lucstechblog: December 2022

For an index to all my stories click this text.

The holliday season is coming up. Lots of time to celebrate with your loved ones and friends, but also lots of time to spend with your hobby. And maybe you have relatives or friends also want to start with electronics or the Internet Of Things. What better way than a book that explains it all in an easy to understand manner.

Next to being the author of this blog I also wrote (until now) 3 books in plain English and one in Dutch that explain these things in an easy way. That is why the series is called xxxx Simplified.

Raspberry Pico W Simplified.

This is my latest book and was released in October this year.
The book covers the already very popular Raspberry Pi Pico W. In which the W stands for Wifi. The Raspberry Pi Pico W is a serious competitor to the famous ESP32. Not only has this board a lot of memory, a fast dual-core processor, loads of IO ports and USB for easy programming. It also has Wifi which makes it ideal for the Internet of Things. Look at it as an Arduino with added Wifi.

This book covers the following subjects:
Installing MicroPython, the MicroPython language, the pins layout, how to use a breadboard, adding power, how to use a button, how to use leds, fading leds with PWM, connecting to wifi, check if someone is at home with ping, Dallas DS18B20 thermometer chip, building your own MicroPython library, access internet data with Urequests, getting jokes from the internet, publishing to and retrieving data from Thingspeak, using an LDR for measuring light intensity, using mains power with a relay, movement detection with a PIR, getting notifications on your phone with Pushbullet, vibration detection, sending data to Telegram Messenger, how to use JSON, sending data to and retrieving data from Dweet, building a webserver that displays data and has buttons to control leds and lamps etc., attach a reset button.

Every project is build on a breadboard. All programs in the book are written in MicroPython and fully documented in detail.

This book is available through my publisher and through Amazon

https://www.lulu.com/shop/luc-volders/raspberry-pico-w-simplified/paperback/product-ke8vz9.html?q=luc+volders&page=1&pageSize=4

https://www.amazon.com/Raspberry-Pico-Simplified-Luc-Volders/dp/1471032361/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1W8CKDJ1TDLOC&keywords=luc+volders&qid=1668207187&sprefix=%2Caps%2C357&sr=8-3

Raspberry Pi Pico Simplified

The Raspberry Pi Pico was the first microcontroller released by the Raspberry Foundation. Within a year 1.000.000 (yes 1 million) pieces were sold. The Pico is a serious competitor for the Arduino range of microcontrollers. It has a fast processor, loads of IO pins and can easily be programmed with MicroPython. This book focuses on the MicroPython language and on how to use a multitude of sensors with this microcontroller.

The book covers the following subjects:
Getting started, installing libaries, Pico's pins layout, introduction to using a breadboard, power, basic programming knowlegde, buttons, leds, fading leds with PWM, Dallas DS18B20 Digital Thermometer, using an LDR for measuring light intensity, potmeter, servo motor, more power, using mains power with a relay, touch sensor, controlling a motor, making sound with a buzzer, neopixels, H-Bridge for advanced motor control, movement detection with a PIR, motion detection with the RCWL-0156 Radar, measuring distance, tilt sensor, vibration detection, display your data, rotary encoder, oled display and how to build a reset button.

Every project is build on a breadboard. All programs in the book are written in MicroPython and fully documented in detail.

This book is available through my publisher and through Amazon:

https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/luc-volders/raspberry-pi-pico-simplified/paperback/product-znrgmy.html?page=1&pageSize=4

https://www.amazon.com/Raspberry-Pico-Simplified-Luc-Volders/dp/1329449533/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=raspberry+pi+pico+simplified&qid=1629483987&sr=8-3

ESP32 Simplified

When the ESP8266 was released it was a sensation. It was a microcontroller like an Arduino but then with Wifi. The ESP32 offers even more benefits. The ESP32 has many IO pins, a fast processor, a lot of memory, bluetooth and an USB port so you can easily program it. The popular Arduino language (which is C++) is vailable for it and that opens the gate to many libraries for sensors and access to web-services. The ESP32 is a popular widely used microcontroller and therefore this book is a valuable source of information for anyone who wants to start with electronics and the Internet of Things.

This book covers the following subjects:
Installing the Arduino IDE, ESP32 board install, using the IDE, using the library manager, using ZIP libraries, installing libraries manually, first use of libraries, ESP32 Pin layout, ESP32 on a breadboard, introduction to using a breadboard, power, USB Breadboard connector,batteries, external Power Supply, programming basics, how to attach a button, buttons or switches, led, fading leds with PWM, Dallas DS18B20 digital thermometer, using an LDR for measuring light intensity, potmeter, make a dimmer, servo Motor, building a web server, more power, using mains power with a relay, automatic night light, touch sensor, a touch sensitive lamp, plant watering system, IFTTT, neopixels, thermometer with led indication, roll the dice, H-Bridge for advanced motor control, movement detection with a PIR, motion detection with the RCWL-0156 Radar, vibration detection, tilt sensor, display data with the TM1637, oled display, Thingspeak a cloud basede IOT, sending thermometer values to Thingspeak.

Every example is build on a breadboard so no soldering is required. Every example has an accompanying program which is documented in detail.

This book is available through my publisher and through Amazon:

https://www.lulu.com/shop/luc-volders/esp32-simplified/paperback/product-5yr98e.html?page=1&pageSize=4

https://www.amazon.com/ESP32-Simplified-Control-your-internet/dp/171694211X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=esp32+simplified&qid=1601666983&sr=8-1

ESP32 Uitgelegd