Learning JavaScript robotics : design, build, and program your own remarkable robots with JavaScript and open source hardware / Kassandra Perch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Perch, Kassandra, author.

Series:

Community experience distilled.

Community experience distilled

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

JavaScript (Computer program language).

Video games--Handbooks, manuals, etc.

Video games.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (160 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Birmingham : Packt Publishing, 2015.

Biography/History:

Perch Kassandra: Kassandra Perch is an open web developer and supporter. She began as a frontend developer and moved to server-side with the advent of Node. js and was especially enthralled by the advance of the NodeBots community. She travels the world speaking at conferences about NodeBots and the fantastic community around them.

Summary:

About This BookLearn how to leverage Johnny-Five's Read, Eval, Print Loop, and Event API to write robot code with JavaScriptUnlock a world of exciting possibilities by hooking your JavaScript-programmed robots up to the internet and using external data and APIsMove your project code from the Arduino Uno to a multitude of other robotics platformsWho This Book Is For If you've worked with Arduino before, or are new to electronics and would like to try writing sketches in JavaScript, then this book is for you! Basic knowledge of JavaScript and Node.JS will help you get the most out of this book.What You Will LearnFamiliarize yourself with Johnny-Five Read-Eval-Print-Loop (REPL)Build robots with basic output devicesCreate projects with complex output devices and employ the Johnny-Five API to simplify the use of components that require complex interfaces, such as I2CUse the servo and motor objects to make it much easier to move your robotics projectsLearn about the Animation API which allows you to program complex movements using timing and key framesBring other devices into your Johnny-Five projects, such as USB devicesConnect your Johnny-Five projects to external APIs and create your own Internet of Things!In Detail There has been a rapid rise in the use of JavaScript in recent times for a variety of applications and JavaScript robotics has also seen a rise in popularity. Johnny-Five is a framework that gives NodeBots a consistent API across several hardware systems. This book walks you through basic robotics projects, including the physical hardware builds and the JavaScript code for them. You'll delve into the concepts of Johnny-Five and JavaScript robotics. You'll learn about various components, such as Digital GPIO pins, PWM output pins, sensors, servos, and motors to be used with Johnny-Five, along with some advanced components that use I2C and SPI. You will learn to connect your Johnny-Five robots to internet services. By the end of this book, you will have explored the benefits of the Johnny-Five framework and the many devices it unlocks.

Contents:

Cover

Copyright

Credits

About the Author

About the Reviewers

www.PacktPub.com

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: Getting Started with JS Robotics

Understanding JS Robotics, NodeBots, and Johnny-Five

What a NodeBot is, and other basic vocabulary

Johnny-Five and the NodeBot revolution

What we'll be using in this book

Setting up your development environment

Installing Node.JS

Setting up your project and installing Johnny-Five

Connecting your Microcontroller and installing Firmata

Hello, World! - Blinking an onboard LED

Writing the Johnny-Five script

Running the script

Summary

Chapter 2: Working with Johnny-Five

What you'll need for this chapter

How a Johnny-Five program works

Objects, functions, and events

Going over our blink-LED script

Understanding events in Johnny-Five

Why events?

Wiring up an external LED

Setting up the hardware

Using the Read, Eval, Print Loop (REPL)

Making components available to the REPL

Using the REPL

Chapter 3: Using Digital and PWM Output Pins

How GPIO pins work

Digital output pins

PWM output pins

How to tell the difference between Digital and PWM pins

Multiple pins with several LEDs

Setting up the hardware for the project

Writing the script for the project

Exploring more about LED objects in Johnny-Five

Using PWM pins with the Piezo element

Writing the script

What's going on with the pin?

Exploring the Piezo API

Chapter 4: Using Specialized Output Devices

Outputs that require multiple pins

Inter-Integrated Circuits (i2c)

Checking compatibility with Johnny-Five

Obtaining documentation, wiring diagrams, and so on.

The project - character LCD display

Wiring up - i2c LCDs

The code

The i2c version

The non-i2c version

Running the code

Chapter 5: Using Input Devices and Sensors

How analog input pins work

Johnny-Five sensor events

Using basic inputs - buttons and potentiometers

Wiring up our button and LED

Coding button-led.js

Wiring the potentiometer and the LED

Coding our dimmer switch

Using sensors - Light and Temperature

Wiring up our photocell

Coding our photocell example

barcli

Coding everything together

Wiring up the temperature sensor

Coding our temperature example

Chapter 6: Moving Your Bot

The different kinds of servos and motors

Defining motors and servos

Things to keep in mind

Types of motors

Types of servos

Do I use a servo or a motor?

Servo and motor controllers

Motor and servo shields

Special concerns when using motors and servos

Power concerns

Tethering and cables

Wiring up servos and motors

Wiring up servos

Wiring up motors

Creating a project with a motor and using the REPL

Exploring the motor API

Creating a project with a servo and a sensor

Exploring the servo API with the REPL

Chapter 7: Advanced Movement with the Animation Library

What is the Animation API?

Why do we need an Animation API?

Why animation?

Looking at the Animation API

Learning the terminology

The difference between .to() and the Animation API

Using the ServoArray object

Project - wiring up three servos and creating an array

Writing Servo Animations

Writing key frames

The key frame object

Key frame shorthand

Examples of writing key frames

Writing segments

Segment options.

Examples of writing segments

The Animation object

Project - animating our servo array

Animation events

Building a servo array with an informative LCD readout

Chapter 8: Advanced Components - I2C, SPI, and Other Devices

Why do we need the I2C and SPI protocols?

Exploring SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) devices

How SPI works

How Johnny-Five does SPI

Benefits and drawbacks of SPI

Building with an SPI device - an LED matrix

The build

The API

Exploring I2C devices

How I2C works

Pins used by I2C

How I2C devices send and receive data

Benefits and drawbacks of I2C

Benefits

Drawbacks

Building with an I2C device - Accelerometer

Wiring up our accelerometer

Coding up our example

External Devices

Why External Devices?

node-serialport

node-hid

Build - a USB gamepad

The hardware

The node-gamepad API

Chapter 9: Connecting NodeBots to the World, and Where to Go Next

Connecting NodeBots to the Web

It's just a Node Server!

Using Twilio

Building the WeatherBot

Using the TextBot

Johnny-Five and the wide world of microcontrollers

Moving our WeatherBot to the Particle Photon

Tethering and Johnny-Five

Other JS libraries and platforms

Espruino

Tessel

Cylon.js

JerryScript

Tiny Linux computers

Vendor libraries

Where to go from here

Index.

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed January 5, 2016).

ISBN:

9781785880872

178588087X