. Chapter 7 shows how to use an infrared sensor and USB sonar sensor with Raspberry Pi, also how to use a servo to move a single sensor to make our sening range large enough.

Going Truly Mobile – The Remote Control of Your Robot

You will not always be around with your Raspberry Pi, right? To make sure your Pi is always with you, Chapter 8 demonstrates how to connect wireless devices to Pi thus enabling us to talk to her remotely. Use a wireless USB keyboard, or a wireless LAN or a ZigBee device, choose as you like.

Using a GPS Receiver to Locate Your Robot

No one wants to be told that his Raspberry Pi is lost. Fortunately, we got GPS nowadays for almost free. Connecting Raspberry Pi to a GPS device and accessing the GPS programmatically is mainly covered in chapter 9.

System Dynamics

Get tired with so much coding for each dedicated task? Chaper 10 will free you from hell by creating a general control structure. Also you can enable complex functionalities by using the structure of the Robot Operating System.

By Land, Sea, and Air

Maybe you don’t just want a Raspbery Pi, you really want is a Quadrotor, or a submarine or a mini ship! Nothing is impossible, Chapter 11 will be a good starting point to creat something really amazing.

I hope that you like Raspberry Pi and the book will do some good. Happy playing and hakcing with Raspberry Pi!!!