Having taught a class or two using the mBot, I decided that it would be a "Good Idea" to capture things into an ebook which I've titled "A Gentle Introduction to Robotics." It should be available by the end of April barring any unforeseen circumstances and I'm trying to keep the price around $17.50 USD by going through Leanpub. All of the proceeds from the sale will go into an account to fund local robotics teams so if you want to help out future roboticists you can think about buying a copy. Or two. I'm also working with Leanpub to be able to make bulk discounts and/or discount coupons available for teachers and clubs.
The surprising part of this adventure into authorship is the level of self-discipline it requires when you are a full-time father, husband, and consultant. When you are writing a book in the moments between the other three primary jobs it becomes challenging to get into a flow. However, if it was easy I guess everyone would do it.
Subjects that I thought I had adequately explained in simple detail were kicked back by some of my reviewers as needing either more or less detail and in a few cases I got both types of comments back on the same part of the text! Hopefully I've struck the right balance.
After a couple of weeks off, I'll start on the second book in the series. The first book focuses on Scratch programming and covers a dozen programs to illustrate the concepts. The next book will revisit those programs but from a C/C++ perspective using the Arduino IDE. I'm considering a final book in the series which will likely be a cookbook of projects that may require the purchase of additional parts, something I avoid in the first two books.
In any case, I hope that the book is informative and enjoyable.
[Originally published on Robotic Ramblings]