This book teaches readers how to build a robot based on the Texas Instruments (TI) MSP430 microcontroller. To make things clear, the author presents a concrete case: creating a basic robot from a simple radio-controlled car. Enthusiasts are targeted: high school and college students eager to build their first robots, and computer geeks wishing to drill down to the machine level. There are 24 chapters in all.

Chapter 1 introduces the required background for readers, and presents an overview of robot structure (locomotion, control, power source, and platform), needed tools, and components. For the purpose of this book, a robot is defined as a mobile device that is able to move autonomously (which excludes spot welders in car factories from the discussion, for instance, since they are autonomous but not mobile).

Chapter 2 deals with the robot platform, a radio-controlled car that has been stripped of unneeded mechanical and electrical parts.

The next two chapters cover the relevant basics of electromagnetics and electronics, from Ohm’s and Kirchhoff’s laws to resistors, capacitors, inductors, electromagnetic fields, and semiconductors (p-n junctions, diodes, bipolar transistors, metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs), operational amplifiers, and H-bridges).

Chapter 5 is devoted to direct current (DC) motors. The author uses the same didactic approach, starting with a discussion of the Beakman motor (from a famous educational TV show), with suggestions on how to improve it, followed by an analysis of DC motors and generators, a comparison of digital and analog DC motors, and finally a description of the analog DC motor drive to be used in the robot.

Chapter 6 presents a circuit simulation program from Texas Instruments (TINA-TI). Before prototyping the robot, the author conducts a simulation for playing various what-if games, trying different values for the components, and checking their effects.

The next two chapters cover relevant computer basics, such as logic (logic functions, electronic implementation, and logic circuit examples, including adders, gates, flip-flops, and registers) and arithmetic (binary/octal/hexadecimal number systems, operations, and floating-point values).

Chapter 9 introduces the MSP430 microcontroller hardware, configurations and the launchpad, the instruction format, operating with the peripherals, interrupts, clocks, and language choice (the assembly language versus C). To avoid complicating things, the author does not use interrupts throughout the book, only polling.

Chapter 10 covers MSP430 Assembler, including registers, addressing modes, and the instruction set. In chapter 11, the author takes two very simple programs written in the assembly language and shows the steps to submit them to the microcontroller for execution. A cross-development tool on the PC is used to create a project that contains the source code, and an executable is built and downloaded into the microcontroller. An embedded workbench (the IAR Embedded Workbench integrated development environment (IDE)) is used for debugging. Chapter 12 takes the same cross-development tool and makes it work with programs written in the C language.

The next chapters return to hardware. Chapter 13 describes system clocking for MSP430, chapter 14 talks about parallel and serial input/output (I/O) ports, and chapter 15 covers timers and counters.

Chapter 16 is devoted to data acquisition (and data rendering, the process of converting analog voltages from real-world sensors to digital numbers that the microcontroller understands, and converting the digital results back into analog voltages that the external equipment needs). To make the conversion from digital to analog clear, the author first explains the superposition principle and then explains the pulse-width modulation (PWM) timing method that is actually used by the microcontroller. The conversion from analog to digital is accomplished by the successive approximation method and its implementation.

Once the basics have been covered, it’s time to start constructing the robot. Chapter 17 explores various techniques for circuit building on an existing printed circuit board, on a solderless board, and on a vector board using solder or wirewrap.

Robots need to move and to sense their environment. Thus, sensors are needed to avoid collisions. Chapter 18 covers robot sensors based on ultrasonic and/or optical generation and detection. Chapter 19 describes techniques for measuring robot speed and reasons for including this capability (for instance, the robot may need to keep a constant velocity). Chapter 20 discusses various methods for creating higher voltage. The robot circuits need 15 volts (DC) or higher, while the battery packs supply only 6 or 7.5 volts. This is solved via DC to DC converters that amplify the input voltage.

Chapter 21 offers a sort of bonus: the ability to control the robot remotely. This is done either with the controller from a radio-controlled car or with an optical remote.

Chapter 22 deals with troubleshooting, and chapter 23 describes the interaction between the software and the real-time operating system of the microcontroller. Finally, chapter 24 puts it all together.

The book concludes with an appendix containing the full program listing.

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