Lukas Kaul is the author of Practical Arduino Robotics, we got the chance to sit down with him and find out more about his experience of writing with Packt.
Q: What is/are your specialist tech area(s)?
Lukas: Robotics, Electric Actuators, Embedded Systems.
Q: How did you become an author for Packt? Tell us about your journey. What was your motivation for writing this book?
Lukas: Suwarna, one of Packt’s product managers, proactively reached out to me. I am always on the lookout for opportunities to support the robotics and Arduino communities, so it immediately felt like a perfect fit.
Q: What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning the book?
Lukas: I have been working in robotics and with Arduino for over a decade, so I had a lot of ideas right from the get-go. But I did spend a few weeks catching up with the very latest developments in the Arduino community, especially with the new major release of the Arduino IDE, Arduino 2.0.
Q: Did you face any challenges during the writing process? How did you overcome them?
Lukas: The biggest challenge is certainly time management. Balancing a full-time job in tech, time with family, an active lifestyle, the need for sleep, and writing a book requires a lot of discipline.
Q: What’s your take on the technologies discussed in the book? Where do you see these technologies heading in the future?
Lukas: I am incredibly optimistic about the positive impact that robotics can have on our society. Robotics can be entertaining, educational, and empowering. I dream of a future where robotics technologies will help us live longer, happier, and healthier.
Q. Why should readers choose this book over others already on the market? How would you differentiate your book from its competition?
Lukas: Many books about Arduino robots are collections of example projects. They showcase interesting robots, but they do not teach the reader the foundational knowledge that is required to build their own robots, completely from scratch. This book is full of deep technical knowledge and countless small examples. It helps readers connect all the dots, see the big picture, and become advanced Arduino roboticists themselves.
Q. What are the key takeaways you want readers to come away from the book with?
Lukas: I want the reader to feel empowered to bring all of their robotics ideas to life. They will learn all the essential skills and techniques for building Arduino robots and know how to dig deeper into any given topic that they want to learn more about.
Q. What advice would you give to readers learning tech? Do you have any top tips?
Lukas: My best advice is to start using the technologies you want to learn. Hands-on experience can lead to great learning outcomes, especially if you have access to practical books or a community that can help you when you get stuck.
Q. Can you share any blogs, websites and forums to help readers gain a holistic view of the tech they are learning?
Lukas: IEEE’s robotics blog is both entertaining and insightful: https://spectrum.ieee.org/topic/robotics/
Q. What is the one writing tip that you found most crucial and would like to share with aspiring authors?
Lukas: For me, having a detailed outline of the book, down to the subsections of each chapter, was crucial to make the writing process efficient. Once I was happy with the outlines, writing the text was fun!
You can find Lukas’s book on Amazon by following this link: Please click here
