The MintDuino is deceiving—this little tin of electronics is capable of providing the brains for an unlimited number of devices limited only by your imagination… and, of course, your bank account.

While the MintDuino is certainly capable of being used during a moment of inspiration, you’ll find that the real power of the device comes when you sit down, figure out what you want to make, and then start tackling your project a bit at a time. Anyone who has done circuit building or programming (or both) knows that it rarely pays to just start inserting components and writing complex sketches (programs in Arduino-speak). When trouble arises in a circuit or a program, it can be a time-consuming process to track down the error (or more likely, errors) when you have too much complexity. That’s why it’s always a good idea to break a project idea down into manageable components—let’s call them subtasks. If your big project has five major subtasks, tackling the first subtask and building a slightly less complicated circuit with a slightly less complicated sketch will save time and reduce stress. Once you’ve got the first subtask figured out, you move on to the second. By the time you’ve got all five subtasks built and their individual sketches tested, you’re likely to have an increased chance of success when you pull them all together and build The Big Project.

And that’s exactly what you’re going to do in this MintDuino Notebook. You’re going to be shown The Big Project…but you’re not going to be allowed to build it just yet. The Big project has subtasks, and first you’re going to learn how to get the subtasks to work. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be ready for the finale where you bring together all you’ve learned and tackle…The Big Project. So, what is The Big Project? Keep reading.