"Get going with projects from simple circuits to robots"--Cover.
Electronic
Includes webliographical references (p. [383]-388) and index.
A practical introduction to electronics that covers tools and equipment, safety, circuits, schematics, soldering, multimeters, logic probes, and oscilloscopes and provides instructions for several simple projects, including printed circuit boards and robots.
Safety Is Number 1 -- Getting Started in Electronics -- From Electrons to Electronics -- Just What Is Electricity? -- How Electricity Becomes Electronics -- Along the Way You Get to Play with Tools -- The Wonderful World of Units -- Understanding Ohm's Law -- Keeping Humans and Gadgets Safe -- The Sixth Sense of Electronics -- The Dangers of Electrical Shock -- Zaps, Shocks, and Static Discharge -- Working with AC Current -- The Heat Is On: Safe Soldering -- Wearing Body Armor -- Aisle 5, Component Shack: Stocking Up -- Outfitting Your Electronics Bench -- Oh, the Hand Tools You Will Use -- Where to Park Your Tools -- Tools You Don't Absolutely Need (But May Find Handy) -- Keeping Things Clean and Well-Oiled -- Sticky Stuff to Keep Things Together -- Setting Up Your Electronics Lab -- Getting to Know You: The Most Common Electronic Components -- Viva la Resistors -- Capacitors: Reservoirs for Electricity -- Diode Mania -- The Transistor: A Modern Marvel -- Packing Parts Together on Integrated Circuits -- Filling Out Your Parts Bin -- Making the Connection -- Powering Up -- Turning Electricity On and Off -- Making Decisions with Logic Gates -- Controlling Frequency with Inductors and Crystals -- Making Sense of Things -- Good Vibrations with DC Motors -- So You Want to Make Some Noise? -- Putting It on Paper -- Reading a Schematic -- What's a Schematic, and Why Should I Care? -- Getting a Grip on Schematic Symbols -- Getting Component Polarity Right -- One Size Fits All: Adjustable Components -- Photo-Sensitive Components Help You See the Light -- Alternative Schematic Drawing Styles -- Understanding the Basics of Electronics Circuits -- What the Heck Is a Circuit? -- A Very Basic Circuit -- Parallel (or Series) Parking Your Light Bulbs -- Exploring a Voltage Divider Circuit -- Measuring Current with Voltage -- What a Team: Capacitors and Resistors -- Talking of Transistors -- An Operational Amplifier -- Simplifying a Project with an Integrated Circuit -- Getting Your Hands Dirty -- Everything You Need to Know about Soldering -- To Solder or Not to Solder -- Things You Absolutely, Positively Need for Soldering -- Preparing Your Soldering Pencil -- Successful Soldering -- Avoiding Cold Solder Joints like the Plague -- Avoiding Static Discharge While Soldering -- Unsoldering and Resoldering -- Soldering Tips and Techniques -- Making Friends with Your Multimeter -- The Basics of Multimeters -- Taking a Close-Up Look at Multimeters -- Setting Up the Meter -- Five Basic Tests That You Can Make with Your Multimeter -- Testing Resistors, Capacitors, and Other Electronic Components -- Getting Down with Logic Probes and Oscilloscopes -- The Search for Spock: Using a Logic Probe -- Putting the Logic Probe to Work -- Scoping Out the Oscilloscope -- So, When Do I Use an Oscilloscope? -- Putting the Oscilloscope to Work: Testing, 1-2-3! -- A Plethora of Projects -- Creating Your Own Breadboard Circuit -- Taking a Look at Solderless Breadboards -- Creating a Circuit with Your Solderless Breadboard -- Making the Move from Your Circuit to a Solder Breadboard -- Prototyping with Pre-Drilled Perf Boards -- Getting Wrapped Up in Wire Wrapping -- Building Your Own Printed Circuit Boards -- Anatomy of a Circuit Board -- How the Copper Gets onto the Circuit -- Ready, Set: Preparing to Build Your Board -- Creating a PCB Photographically -- Creating a PCB by Using the Transfer Film Method -- Choosing a Method for Making Your Own Circuit Layouts -- Showing You My Etchings: Etching the Circuit Board -- Final Prep and Drilling -- PCBs R Us: Using a PCB Service -- Using CAD to Make Artwork -- The Exciting World of Microcontrollers -- So, How Does It Work? -- What's Inside a Microcontroller? -- Discovering Microcontrollers for Hobbyists -- Microcontrollers That Stand Out from the Rest -- Getting to Know the BASIC Stamp 2 -- Great Projects You Can Build in 30 Minutes or Less -- Getting What You Need Right Off the Bat -- Creating Cool, Crazy, Blinky Lights -- Putting the Squeeze on with Piezoelectricity -- Building the Amazing See-in-the-Dark Infrared Detector -- Cheese It! It's the Cops!! -- Get Lost ... or Found, with the Electronic Compass -- When There's Light, You Hear This Noise ... -- 'Lil Amp, Big Sound -- Building the Handy-Dandy Water Tester -- Creating a Very Cool Lighting Effects Generator -- Cool Robot Projects to Amaze Your Friends and Family -- Robots: The Big Picture -- Preparing to Build the 'Bot -- Building the Body of the 'Bot -- Giving Rover Some Smarts -- Putting Your Servos on a Roll with Wheels -- Sensing Things with a Bumper Car Switch -- Connecting Up to the Board of Education -- Making Switch and Power Connections -- Making the Smart Rover Smart -- Where Can I Go from Here? -- Ten (Or So) Cool Electronics Testing Tool Tips -- Put a Pulse Here, Put a Pulse There -- Counting Up Those Megahertz -- A Power Supply with a Changeable Personality -- Ten Great Electronics Parts Sources -- North America -- Outside North America -- Advice for Shopping Mail Order -- New or Surplus? -- Ten Electronics Formulas You Should Know -- Calculating Relationships with Ohm's Law -- Calculating Resistance -- Calculating Capacitance -- Calculating Units of Energy -- Calculating RC Time Constants -- Calculating Frequency and Wavelength -- Figuring Things Out with Calculators -- Gabbing about Electronics in Discussion Forums -- Surfing for Robot Parts -- Getting Up to Speed with Tutorials and General Information -- Trolling for Printed Circuit Board Chemicals and Supplies -- Getting Things Surplus -- Surfing for Circuits.