What this book covers

Chapter 1, Preparing the BeagleBone Black, teaches you how to unbox, power up, and load the BeagleBone Black with all of the necessary software to build the projects described in this book.

Chapter 2, Building a Basic Tracked Vehicle, describes your first project, that is, a tracked vehicle. You'll learn how to construct the platform so that you can control the speed and direction of your robot.

Chapter 3, Adding Sensors to Your Tracked Vehicle, explains how, after creating a platform that is mobile, you'll add sensors to help your robot avoid, or find, objects.

Chapter 4, Vision and Image Processing, shows that your robot is maneuverable, but now you'll add the capability to not only sense but also see the world around it.

Chapter 5, Building a Robot that Can Walk, teaches you to build a robot that can walk—a quadruped robot controlled by the BeagleBone Black.

Chapter 6, A Robot that Can Sail, proves that while a robot that can roll or walk is impressive, one that can sail is even more amazing. You'll build a robot that can sail under the control of the BeagleBone Black.

Chapter 7, Using GPS for Navigation, shows that sailing your sailboat is easy if a human is controlling it. You can give your sailboat autonomy by giving it a sense of where it is and where it is going. The GPS system provides this feature and you'll learn how to use it to sail.

Chapter 8, Measuring Wind Speed – Integrating Analog Sensors, teaches you that to sail your sailboat, you'll need to know the wind direction. You'll learn how to use an anemometer (wind sensor) to sail your boat.

Chapter 9, An Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle, demonstrates the construction of a vessel that can be controlled from the surface while it explores the environment under the water.

Chapter 10, A Quadcopter, shows that, now that you've explored the earth and the water, there is only one more place left to go—the air. You'll learn how to construct one of the most stable and maneuverable flying platforms—the quadcopter.

Chapter 11, An Autonomous Quadcopter, covers the final step in exploring the heavens, that is, providing your quadcopter with the capability of flying itself.