Making Things Talk
Practical Methods for Connecting Physical Objects
Book Review

By Dale Farris, Reviews Coordinator Golden Triangle PC Club October 2007 Through a series of simple projects, this book teaches you how to get your creations to communicate with one another by forming networks of smart devices that carry on conversations with you and your environment. Whether you need to plug some sensors in your home to the Internet or create a device that can interact wirelessly with other creations, Making Things Talk explains exactly what you need. Building electronic projects that interact with the physical world is good fun. But when devices that you've built start to talk to each other, things really start to get interesting. Through a series of simple projects, you'll learn how to get your creations to communicate with one another by forming networks of smart devices that carry on conversations with you and your environment. Whether you need to plug some sensors in your home to the Internet or create a device that can interact wirelessly with other creations, Making Things Talk explains exactly what you need. This book is perfect for people with little technical training but a lot of interest. Maybe you're a science teacher who wants to show students how to monitor weather conditions at several locations at once, or a sculptor who wants to stage a room of choreographed mechanical sculptures. Making Things Talk demonstrates that once you figure out how objects communicate -- whether they're microcontroller-powered devices, email programs, or networked databases -- you can get them to interact. Each chapter contains instructions on how to build working projects that help you do just that. You will: Make your pet's bed send you email Make your own seesaw game controller that communicates over the Internet Learn how to use ZigBee and Bluetooth radios to transmit sensor data wirelessly Set up communication between microcontrollers, personal computers, and web servers using three easy-to-program, open source environments: Arduino/Wiring Processing PHP Write programs to send data across the Internet based on physical activity in your home, office, or backyard And much more With a little electronic know-how, a couple of inexpensive microcontroller kits and some network modules to make them communicate using Ethernet, ZigBee, and Bluetooth, you can get started on these projects right away. With Making Things Talk, the possibilities are practically endless. Book Contents Overview Building electronic projects that interact with the physical world is good fun, but when devices that you have built start to talk to each other, things really start to get interesting. This book demonstrates that once you figure out how objects communicate - whether they are microcontroller powered devices, email programs, or networked databases - you can get these to interact. This book is perfect for people with little technical training but a lot of interest. Whether you need to plug some sensors in your home to the Internet, or create a device that can interact wirelessly with other creations, this book explains exactly what you will need. Through 26 projects, the book shows how to get your creations to talk with one another by forming networks of smart devices that carry on conversations with you and your environment. Here are a few of the projects covered in the book: Blink - your very first program Monski Pong - control a video game with a fluffy pink monkey Networked Air Quality Meter - download and display the latest report for your city XBee Toxic Sensor - Use ZigBee, sensors, and a cymbal monkey to warn of toxic vapors Bluetooth GPS - Build a battery powered GPS that reports it location over Bluetooth RFID Reader Bowl - Turn your lights off when you leave the home or office Other projects describe how to make your pet's bed send you email, make your own game controllers that communicate over a network, work with 3 easy to program, open source environments, including Arduino / Wiring, Processing, and PHP, and how to write programs to send data across the Internet based on physical activity in your home, office, or backyard Table of Contents Chapter 1: The Tools Chapter 2: The Simplest Network Chapter 3: A More Complex Network Chapter 4: Look Ma! No Computer Chapter 5: Communicating in (Near) Real Time Chapter 6: Wireless Communication Chapter 7: The Tools Chapter 8: How to Locate (Almost) Anything Chapter 9: Identification Appendix A: And Another Thing Appendix B: Where to Get Stuff Appendix C: Program Listings Target Readers A few years ago, Neil Gershenfeld wrote a smart book called When Things Start to Think. In that book, he discussed a world in which everyday objects and devices are endowed with computational power. He talked about the implications of devices that exchange information about our identities, abilities, and actions. This latest book from Tom Igoe is about learning how to make things that have computational power talk to each other, and about giving people the ability to use those things to communicate with each other. This book is written for people who want to make things talk to other things. Maybe you are a science teacher who wants to show your students how to monitor weather conditions at several locations around your school, or a sculptor who wants to make a whole room of choreographed mechanical sculptures. The main tools in the book are personal computers, web servers, and microcontrollers, the tiny computers inside everyday applications. In order to get the most from this book, you should have a basic knowledge of electronics and programming microcontrollers, some familiarity with the Internet, and access to both. The book is composed of explanations of the concepts that underlie networked objects, followed by recopies and instructions that illustrate each set of concepts. Each chapter contains instructions on how to build working projects that make use of the new ideas introduced in the chapter. You will need a lot of parts for all the projects in the book. As a result, you will learn about a lot of vendors. The book also lists all the suggested parts and tools, while providing color photographs that help identify these tools and parts. In building the projects in the book, you will break things and void warranties. If you are averse to this, this book is not for you. This book is not for those who are squeamish about taking things apart without knowing whether they will go back together again. Book Contents 428 pages; preface; acknowledgments; figures; extensive color photographs; numerous detailed code samples; tips; tables; appendixes; index Author Tom Igoe About the Author Tom Igoe teaches courses in physical computing and networking, exploring ways to allow digital technologies to sense and respond to a wider range of human physical expression. Coming from a background in theatre, his work centers on physical interaction related to live performance and public space. Along with Dan O'Sullivan, he co-authored the book "Physical Computing: Sensing and Controlling the Physical World with Computers," which has been adopted by numerous digital art and design programs around the world. Projects include a series of networked banquet table centerpieces and musical instruments; an email clock; and a series of interactive dioramas, created in collaboration with M.R. Petit. He has consulted for The American Museum of the Moving Image, EAR Studio, Diller + Scofidio Architects, Eos Orchestra, and others. He hopes someday to work with monkeys, as well. Tom is also a contributor to MAKE magazine and a collaborator on the Arduino open source microcontroller project. ISBN September 2007 - First Edition ISBN 10: 0-596-51051-9 ISBN 13: 978-0-596-51051-0 List Price $29.99 $35.99 CAN Publisher Contact Marsee Henon marsee@oreilly.com O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. 1005 Gravenstein Highway North Sebastopol, California 95472 707-827-7000 800-998-9938 FAX 707-829-0104 www.oreilly.com