Learn how to quickly build cool electronic gadgets with .NET Gadgeteer. With the easy-to-follow instructions in this guide, you’ll tackle five fascinating projects, using Microsoft’s rapid prototyping Gadgeteer platform. There’s no soldering involved—you simply plug in modules that make gadget-building quick and easy.

Ideal for beginners, this book shows you how to work with modules and other hardware in the popular Fez Spider Starter Kit, and teaches you how to program your gadgets with Visual Studio C# Express and the .NET Micro Framework 4.1 SDK. You’ll soon learn a wide range of programming techniques along with the skills to design your own projects.

• Get to know the software and hardware with a simple LED project
• Download code from the companion site to build and test each project
• Build a spy camera that automatically captures and saves images at regular intervals
• Construct a simple animated game with the joystick module
• Create a web server that sends messages you draw or write on the touchscreen module
• Build a gadget that backs up digital images from an SD card to a USB flash drive
• Learn about other .NET Gadgeteer modules for creating environmental sensors, an MP3 player, and a WiFi network

About the Author
Dr. Simon Monk has a degree in Cybernetics and Computer Science and a PhD in Software Engineering. Simon spent several years as an academic before he returned to industry, co-founding the mobile software company Momote Ltd. He has been an active electronics hobbyist since his early teens. Simon is author of a number of hobby electronics books including '30 Arduino Projects for the Evil Genius', '15 Dangerously Mad Projects for the Evil Genius' and 'Arduino + Android Projects for the Evil Genius'.

Chapter 1 Getting Started with .NET Gadgeteer

• What Is .NET Gadgeteer?
• The Fez Starter Kit
• Powering Up
• Installation
• Hello World
• Conclusion

Chapter 2 Spy Camera

• The Design
• The Camera Module
• WPFWindow
• The Final Program
• Touch Screen
• Writing to SD cards
• Testing
• Conclusion

Chapter 3 Snowflakes Game

• The Design
• Screen Layout
• Using the Joystick module
• Conclusion

Chapter 4 Web Messenger

• Web Servers
• A Gadgeteer Web Server
• Testing
• A Gadgeteer Sketch Pad
• Putting It All Together
• Testing
• Sharing with the World
• Conclusion

Chapter 5 Camera Backup Gadget

• The Design
• The USB Host Module
• The Program
• Copying Files
• Testing
• Breakpoints
• Conclusion

Chapter 6 What Next?

• Other Modules
• Physical Design Files
• Documentation
• Blogs and Web Resources
• Conclusion