Page 16 - Robot Builder's Bonanza

CONTENTS xv

Making Long- Lasting Solderless Circuits 411
Mounting the Breadboard to Your Robot 412
Tips for Using a Solderless Breadboard 413
Chapter 33—Making Circuit Boards 414
Overview of Your Primary Circuit Board Options 414
Clean It First! 415
Making Permanent Circuits on Solder Breadboards 415
Using Point- to- Point Perforated Board Construction 416
Using Predrilled Stripboards 417
Creating Electronic Circuit Boards with PCB CAD 418
Producing Arduino- Specific Boards with Fritzing 420
On the Web: Etching Your Own Printed Circuit Board 421
Using Custom Prototyping Boards 422
Making Semipermanent Circuits with Wire Wrapping 422
Effective Use of Plug- in Headers 424

Part 6—Computers and Electronic Control

Chapter 34—An Overview of Robot “Brains” 425
Brains for the Brawn 427
Igor, Pull the Switch! 428
Brains from Discrete Components 428
Programmed Brains 429
Of Inputs and Outputs 434

Chapter 35—Understanding Microcontrollers 437
All about Microcontroller Categories 437
Microcontroller Shapes and Sizes 440
Under the Hood of the Typical Microcontroller Chip 441
Microcontroller Programmers 444
All about Microcontroller Speed 445

Chapter 36—Programming Concepts: The Fundamentals 446
Important Programming Concepts 446
Understanding Data Types 450
Lucky Seven Most Common Programming Statements 452
Variables, Expressions, and Operators 455
On the Web: More Programming Fundamentals 459

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