Hacking Electronics 2nd Edition by Simon Monk

PDF Free Download | Hacking Electronics Learning Electronics with Arduino and Raspberry Pi 2nd Edition by Simon Monk.

Introduction to Hacking Electronics Learning Electronics

This is a book about “hacking” electronics. It is not a formal, theory-based book about electronics. Its sole aim is to equip the reader with the skills he or she needs to use electronics to make something, whether it’s starting from scratch, connecting together modules, or adapting existing electronic devices for some new use. You will learn how to experiment and get your ideas into some kind of order so that what you make will work.

Along the way, you’ll gain an appreciation for why things work and the limits of what they can do, and learn how to make prototypes on a solderless breadboard, how to solder components directly to each other, and how to use protoboard to make more complex soldered circuits.

You will also learn how to use the popular Arduino microcontroller board, which has become one of the most important tools available to the electronics hacker. There are over 20 examples of how to use an Arduino with electronics in this book.

You will also learn how to use the Raspberry Pi (a tiny Linux computer) as a tool for electronics hacking. Electronics has changed.

This is a modern book that avoids theory you will likely never use and instead concentrates on how you can build things using readymade modules when they are available. There is, after all, no point in reinventing the wheel.

Some of the things explained and described in the book include

Using LEDs, including high-power Lumileds and Addressable LED strips (Neopixels)
Using LiPo battery packs and buck-boost power supply modules
Using sensors to measure light, temperature, acceleration, sound level, and color
Interfacing the Raspberry Pi and Arduino with external electronics
Using servo motors

Some of the things described in the book that you can make along the way include

A smartcard RFID tag reader
An Internet-controlled hacked electric toy
A device for measuring color
An ultrasonic rangefinder
A remote control robotic rover
An accelerometer-based version of the “egg and spoon” race
An audio amplifier
A bug made from a hacked MP3 FM transmitter
Working brakes and headlights that can be added to a slot car
A smart-card reader/spoofer

How to Use Hacking Electronics Learning Electronics

Chapter 1 Getting Started The book starts off by telling you where you can buy equipment and components, as well as things to hack.

This chapter also deals with the basics of soldering and focuses on a project to hack an old computer fan to make a fume extractor for use while soldering.

Chapter 2 Components This chapter introduces electronic components—or at least the ones you are likely to use—and explains how to identify them and describes what they do. It also introduces a small amount of essential theory, which you will use over and over again.

Chapter 3 Basic Hacks This chapter contains a set of fairly basic “hacking” how-tos, introducing concepts like using transistors with example projects. It includes hacking a “push light” to make it automatically turn on when it gets dark and how to control a motor using power MOSFETs.

Chapter 4 LEDs In addition to discussing regular LEDs and how to use them and make them flash and so on, this chapter also looks at using constant-current drivers for LEDs and how to power large numbers of LEDs and laser diode modules.

Chapter 5 Batteries and Power This chapter discusses the various types of battery, both single-use, and rechargeable. It also covers how to charge batteries including LiPos. Automatic battery backup, voltage regulation, and solar charging are also explained.

Chapter 6 Hacking Arduino The Arduino has become the microcontroller board of choice for electronics hackers. Its open-source hardware design makes using a complex device like a microcontroller very straightforward.

The chapter gets you started with the Arduino and includes a few simple how-tos, like controlling a relay, playing sounds, and controlling servo motors from an Arduino. It also covers the use of Arduino expansion shields.

Chapter 7 Hacking with Raspberry Pi The Raspberry Pi single-board computer is great for hacking together electronic projects that require a bit more power than an Arduino can provide, or that need a network connection or large display.

In this chapter, you will learn how to set up and use a Raspberry Pi, as well as connect electronics to its GPIO pins.

Chapter 8 Hacking with Modules When you want to make something, you can often use readymade modules at least for part of the project. Modules exist for all sorts of things, from wireless remotes to motor drivers.

Chapter 9 Hacking with Sensors Sensor ICs and modules are available for sensing everything from temperature to acceleration. In this chapter, we explore a good range of them and explain how to use them and connect some of them to an Arduino.

Chapter 10 Audio Hacks This chapter has a number of useful how-tos relating to electronics and sound. It includes making and adapting audio leads, as well as audio amplifiers, and discusses the use of microphones.

Chapter 11 Mending and Breaking Electronics Mending electronics and scavenging useful parts from dead electronics are a worthy activity for the electronics hacker. This chapter explains how to take things apart and sometimes put them back together again.

Chapter 12 Tools The final chapter of the book is intended as a reference to explain more about how to get the most out of tools such as multimeters and lab power supplies.

Author of Hacking Electronics Learning Electronics

Dr. Simon Monk (Preston, UK) has a degree in Cybernetics and Computer Science and a Ph.D. in Software Engineering.

Monk spent several years as an academic before he returned to industry, co-founding the mobile software company Momote Ltd. He has been an active electronics hobbyist since his early teens and is a full-time writer on hobby electronics and open-source hardware.

Dr. Monk is the author of numerous electronics books, specializing in open-source hardware platforms, especially Arduino and Raspberry Pi. He is also co-author with Paul Scherz of Practical Electronics for Inventors, Fourth Edition. You can follow Simon on Twitter, where he is @simonmonk2