Preface

Robotics have really come into the public spotlight in the past few years. Ideas that, just a few years ago, would have lived only in the government research center or university lab, such as robotic vacuum cleaners, drones that cover the sky, and self-driving cars, are now making their way into everyday life. This movement is fueled, at least in part, by scores of enterprising individuals, without significant technical training, who undertake building their idea with inexpensive hardware and free, open-source software.

This book celebrates this effort by detailing how to get started on building the project that you always wanted to build but didn't think you had the expertise for. The heart of these projects is Raspberry Pi B version 2, a cable microprocessor-based system that can run Linux and provides a platform for a significant number of open source modules. Combine Raspberry Pi with these open source modules and low cost hardware, and you can build robots that can walk, role, draw, and even fly.