Raspberry Pi & Arduino Home Automation Kit - Build Smart DIY Projects for Smart Homes, IoT Devices & Fun Gadgets | Perfect for Beginners & Makers

Raspberry Pi Home Automation with Arduino Second edition is an updated version of the original book.I purchased the original a while back when it was one of the few books tackling the subject and worked through the projects, so was interested to see what the new edition contained. I have both the paperback and Kindle edition. I found it easier to read the Kindle edition on a monitor while working with the Arduino IDE. It's also a lot cheaper.Unlike the first edition we are also introduced to using the Arduino Uno. I found this to be a really great addition as truly provides a guide to using an Arduino Microcontroller with the RPI.As with the 1st edition is one of Packt's shorter format books (approx. 150 pages) geared towards beginners.Like the original, the book starts off with an introduction to Home Automation to give you a flavor of what can be done.Following this in Chapter 2. we learn how to setup our Pi, Arduino and connection bridge. Compared to the first edition, this chapter is far more concise and points the reader in the direction of locations where they can get apps like NOOBs to speed up the install process. Also removed from this chapter was the information on Berryboot, which I had used originally to setup my Pi.Chapter 3. guides the reader through setting up a thermostat that can interact with an HVAC system and finishes up with creating some code that outputs the temperature data. This acts as a lead in for Chapter 4. We are also given some ideas on how to expand the device using other components such as a potentiometer.In Chapter 4. we setup our Raspberry Pi to pull data from the Arduino and store it into an SQLite DB. The setup of the Raspberry Pi is the start of building a central device that the Arduino projects in the book will interact with.Following this we install HTSQL (as with the first edition) in order to be able to query the temperature data from a web browser. This is a nice touch and I am glad they included it in the second edition.Chapter 5 combines some of the techniques from Chapters 3 and 4 in order to build a parcel detection device using an Arduino that communicates with the Raspberry Pi. The end of the chapter also provides a guide to hooking in the device to using some of the parcel delivery services APIs for providing a better view of what has been delivered.Following this in Chapter 6 we learn how to build a curtain control device using the Raspberry Pi and Cooking Hacks bridge shield. This chapter was particularly useful for me as I have a number of Raspberry Pi's.Based upon the chapters so far I was able to build out a thermostat and parcel delivery device using a couple of Uno boards and cheap components. However in this chapter I also got to re-use a PI from my cluster and the Cooking Hacks shield I purchased with the first edition.On finishing the chapter I now had a small network of 2 Arduino's and 2 RPI's, with one acting as the central "brain" of the system.Chapter 7 contained some projects that were not in the original edition. Here we learn how to build our a damp and water detection device, that can communicate with the RPI.By the end of chapter 7 I had a pretty neat little system working.Chapter 8 like the first edition was a wrapping up chapter with ideas for other projects to expand the system.Conclusion:This was a great improvement over the first edition. It had more projects in and some updates to the originals. I would recommend purchasing this over the first edition as it also contains updates to the code to work with the new version of the arduPi library.Pros:1. Great projects2. Working "system" by the end of the book3. Great for re-using existing components, both RPI and Arduino if you have them4. Simple to follow5. Lots of ideas in each chapter for expanding the systemCons1. Paperback edition is expensive2. More chapters would be nice