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TECHNOLOGY IN AC TION™

Beginning
Robotics with
Raspberry Pi
and Arduino
Using Python and OpenCV

Jeff Cicolani
Beginning Robotics
with Raspberry Pi and
Arduino
Using Python and OpenCV

Jeff Cicolani
Beginning Robotics with Raspberry Pi and Arduino:
Using Python and OpenCV
Jeff Cicolani
Pflugerville, Texas, USA

ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4842-3461-7 ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4842-3462-4


https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-3462-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018937971

Copyright © 2018 by Jeff Cicolani


This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or
part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way,
and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software,
or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
Trademarked names, logos, and images may appear in this book. Rather than use a trademark
symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, logo, or image we use the names, logos,
and images only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no
intention of infringement of the trademark.
The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if
they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not
they are subject to proprietary rights.
While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of
publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal
responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty,
express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.
Managing Director, Apress Media LLC: Welmoed Spahr
Acquisitions Editor: Aaron Black
Development Editor: James Markham
Coordinating Editor: Jessica Vakili
Cover designed by eStudioCalamar
Cover image designed by Freepik (www.freepik.com)
Distributed to the book trade worldwide by Springer Science+Business Media New York,
233 Spring Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10013. Phone 1-800-SPRINGER, fax (201) 348-4505,
e-mail orders-ny@springer-sbm.com, or visit www.springeronline.com. Apress Media, LLC is a
California LLC and the sole member (owner) is Springer Science + Business Media Finance Inc
(SSBM Finance Inc). SSBM Finance Inc is a Delaware corporation.
For information on translations, please e-mail rights@apress.com, or visit http://www.apress.
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Apress titles may be purchased in bulk for academic, corporate, or promotional use. eBook
versions and licenses are also available for most titles. For more information, reference our Print
and eBook Bulk Sales web page at http://www.apress.com/bulk-sales.
Any source code or other supplementary material referenced by the author in this book is available
to readers on GitHub via the book's product page, located at www.apress.com/978-1-4842-3461-7.
For more detailed information, please visit http://www.apress.com/source-code.
Printed on acid-free paper
For Martha, my beautiful and patient wife, for putting up
with random robot parts strewn about the house, pretty
much constantly
Table of Contents
About the Author���������������������������������������������������������������������������������xi

About the Technical Reviewer�����������������������������������������������������������xiii


Introduction����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xv

Chapter 1: Introduction to Robotics�����������������������������������������������������1


Robotics Basics�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������2
Linux and Robotics������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������3
Sensors and GPIO��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������4
Motion and Control������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������5
Raspberry Pi and Arduino�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������5
Project Overview���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������8
The Robot��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������8
Bill of Materials (BOM) ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������9
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������15

Chapter 2: An Introduction to Raspberry Pi����������������������������������������17


Downloading and Installing Raspbian�����������������������������������������������������������������17
Raspbian with OpenCV����������������������������������������������������������������������������������19
The “Hard” Way���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������19
The “Easy” Way���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������22
Connecting Raspberry Pi�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������24
Configuring Your Pi����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������26

v
Table of Contents

Using raspi-config�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������27
Users�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������34
Connecting to a Wireless Network����������������������������������������������������������������37
Going Headless���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������37
Remote Access����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������38
Summary������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������45

Chapter 3: A Crash Course in Python��������������������������������������������������47


Python Overview�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������49
Downloading and Installing Python���������������������������������������������������������������������49
Python Tools��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������50
The Python Shell��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������51
The Python Editor������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������52
The Zen of Python������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������55
Writing and Running a Python Program��������������������������������������������������������������56
Hello World����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������57
Basic Structure����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������58
Running a Program����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������61
Programming in Python��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������61
Variables��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������62
Data Types�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������62
A Final Note on Variables�������������������������������������������������������������������������������74
Control Structures�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������75
Functions�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������81
Adding Functionality through Modules����������������������������������������������������������85
Classes����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������91
Styling�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������99
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������101

vi
Table of Contents

Chapter 4: Raspberry Pi GPIO�����������������������������������������������������������103


Raspberry Pi GPIO���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������103
Pin Numbering���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������105
Connecting to the Raspberry Pi�������������������������������������������������������������������106
Limitations of Raspberry Pi’s GPIO��������������������������������������������������������������107
Accessing GPIO with Python������������������������������������������������������������������������108
Simple Output: LED Example�����������������������������������������������������������������������110
Simple Input������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������117
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������127

Chapter 5: Raspberry Pi and Arduino�����������������������������������������������129


Raspberry Pi’s GPIO in Review��������������������������������������������������������������������������130
Real-Time or Near Real-Time Processing���������������������������������������������������130
Analog Input������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������131
Analog Output����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������131
Arduino to the Rescue���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������132
Using Arduino����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������134
Installing the Arduino IDE����������������������������������������������������������������������������135
Connecting an Arduino��������������������������������������������������������������������������������135
Programming Arduino����������������������������������������������������������������������������������136
Sketches������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������145
A Brief Introduction to the Arduino Language���������������������������������������������������149
Including Other Files������������������������������������������������������������������������������������150
Variables and Data Types�����������������������������������������������������������������������������150
Control Structures���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������155
Working with Pins����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������162
Objects and Classes������������������������������������������������������������������������������������167
Serial�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������167
Arduino to Pi and Back Again����������������������������������������������������������������������171

vii
Table of Contents

Pinguino������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������181
Setting up the Circuit�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������182
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������185

Chapter 6: Driving Motors����������������������������������������������������������������187


Motors & Drivers�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������188
Types of Motors�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������188
Motor Properties������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������192
Motor Drivers�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������195
Working with Motor Controllers������������������������������������������������������������������������195
Adafruit DC & Stepper Motor HAT����������������������������������������������������������������196
L298N Generic Motor Driver������������������������������������������������������������������������217
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������228

Chapter 7: Assembling the Robot�����������������������������������������������������229


Assembling the Chassis������������������������������������������������������������������������������������230
Choosing a Material�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������230
The Whippersnapper�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������231
Mounting the Electronics����������������������������������������������������������������������������������239
Wiring����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������246
Mounting Sensors���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������249
The Finished Robot�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������252
Making the Robot Mobile�����������������������������������������������������������������������������253
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������266

Chapter 8: Working with Infrared Sensors���������������������������������������267


Infrared Sensors�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������267
Types of IR Sensors�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������268
Working with IR Sensors�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������272

viii
Table of Contents

Connecting an IR Sensor�����������������������������������������������������������������������������273
Mounting the IR Sensors�����������������������������������������������������������������������������276
The Code������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������278
Understanding PID Control��������������������������������������������������������������������������������289
Control Loops����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������289
Implementing the PID Controller�����������������������������������������������������������������292
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������296

Chapter 9: An Introduction to OpenCV����������������������������������������������297


Computer Vision������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������297
OpenCV��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������299
Selecting a Camera�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������302
Installing the Camera����������������������������������������������������������������������������������304
OpenCV Basics��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������305
Working with Images�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������306
Capturing Images����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������308
Image Transformations��������������������������������������������������������������������������������316
Working with Color��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������319
Blobs and Blob Detection����������������������������������������������������������������������������325
Ball-Chasing Bot�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������333
Summary����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������340

Chapter 10: Conclusion���������������������������������������������������������������������343


Types of Robotics����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������344
Tools�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������344
Software������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������345
Hardware�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������351
Summary�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������354

Index�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������355

ix
About the Author
Jeff Cicolani currently lives in the Austin,
Texas, area with his wife, two dogs, and
dozen or so robots. He is currently working
as an embedded systems engineer, building
robotic and automated platforms for an AI
(artificial intelligence) company in Austin.
His journey to robotics was circuitous, taking
him through an odd career path that included
systems analysis and design and database
programming. In 2012, he joined The Robot
Group in Austin, where he joined a group of
robotics enthusiasts and began building robots as a hobby. In 2016, he
became president of The Robot Group. In this role, he leads the group in
their mission to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics) education through robotics. He is currently working to
develop a better understanding of advanced robotics through ROS (the
robot operating system) and machine learning.

xi
About the Technical Reviewer
Massimo Nardone has more than 22 years
of experiences in security, web/mobile
development, cloud, and IT architecture. His
true IT passions are security and Android.
He has been programming and teaching
how to program with Android, Perl, PHP, Java,
VB, Python, C/C++, and MySQL for more than
20 years.
He holds a Master of Science degree in
Computing Science from the University of
Salerno, Italy.
He has worked as a project manager, software engineer, research
engineer, chief security architect, information security manager, PCI/
SCADA auditor, and senior lead IT security/cloud/SCADA architect for
many years.
His technical skills include security, Android, cloud, Java, MySQL,
Drupal, Cobol, Perl, web and mobile development, MongoDB, D3, Joomla,
Couchbase, C/C++, WebGL, Python, Pro Rails, Django CMS, Jekyll,
Scratch, and more.
He currently works as a chief information security officer (CISO) for
Cargotec Oyj. He worked as visiting lecturer and supervisor for exercises at
the Networking Laboratory of the Helsinki University of Technology (Aalto
University). He holds four international patents (PKI, SIP, SAML, and Proxy
areas).

xiii
Introduction
Robotics does not have to be difficult. In this book, I introduce you to the
field of robotics. The journey will be challenging; it’s intended to be. But
by the end of the book, you will have hands-on exposure to many of the
fundamental—and not so fundamental—aspects of robotics. You will work
with hardware, assemble and solder a circuit board, write code in two
programming languages, install and configure a Linux environment, and
work with computer vision. Everything else you do with robots will be an
extension of the lessons learned in this book.

Who This book Is For


This book is for those who are new to electronics and IoT; those who have
never used a Raspberry Pi or Arduino separately, let alone together.
This book is for the hobbyist who is interested in learning a little more
about working with robots. Perhaps you’ve built a few circuits with an
Arduino or a custom home entertainment system with a Raspberry Pi, and
now you are curious about what goes into building a robot. You will learn
how these two devices work together to provide very powerful capabilities.
This book is for the entrepreneur who needs to learn more about
technology; someone who doesn’t necessarily have the time to read through
many different books on Arduino, Raspberry Pi, electronics, or programming;
someone who is looking for a broad yet condensed introduction to some of
the fundamentals.
This book is also for the student who wants to take their robot-building
experience beyond bricks and puzzle-piece programming; someone who

xv
Introduction

wants to work with hardware and software that more closely resembles
what they might see in college or in the professional world.
No assumptions are made about experience or background in
technology. As you go through the chapters, you may find parts that you
are already familiar with, and you can skip ahead. But if you are new to
these topics, I try to provide you with a quick but easy introduction.

C
 hapter Overview
You start by learning about the Raspberry Pi and how to work with it. You
download and install the Raspbian operating system, and then configure
the Pi for our project. The goal is to set up your system to be able to easily
access your robot and write your code directly on it.
Once you are able to access your Pi remotely, in Chapter 3, you
delve into programming with Python. I’ll show you how to write simple
programs on the Raspberry Pi. I also take you beyond the basics and cover
some intermediate topics, such as modules and classes. This is one of the
longest chapters since there is a lot of material to cover.
From there, you learn how to interface the Raspberry Pi with external
electronics, such as sensors and LEDs, through the Pi’s GPIO header.
Chapter 4 discusses the different ways of addressing the pins on the
header, some of the functionality exposed through the header, and how to
use an ultrasonic rangefinder to detect objects. This gets you ready for the
next chapter, which introduces the Arduino.
In Chapter 5, you connect the Arduino to the Raspberry Pi. I discuss
some of the reasons you want to do this. I show you how to work with the
Arduino IDE to write programs. I cover serial communication between the
two boards and how to pass information back and forth between them. We
do this using the same ultrasonic rangefinder used in the previous chapter.
Chapter 6 has you turning motors with your Raspberry Pi. You use a
special board called a hat, or plate, to control the motors. This is where I
introduce another skill that you will inevitably need in robotics: soldering.

xvi
Introduction

The header and terminals need to be soldered on to the board that was
selected for this purpose. The nice thing about soldering headers and
terminal blocks is that it’s hard to damage anything, and you will get plenty
of practice.
Chapter 7 is where we bring it all together. You build the robot, and I
discuss some of the physical characteristics of robotics. I cover some of
the design considerations that you will need to keep in mind when you
design your own chassis. Although I am listing a specific chassis kit for this
project, you do not need to use the same one. In fact, I encourage you to
explore other options to find the one that is right for you.
In Chapter 8, I introduce another type of sensor—the IR sensor, and
I show you how to use a very common control algorithm called a PID
controller. I talk about the various types of IR sensors and where you want
to use them. (The chapter on PID control discusses what it is and why you
want to use it.)
Chapter 9 is about computer vision, where you see the true power of
the Raspberry Pi. In this chapter, I cover an open source package called
OpenCV. By the end of Chapter 9, your little robot will be chasing a ball
around the table.
I leave you with some parting thoughts in Chapter 10. I provide a few
tips that I picked up, and I give you a glimpse into my workflow and tools.
After that, you will be ready to begin your own adventures in robotics.

xvii
CHAPTER 1

Introduction
to Robotics
The word robotics can mean a lot of things. For some people, it is anything
that moves by itself; kinetic art is robotics. To other people, robotics means
something that is mobile or something that can move itself from place to
place. There is actually a field called mobile robotics; automatic vacuum
cleaners, such as a Roomba or a Neato, fall into this category. To me
robotics falls somewhere in between kinetic art and mobile robotics.
A robot is technology that applies logic to perform a task in an
automated manner. This is a fairly broad definition, but robotics is a fairly
broad field. It can cover everything from a child’s toy to the automatic
parallel parking capabilities in some automobiles. We build a small mobile
robot in this book.
Many of the principals that you are exposed to in this book are easily
transferable to other areas. In fact, we will go through the entire process of
building a robot from beginning to end. A little later in this chapter, I go over
the project that we will build. At that time, I will provide a list of the parts used
in in this book. These parts include sensors, drivers, motors, and so forth. You
are welcome to use whatever you have on hand because, for the most part,
everything we go through in this book can be applied to other projects.

© Jeff Cicolani 2018 1


J. Cicolani, Beginning Robotics with Raspberry Pi and Arduino,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-3462-4_1
Chapter 1 Introduction to Robotics

Robotics Basics
I like to tell people who are new to robotics, or are just robotics curious, is
that a robot consists of three elements.

• The ability to gather data

• The ability to process, or do something with the


gathered data

• The ability to interact with the environment

In the following chapters, we apply this principal to build a small


mobile robot. We will use ultrasonic rangefinders and infrared sensors to
gather data about the environment. Specifically, we will identify when there
is an object to be avoided, when we are about to drive off the edge of a table,
and the contrast between the table and the line that we will follow. Once we
have this data, we will apply logic to determine the appropriate response.
We will use Python in a Linux environment to process the information
and send commands to our motors. I chose Python as the programming
language because it is easy to learn, and you don’t have to have a complex
development environment to build some pretty complex applications.
Our interaction with the environment will be simply to control the
speed and direction of motors. This will allow our robot to move about
freely on the table or floor. There really isn’t much to driving a motor.
We will look at two ways of doing it: with a motor driver made for the
Raspberry Pi and with a common motor controller.
This book is intended to be challenging. I cover some pretty complex
material and I do it quickly. There is no way that I can provide detailed
coverage on any of these topics, but I hope to get you to a functional robot
by the end of the book. In each chapter, I try to provide you with more
resources to follow up on the topics discussed. You will struggle at times; I
did and I frequently still do.

2
Chapter 1 Introduction to Robotics

Not everyone will be interested in all the subjects. The expectation is


that you will expand on the areas that interest you the most outside of this
book. Persistence pays off.
At the end of the book, I add a little more challenge. In Chapter 9, we
begin leveraging the real power of the Raspberry Pi. We look at computer
vision. Specifically, we look at an open source package called OpenCV (CV
stands for computer vision). It is a common and very powerful collection
of utilities that make working with images and video streams very easy.
It’s also a six-hour build on the most recent version of the Raspberry Pi. To
make things a little easier and a lot less time-consuming, I have available
for download a version of the operating system with OpenCV already
installed. I discuss this more in Chapter 2.

L inux and Robotics


Linux is a Unix-based operating system. It is very popular with
programmers and computer scientists because it’s simple and
straightforward. They seem to enjoy the text-based interface of the
terminal. Yet, for many others, including me, Linux can be very
challenging. So, why in the world would I choose this environment for an
introduction-to-robotics book? The answer to that question is threefold.
First, when you work with robotics, you eventually have to confront
Linux. That’s just a fact. You can do a lot without ever typing a single sudo
command, but you will have limited capabilities. The sudo command stands
for super user do in Linux. This tells the operating system that you are about
to perform a protected function that requires more than general user access.
You will learn more about this when we begin working with the Raspberry Pi.
Second, Linux is challenging. As I stated before, this book will challenge
you. If you have worked in Linux before, then this reason doesn’t apply to
you. However, if you are new to Linux, the Raspberry Pi, or working in a
command line, then some of the things that we do will be challenging. And
that’s good. You’re learning something new and it should be a challenge.

3
Chapter 1 Introduction to Robotics

Third, and this is by far the most important, the Raspberry Pi uses
Linux. Yes, you can install other operating systems on the Pi, but it was
designed and intended to use Linux. In fact, the Raspberry Pi has its
own flavor of Linux called Raspbian. This is the recommended operating
system, so it is what we’ll use. One of the nice things about using a prebuilt
operating system, besides its ease of use, is many of the tools are already
installed and ready to go.
Since we are using Linux, we will use command-line instructions
extensively. This is where most new users have problems. Command-line
code is entered via a terminal. Raspbian has a Windows-style interface
that we will use, but much of it uses the terminal. A terminal window
is available in the graphical user interface (GUI), so we will use that.
However, when we set up the Pi, we will set it up to boot into terminal
mode by default. Getting to the GUI is only a simple startx command. All
of this is covered in Chapter 2.

S
 ensors and GPIO
GPIO stands for general-purpose input/output. It represents all the various
connections to devices. The Raspberry Pi has a lot of GPIO options: HDMI,
USB, audio, and so forth. However, when I talk about GPIO in this book, I’m
generally referring to the 40-pin GPIO header. This header provides direct
access to most of the board’s functionality. I discuss this in Chapter 2.
Arduino also has GPIO. In fact, one could argue that Arduino is all
GPIO and nothing else. This isn’t far from the truth given that all the other
connections are there to allow you to communicate with and power the
AVR chip at the heart of the Arduino.

4
Chapter 1 Introduction to Robotics

All of these headers and GPIO connections are there so we can access
sensors outside the boards themselves. A sensor is a device that gathers
data. There are many different types of sensors, and all serve a purpose.
Sensors can be used for detecting light levels, the range to an object,
temperature, speed, and so forth. In particular, we will use GPIO headers
with an ultrasonic rangefinder and an IR detector.

M
 otion and Control
One thing that most definitions of a robot have in common is that it needs
to be able to move. Sure, you can have a robot that doesn’t actually move,
but this type of device generally falls under the moniker of IoT, the Internet
of Things.
There are many ways to add motion to your project. The most common
is the use of motors. But you can also use solenoids, air, or water pressure. I
discuss motors more in Chapter 6.
Although it is possible to drive a motor directly off a Raspberry Pi
or an Arduino board, it is strongly discouraged. Motors tend to draw
more current than the processors on the boards can handle. Instead,
it is recommended that you use a motor controller. Like motors, motor
controllers come in many forms. The motor control board that we will use
is accessed through the Raspberry Pi’s header. I also discuss how to drive
motors with an L298N dual motor controller.

Raspberry Pi and Arduino


We will use a Raspberry Pi (see Figure 1-1) in conjunction with an Arduino
(see Figure 1-2) as our robot’s processing platform.

5
Chapter 1 Introduction to Robotics

Figure 1-1. Raspberry Pi 3 B+

Figure 1-2. Arduino Uno

6
Chapter 1 Introduction to Robotics

The Raspberry Pi is a single board computer that is about the size of a


credit card. Despite its small size, it is a very capable device. The Pi runs
a version of Linux that was customized to work on the ARM processor
that drives it. This puts a lot of functionality into a small device that is
easy to embed into things like robots. But, although it is a great computer,
there are a few places where it does not excel. One area is interfacing with
external devices. It can work with sensors and external devices, but the
Arduino does this much better.
Arduino is another small processing device that is readily available and
easy to use. Unlike a Raspberry Pi, however, it does not have the capacity
for a full operating system. Rather than running a microprocessor like the
ARM, it uses a different type of chip called a microcontroller. The difference
is that a microcontroller is specifically designed to interact with sensors,
motors, lights, and all kinds of devices. It directly interacts with these
external devices. The Pi works through many layers of processing before it
ever reaches the pins that a device is connected to.
By combining the Raspberry Pi and the Arduino, we are able to
leverage what each does best. The Raspberry Pi offers the high-level
processing power of a full computer. Arduino provides the raw control over
external devices. The Pi allows us to process a video stream from a simple
USB camera; whereas the Arduino allows us to gather the information
from the various sensors, and apply logic to make sense of all that data,
and then return concise findings to the Pi.
You will learn more about the Raspberry Pi in Chapter 2. Later on, you
will connect an Arduino to the Pi and learn about programming it, as well
as how to pass information back and forth between the Arduino and the Pi.

7
Chapter 1 Introduction to Robotics

P
 roject Overview
In this book, we will build a small mobile robot. The robot is designed to
demonstrate the lessons that you learn in each chapter. However, before
we can actually build the robot, we need to cover a lot of material and lay
the foundation for future lessons.

T he Robot
The robot that we will build is a small two- or four-wheeled autonomous
rover. It will be able to detect obstacles and the edge of a table, and to
follow a line. The chassis that I selected is a four-wheeled robot, but there
are other designs suitable for this project (see Figures 1-3 and 1-4).

Figure 1-3. The front of our robot shows the ultrasonic sensors and Pi
T Cobbler on a breadboard

8
Chapter 1 Introduction to Robotics

Figure 1-4. The back of our robot shows the Raspberry Pi and motor
control board

Although I provide a list of the parts that I used for the project, you are
welcome to use whatever parts you wish. The important thing is that they
behave in a similar manner as those I have listed.

Bill of Materials (BOM)


For the most part, I tried to keep the list of materials as generic as possible.
There are a couple of items that are vendor specific. I chose them because
they provide a lot of functionality and convenience. The DC & Stepper
motor controller and the Pi T-Cobbler are from an online retailer called
Adafruit, which is a great resource for parts, tutorials, and inspiration.
The chassis kit is from an online retailer called ServoCity, which produces
many mechanical parts for robotics.

9
Chapter 1 Introduction to Robotics

The following are the specialty parts (shown in Figure 1-5) that we use
in this book:

• Runt Rover Junior robot chassis from ServoCity.com

• Adafruit DC & Stepper Motor HAT for Raspberry Pi –


Mini Kit PID: 2348

• GPIO Stacking Header for Pi A+/B+/Pi 2/Pi 3 – Extra-­


long 2×20 Pins PID: 2223 (allows the use of additional
plates and the Cobbler to attach to the breadboard)

• Assembled Pi T-Cobbler Plus – GPIO Breakout – Pi A+,


B+, Pi 2, Pi 3, Zero PID: 2028

Figure 1-5. Runt Rover chassis parts and the Pi T Cobbler, ribbon
cable, motor control hat, and extended header

10
Chapter 1 Introduction to Robotics

The following parts (shown in Figure 1-6) are fairly generic and can be
purchased from most vendors:

• Raspberry Pi 3 – Model B – ARMv8 with 1G RAM

• Arduino Uno

• 4 × AA battery holder with on/off switch (powers the


motors)

• USB Battery Pack – 2200 mAh Capacity – 5V 1A Output


PID: 1959 (powers the Raspberry Pi)

• Half-size breadboard

• Ultrasonic sensors – HC-SR04

You may want to get a few of these. As you will


discover, ultrasonic sensors are unreliable at angles,
and it is good to have an array of them. I use at least
three on most of my projects.

• A collection of jumper wires (see Figure 1-7)

You need both male-to-male jumpers and male-­


to-­female jumpers. It is a good idea to get them
in a number of colors. Black and red are used for
powering your devices. A collection of other colors
helps you make sense of your circuits. Fortunately,
you can get jumpers of all types made out of a
multicolored ribbon cable.

• USB cables for your Arduino

• A micro USB cable for your Raspberry Pi

• A common USB phone charger, preferably one for a


modern smartphone or tablet that can provide 2 amps
of power

11
Chapter 1 Introduction to Robotics

• An HDMI TV or computer monitor

Most computer monitors do not have HDMI ports


on them. You can get HDMI-to-DVI converters that
allow you to use your existing monitor, however.
• A USB keyboard and mouse (I like the Logitech K400
wireless keyboard and touchpad combination, but
there are countless options out there)

• A network-connected computer

• Wi-Fi or Ethernet cable for the Pi

Figure 1-6. Common parts: Raspberry Pi, Arduino Uno, ultrasonic


sensor, battery holder, and breadboard

12
Chapter 1 Introduction to Robotics

Figure 1-7. Jumpers in ribbon cable form. Pull off what you need

You don’t need to get fancy with the monitor and keyboard. Once you
read Chapter 2, where we install and configure the Raspberry Pi , you no
longer need them. I have a couple of the wireless keyboards because I
usually have several projects going at once. For a monitor, I simply use one
of my computer monitors with an HDMI-to-DVI adapter.
If you are not using a chassis kit with motors and wheels included, you
also need the following parts (see Figure 1-8):

• Hobby gearmotor – 200 RPM (pair)

• Wheel – 65mm (rubber tire, pair)

13
Chapter 1 Introduction to Robotics

Figure 1-8. DC geared motor and wheels


If you do not want to use the Adafruit Motor and Stepper Hat, you can
also use virtually any motor controller, although each one has a different
interface and code. A common and fairly popular option is the L298N Dual
Motor Controller (see Figure 1-9).

Figure 1-9. The L298N dual motor controller module comes in


numerous varieties, but essentially work the same
14
Chapter 1 Introduction to Robotics

There are a few other supplies that I keep around because they are
used in virtually every project . In Chapter 7, we assemble the robot; you’ll
need also double-sided foam mounting tape, 4-inch zip ties, and self-­
adhesive Velcro. As you continue in robotics, you’ll find yourself turning to
these items a lot. In fact, you may want to stock up on various sizes of zip
ties. Trust me.

S
 ummary
Getting started in robotics does not need to be difficult. It is challenging,
however. This book is an introduction to a few of the skills that you need
to develop if you are to succeed in this field. The robot that we build
introduces you to the Raspberry Pi, Linux, Arduino, sensors, and computer
vision. These skills easily scale into larger robot and other similar projects.

15
Other documents randomly have
different content
about life, had changed since then! How little he had dreamed in
those days of what was coming! Strange, that he should have had
no premonition of it. Strange, that he should have gone on in peace
and contentment, treading his level path, forward, forward,
unsuspectingly, and never have caught a glimpse, never have got an
inkling, of what was waiting for him, of what each step was bringing
him so much the nearer to, of what presently was to burst upon him
in a glory like that of heaven, and utterly revolutionize himself and
all his world. Strange, indeed! And yet, in those old, simple, tranquil
days, he had been happy, very happy, in a simple, tranquil way; and
now, as he looked back at them, they shone suffused in a rose-
colored enchantment; and he could feel his heart reach out toward
them, with a strong longing affection, which, though melancholy,
was not unmixed with sweetness.
Deep, engrossing, and of long duration, was the train of
associations that had thus been started. The church clock across the
park rang the half hour, before Elias finally roused himself, and
renewed his attack upon the lumber heap.
For a good while he struck nothing more of interest—nothing that
he cared to save, or even to look at twice. But by and by he fished
out a sketch-book, which, to judge from the dilapidated state of its
binding, must have been pretty old, and over which he paused,
beating it against the floor, to rid it of some of its dust, and then
opening it, to inspect its contents. On the fly-leaf he found his
initials, “E. B.,” and a date, “January, 1876.” Listlessly turning the
pages, he was somewhat amused, and a good deal ashamed, to
perceive how poor and crude the drawings were—heads, for the
most part, with only here and there a full-length figure; and he
congratulated himself not a little that he had thus chanced to run
across it, because now he could destroy it, and so make sure that
nobody else should ever have the satisfaction of seeing what
wretched stuff he had once been capable of perpetrating. He
supposed that the sketches had nearly all been intended as portraits,
but in the main he could not place them—could not remember the
persons who had served as models. One face kept repeating itself;
there were as many as a dozen separate studies of it; the face of a
young man, aged, presumably, nineteen or twenty years; strangely
familiar; the face of some one, beyond doubt, whom he must have
known intimately; and yet, knitting his brows, and exerting his
memory to the utmost, he was quite unable to recall the original.
Odd; and intensely annoying, as baffled memory is apt to be; until,
of a sudden, with a thrill of recognition that was by no means
agreeable, he identified it as himself. A few pages further along,
again with a sudden thrill, but this time with a far stronger and
deeper one, he came upon a portrait of his mother. It was badly
drawn, finical, over-elaborated; the draperies rigid as iron; the flesh
wooden; the pose—she was seated, reading—awkward, and
anatomically impossible; and yet, spite of all, it was an excellent,
even a startling, likeness; and-happening upon it in this unexpected
manner, Elias felt a not unnatural heart-leap and quickening of the
pulse. When, or under what circumstances, he had made it, he could
not think. He bent forward in his chair, gazed intently at it, and tried
hard to recollect. If the date on the fly-leaf was trustworthy, it must,
of course, have been after the first of January, 1876; but in his own
memory, ransack it as he might, he could find no record; This struck
him as exceedingly singular; because, he believed, he had been
careful to preserve all the sketches of his mother that he had ever
taken, even the most primitive and rudimentary; and how this one
could not only have got mislaid, but entirely have escaped his mind,
besides, he was at a complete loss to understand. So bending
forward, and gazing intently at it, he tried his best to recollect.
Of what now befell, or seemed to befall, I shall give an account
written some two years later by Elias himself, in a letter to Christine:
“Gradually—as is apt to happen, if you fix your eyes for any length
of time upon a single spot in some small object—gradually the
picture blurred, becoming simply a formless smudge upon the white
surface of the paper; a lapse on the part of my eyesight, which I,
absorbed in the effort I was making to remember, did not attempt to
correct, but which in due time, as was natural, corrected itself; and
again the picture stood out as distinct as before. Now, however, at
once, every other thought and every other feeling were swept away,
clean out of my head, by a sensation—I shall not be able to define
it; you will easily conceive it; a sensation half of amazement, half of
terror; for, without having changed in size, the face seemed to have
changed totally in quality; it seemed to have ceased to be a face
drawn with black lead upon paper, and to have become a face in
veritable flesh and blood. The hair had apparently become hair.
There was color in the cheeks. And the eyes were liquid, living eyes.
They—the eyes—were what most affected me. Large, black,
mournful, as her eyes had been in life, they looked into my eyes
with an expression—I can't describe it. It was what you would call
an expression of intense agony, and of appeal; as though it were an
agony of my causing, and one that she appealed to me to relieve.
The lips—bluish white, as her lips were, toward the end of her life—
the lips seemed to move, and kept moving, as if trying to speak, but
unable to; until at last they succeeded; and I could have vowed that
I heard, in her own recognizable voice, just a little above a whisper,
these words: 'There is no more chance of its taking place than there
is of the sun's failing to rise. Beware!'—the words that my uncle had
spoken down stairs. I was so much startled, so much terrified, that I
jumped up from my chair. Thereat, instantly, the illusion ended.
Again it was only a crude pencil drawing upon the page of my
sketch-book. I can't tell how long it had lasted. Very likely not longer
than two or three seconds, though it seemed at least as many
minutes. I don't think I had breathed once. I don't think my heart
had given a single beat. It had literally paralyzed me with fear.
“But now that it was over, I fell back upon my chair, and my heart
began to pound like a hammer against my side; and I sat there,
panting and perspiring, like a man exhausted by some tremendous
physical exertion. I felt sick and dizzy, and had a racking headache.
—Of course, it was a mere optical delusion; a mere hallucination;
not an actual, objective phenomenon, not a ghost; a mere projection
from my own imagination. A long time afterward I talked with a
physician about it. The substance of what he said was this: Consider
the steadily increasing excitement under which my mind had been
laboring for many days, in view of our approaching marriage;
consider the interview that I had had with my uncle, only an hour or
two earlier, and the high pitch of agitation to which it had wrought
me up; consider that it was long past my customary bedtime, and
that my brain was irritated by lack of sleep, for I had not slept much
of any the night before; consider that my mother was just then the
one person uppermost in my thoughts, having been vividly recalled
to me first by the pencil I had found, and then by the drawing that I
was looking at; consider finally that my bodily posture—bending over
till my chest nearly touched my knees—was such as to keep the
blood pent up in my head; and the occurrence becomes very easily
explicable, especially so, as such hallucinations, when people are
excited, are not uncommon experiences. This is what the medical
man said. It is undoubtedly true; and something like it I had wit
enough to tell myself immediately, at the time. But telling did no
good. It is one thing to satisfy your judgment; another to tranquilize
your feelings and hush your imagination. They choose to accept the
direct testimony of your eyes and ears, rather than the deductions of
your common sense.
“I knew, as I have said, that my nerves had simply played me a
trick; but that knowledge did not prevent me from passing a most
wretched, uncomfortable night—the rest of that night, till day-break.
The memory of the thing persisted in haunting me, in spite of the
efforts I made to forget it. Strive as I might, I could not shake off
the fear, the uneasiness, that it had inspired. Thinking of it, even at
this distance, I still wince a little. It produced a very deep
impression, and must have been, I believe, in large part accountable
for, as it was of a piece with, what happened next day—or, rather,
the evening of the same day, for it was now early morning.”
XI.

E
LIAS speaks of “day-break”; but it can not accurately be said
that the day broke at all that morning. The blackness of the
night slowly faded into a dismal, lifeless drab. It rained. The
wind blew from the north-east. Under it, the branches of the trees,
across in the park, swayed strenuously to and fro. The sparrows,
with sadly bedraggled plumage, huddled together upon the window-
sills, and raised their voices in noisy disputation, as if thereby
seeking to screw their courage up, and not mind the%sorry weather.
The milkman's wagon came rattling down the street. The milkman
wore a rubber overcoat. His war-whoop sounded less spirited, less
defiant, than its wont.
By and by Elias looked at his watch. It was getting along toward
seven o'clock. Just then somebody rapped upon his studio door.
Elias's nerves must indeed have been in a bad way. He started,
paled, trembled, recovered himself, and called out, “Come in.”
It was the rabbi.
“Good morning, Elias,” the rabbi said.
“Good morning,” responded Elias, with a none too hospitable
inflection.
“So, you haven't been abed? You've been sitting up all night?” the
rabbi questioned.
“How do you know that?” was Elias's counter-question.
“I looked for you in your bedroom, and saw that your bed had not
been slept in.”
“Oh.”
After a pause, “What have you been doing, up alone all night?”
the rabbi asked.
“Lots of things. A man on the eve of his marriage has plenty to
do.”
The rabbi stood still for a little while, glancing around the room.
Then he sat down. At which, Elias rose.
“If you'll excuse me,” he said, “I'll go down stairs. I haven't taken
my bath yet.”
“Have you said your prayers yet?” inquired the rabbi.
But Elias was already beyond ear-shot in the hall.
When, perhaps a quarter hour later, Elias, emerging from his bath,
entered his bedroom, he discovered the rabbi established there at
the window.
Wheeling about, and facing his nephew, “You didn't answer my
question,” the rabbi said.
“What question?”
“I asked whether you had said your prayers this morning.”
“Oh.”
“Well, have you?”
“No.”
“Perhaps lately you have got out of the habit of saying your
prayers—yes?”
Elias made no reply. He appeared not to have heard. He was busy
fastening the buttons into a shirt-bosom.
“I'll wait till you've finished dressing,” said the rabbi.
He went to the window, and stood looking out.
The rabbi's presence troubled Elias exceedingly. But, he thought,
considering every thing, the least he could do would be to put up
with it as graciously as possible and not grumble. “What do you
want with me, any how?” it was his impulse to demand. But he held
his tongue, and proceeded with his toilet.
When at last he had tied his cravat and buttoned his coat, “Are
you ready now to come down stairs with me?” the rabbi began.
“What for?”
“Several things. Are you ready? Will you come?”
“Oh, I suppose so,” Elias answered, and followed the old man
from the room.
To himself: “I don't care what he does or says. It may be
annoying, but it can't do any serious harm. To-day is the last day;
and I'll let him him have his own way in every thing, no matter how
absurd and exasperating it may be. I'll keep my temper and treat
him respectfully, no matter how hard he may try me.”
They had reached the front hall of the house. The rabbi put his
hand upon the knob of the front parlor door.
“Oh,” Elias exclaimed, drawing back, “are you going in there?”
“Yes.”
Calling to mind his resolution, Elias gulped down his unwillingness,
and said, “Oh, well; all right.” But it cost him an effort to do so.
Even during his mother's life-time, the front parlor had been but
very seldom used. Since her death, it had not been used at all.
Indeed, since the day of her funeral, now nearly three years gone
by, Elias had not crossed its threshold. The blinds and windows were
kept permanently closed, save when, once a week, the servants
entered to sweep and dust.
Now the rabbi pushed open the door, and, stepping aside,
signalled Elias to pass in. Elias obeyed. The rabbi followed.
It was dark inside. Only a few pallid rays of daylight leaked
through at the edges of the curtains. The air was cold and at the
same time oppressive—laden with that stuffy, musty odor, which
always pervades an uninhabited, shut-up room. At first, Elias could
scarcely see an arm's-length before his face; but, as his eyesight
gradually accustomed itself to the obscurity, he was able to make
out the forms of the furniture, and to discern upon the walls sundry
large black patches which he knew to be pictures.
The rabbi struck a match.
“Take it,” he said to Elias, “and light the gas; I'm not tall enough.”
Elias did as he was bidden.
The gas-burner, from disuse, had got clogged with dust. It shot a
long, slim tongue of flame up into the air, and gave off a shrill,
continuous whistle. Every now and then the flame had a convulsion,
the whistle dropped a note or two; then both returned to their
original conditions.
For a New York dwelling-house, it was a spacious room, this
parlor; say, in width twenty feet, by forty in depth. The chairs and
sofas, scrupulously wrapped in linen, were ranged along the walls.
Over the carpet, completely covering it, stretched a broad sheet of
grayish crash. The piano wore a rubber jacket, and had its legs
swathed in newspapers. The books in the bookcases—books of the
decorative, rather than of the readable order, for the most part—
were locked up behind glass doors. The tall mirror, between the
windows, shone through a veil of pink mosquito-netting. Supplies of
the same material had been stretched across all the pictures.
In front of one of these pictures—that which hung above the
mantel-piece—the rabbi now paused, and, raising his arm, pointed
to it, in silence.
It was the portrait of a gentleman, full length, life-size, done in
oils. The gentleman rested one hand upon a pile of ponderous, calf-
bound volumes—law-books, or medical works, they looked like—that
towered aloft from the floor. In his other hand, he held an unrolled
scroll of parchment, upon which big black Hebrew characters were
inscribed. Of artistic value the picture had little, or none at all; but it
had another sort of value: it was a portrait of Elias's father.
The rabbi pointed to it in silence. Elias thought the rabbi's
proceeding a little theatrical; but he made no comment.
By and by the rabbi lowered his arm, and faced about. Having
done which, he raised his other arm, and this time brought his index
finger to bear upon a portrait of Elias's mother.
Theatrical, certainly; disagreeably so, too; Elias thought.
At this point there befell an interruption which had somewhat the
effect of an anti-climax. The breakfast-bell rang.
“Well,” said the rabbi, “let's go to breakfast.”
Elias turned off the gas. They left the parlor, and went down stairs
to the dining-room.
There, having taken their places at the table, the rabbi extracted a
handkerchief from his pocket, and with it covered his head. Elias did
likewise. Whereupon the rabbi chanted the usual grace before meat.
At its conclusion, both he and Elias replaced their handkerchiefs in
their pockets, and the maid-servant brought the coffee.
For a while neither nephew nor uncle spoke.
At last, “What are you thinking about, Elias?” the rabbi asked.
“I was thinking, if you wish to know,” Elias answered, “of my great
happiness—of the fact that to-day the lady whom I love is to
become my wife.”
“Ah, so? It doesn't seem to improve your appetite,” returned the
rabbi. “You're not eating especially well.”
He made Elias the object of a curious, meditative glance; then
pursued: “Don't misunderstand me, Elias. It isn't at all my aim to
dissuade you from this marriage. That, as I told you last night,
would be a work of supererogation. But I should like to ask you just
a single question. Suppose your mother were still alive, would you
entertain for an instant the idea of marrying a Christian?”
“I don't know?”
“You don't know?”
“Well, probably not.”
“Good. That is what I thought. And now, let me ask you one
question more. Is it your opinion that, simply because your mother
has died, you are absolved from all obligations toward her, and are
at liberty to act in a way, which, if she were still with us, it would
break her heart to have you act in? Is that your opinion?”
Elias did not reply. He colored up, however, and bit his lip.
The rabbi waited a moment, then queried, “Well?”
“Well, what?”
“You don't answer.”
“I don't mean to answer. It isn't a fair question,” said Elias.
The rabbi gave a short, contemptuous laugh.
Again for a while neither of them spoke. Elias was uncomfortably
conscious that the rabbi's eyes were fixed upon his face. He stood it
as long as he could. Then, abruptly, he got up.
“Please excuse me,” he said, “I have something to do up-stairs.”
With which he left the room.
He went to his studio and locked the door behind him. He had told
the rabbi that he had something to do. But the truth was that he
had nothing to do, except to kill time as best he could until the hour
should arrive for him to start for Sixty-third Street. He had arranged
not to call upon Christine at all that day. He thought it would be
more considerate to leave her alone with her father. Now, the day
stretched out like an eternity before his imagination. Would it ever
wear away?
It occurred to him that it might not be a bad plan to get some
sleep, if he could; so he retired to his bedroom, and threw himself all
dressed upon his bed.
Pretty soon he heard a rap upon the door.
“Who is it?” he demanded.
“I,” the rabbi's voice responded. .
“He'll end by driving me mad,” thought Elias. “What do you want?”
he asked aloud.
“I want to see you.”
“Well, I'm busy.”
“I shan't interfere with your business.”
“I'm going to sleep.”
“I shan't prevent you from sleeping.”
Elias said nothing further. The rabbi came in. “I only wanted to sit
with you. It is better that I should be on hand,” explained the rabbi,
and sat down near the window.
Elias closed his eyes and tried hard to sleep. But he could not
sleep. It is doubtful whether, in view of his approaching wedding, he
could have slept, under the most soothing circumstances. Under the
actual circumstances, it was like trying to sleep while some one is
sticking pins into you. Elias strove to be philosophical. “Why should I
allow his mere presence to irritate me as it does?” he asked himself.
Whatever the correct answer to this inquiry may have been, the fact
remained that the rabbi's mere presence did irritate him to an
excessive degree. He bore it for a few minutes silently. At length,
flinging his philosophy overboard, he jumped up from his bed, and
announced vehemently, “Well, I'm going out.”
“Ah,” said the rabbi, quietly, “I'll go with you.”
“Thanks,” replied Elias, “but I prefer to go alone.”
“I'm sorry,” said the rabbi; “but it is my duty.”
“What's your duty?”
“It is my duty not to let you leave my sight today.”
At this Elias lost his self-control.
“In heaven's name,” he blurted out, “do—do you mean to say that
you're going to stick to me like this all day?”
“I should fail in my duty toward you, if I did not.”
“Well then, do you—do you know what you'll do?” cried Elias, in a
loud, infuriated voice.
“No; what?” questioned the rabbi, composedly.
“Good God! You—you'll drive me out of my senses. You make me
feel as though my head would split open. You—you—” His voice
choked in his throat. His face had become burning red.
“Look out,” said the rabbi. “You'll burst a blood-vessel, if you carry
on like that.”
“Well, then, for mercy's sake, leave me alone. Go down stairs
about your business. Leave me here to attend to mine.”
The rabbi did not speak. He made no move to obey.
“Don't you hear?” Elias cried.
“Yes.”
“Well, why don't you go?”
“I have told you. It is my duty to stay.”
“God help me, if you weren't an old man, and my uncle, I—I'd—”
Elias faltered. His clenched fists completed the sentence.
“Put me out? But I am an old man, and your uncle; and so you
won't, eh?” rejoined the rabbi, with maddening coolness.
“You must forgive me,” said Elias, recovering a little his self-
possession. “I ought not to have threatened you. I didn't mean to.
But you don't know how you make me suffer. You don't know what
torture it is.”
“Oh, that's all right. You needn't apologize,” the rabbi said.
“But what I ask,” Elias went on, “I ask as a kindness, please leave
me alone.”
“That,” returned the rabbi, “is a request which I am compelled to
deny.”
Elias stood still for an instant, as if undetermined what to do. He
felt the blood rush angrily to his brain, and then sink away, leaving a
violent ache behind it. “Well, I suppose I'll have to grin and bear it,
then,” he said by and by, and dropped upon a chair.
After an interval of silence Elias began, with sufficient coolness,
“Would you mind telling me why you consider it your duty to remain
with me all day?”
“It is my duty to be on hand, to be at your side, when the
moment of your need shall arrive. It may be any moment now.”
“Of my need? I don't understand.”
“When the Lord manifests Himself,” the rabbi explained.
“Oh,” said Elias, and relapsed into silence. He added presently,
“I'm going down stairs, to get a glass of water,” and rose.
“You'll come back?” questioned the rabbi, “Yes, I suppose so.”
But when he had reached the foot of the staircase, and saw his
hat hanging from the rack near the vestibule door, a temptation
presented itself which was too strong for flesh and blood to resist.
He caught his hat up, and put it upon his head, and dashed out into
the street. It was raining. He had no umbrella. But he did not mind.
He walked rapidly, without an objective point, without even noticing
what direction he followed.
XII

A
T first, as might have been expected, Elias's sensation was
simply one of immense relief—relief to have got clear of the
house, to have escaped the forced companionship of his
uncle. But, of course, the inherent elasticity of healthy human nature
was bound ere long to assert itself. There was bound to ensue not
relief only, but reaction. A weight had been lifted from off his spirits;
they, compliant to the law of their being, rebounded—sprang up far
above their ordinary level. From unwonted depression, his mood
leaped to unwonted exaltation. It seemed as though a great billow
of happiness broke over him, and sent a glow of delicious warmth
penetrating to the innermost fibers of his consciousness. A flood of
jubilant thoughts broke loose in his brain, and swept away the last
vestige of disquiet that had been lurking there. Forgotten were the
pains and fears of the night; sunken quite out of mind, the
exasperation and the anger of the past few hours. The love of
Christine burned hot in his heart. The realization that this very night
she was to become his bride, his wife, radiated like a light through
his senses. So intense, indeed, was his thought of her, that he could
all but see her in visible shape before him, smiling upon him through
her bright brown eyes, offering him her sweet red lips to kiss. He
could all but feel the warmth and softness of her hand in his, and
breathe the dainty perfume which, flowerlike, she shed upon the air
that circled round her. His joy lent lightness to his footstep. If he had
worn the winged sandals of Mercury, he could not have marched
along with greater buoyancy or speed. It sharpened all his faculties
for pleasure, and deadened all his sensibilities to discomfort, like
rich, strong wine. The rain, beating through his clothing, and wetting
his skin—that was a pleasure. The wind, blowing in his face, brisk
and cold—that was a pleasure. It was a pleasure to tread the soppy,
slippery sidewalk, a pleasure to gaze down the long, dark vistas of
the streets. The atmosphere, rain-cleansed, had a fresh, invigorating
smell.
He wanted very much to go and see his ladylove, but he debated
with himself whether he had better. In the first place, it seemed only
right and delicate not to intrude upon the privacy of father and
daughter this last day. It seemed as though he owed this much to
Redwood. But then, too, as she did not expect him, he would have
to explain the reasons for his coming; and he was loth to tell her the
story of what had happened since their leave-taking of last night. It
would distress and worry her; and would it not, also, reveal a certain
weakness, at least a too great impressionability, in himself? Besides,
to descend to minor considerations, with garments dripping wet, he
was in no fit state to present himself before her. He would be sure to
excite her apprehension lest he had caught a cold. Excellent
arguments against yielding to his inclination, unquestionably;
notwithstanding which, however, and even while his brain was busy
formulating them, his muscles of locomotion, controlled by his
unconscious will, were bearing him steadily and rapidly toward the
quarter of the city in which Christine lived. And by and by, with a
good deal of surprise, he found that he had arrived at the corner of
Eighth Avenue and Sixty-third Street, and was within eye-shot of
Redwood's door.
Here he halted. The arguments against proceeding pressed upon
him with renewed force. He cast a longing glance over at the house,
swallowed his desire, right-about faced, and walked away.
A few strides brought him to the edge of Central Park. He turned
in. The park, of course, was deserted. A single moist and melancholy
policeman kept guard at the gate. His features betokened a gloomy,
phlegmatic wonder, as Elias, without an umbrella, passed him by.
The air in the park bore a racy, earthy odor, brought out by the
rain. The young leaves of the trees, pale green, fluttered in bright
contrast against the background of dull gray cloud. The greensward
had profited by its bath, and gleamed with a silken luster. It was
very quiet. The pattering of the rain-drops, the rustling of the foliage
in the wind, and now and then the note of a venturesome bird, were
the only sounds. Of town noises, there were none. New York might
have lain a hundred leagues away. All of which Elias, as he trudged
along, was dimly but agreeably aware of. It had cost him dear to
give up his wish to see his sweetheart; and now he was seeking
consolation among these leafy pathways, where he and she had so
often sauntered side by side, and where every thing vividly recalled
her. Ere a great while he had reached that pine-topped rock which
had been their habitual resting-place, and was to be—! He climbed
to the summit of it. He had never before been here without her. His
heart throbbed hard, so strong and so sweet were the memories
that thronged upon him.
But, standing still, he pretty soon began to realize that a wet skin
is not after all an unmitigated luxury. He began to feel cold. It
occurred to him for the first time that he had perhaps been
imprudent, that at any rate he had better go home now, and get into
dry clothes. Yet, if he went home, he would have to meet the rabbi
again; and, by the by, the rabbi doubtless supposed that he had
deliberately deceived him—had slipped out of the room on the
pretext of wanting a glass of water, with the deliberate intention of
not coming back. But during his outing he had gained considerable
fortitude; his repugnance for the notion of the rabbi's society had
abated a good deal; and, looking forward, he thought that he should
not find it half so objectionable as he had done a while ago. For the
matter of deception, the rabbi was at liberty to believe whatever he
chose. Such deception would have been justifiable, any how—would
have been practiced in self-defense.
He looked at his watch, and saw with astonishment that it was
three o'clock. He had taken no note of time, but he was surprised to
learn that so much had glided by. He would have to go home, any
way, before long now, to make ready for the evening. Without
further delay, he turned his face toward the outlet of the park, and
marched off at a rapid gait.
He let himself into the house as noiselessly as he could, mounted
directly to his bedroom, shot the bolt, and at once set about
changing his clothes. But in a very few minutes there came a tap at
the door. He knew perfectly well who it was: nevertheless, he called
out, “Who's there?”
“I,” answered the rabbi.
“Well, what do you want?”
“I want to see you, You know what I want.”
“Well, I can't let you in just now. I'm undressed.”
“That makes no difference. I sha'n't mind that.”
“Oh, but I should mind it.”
The rabbi remained silent for a moment; then, “Do you think it
was exactly honorable, the way you acted?” he inquired.
“What way?”
“Telling me an untruth, and then stealing out of the house?”
“I didn't mean to tell you an untruth. It was an inspiration, after I
had left you. Any how, all's fair in love and war, you know.”
Elias chuckled softly to himself.
“What are you laughing at?” the rabbi asked. “I'm not laughing.”
“Well, nothing has happened? You're all right?”
“Yes; I haven't been struck by lightning yet.”
“Don't talk like that, Elias. It's blasphemous.” Elias made no
answer.
Presently the rabbi said, “Well, aren't you ready to let me in yet?”
“No.”
“How soon will you be?”
“I don't know.”
“Five minutes?”
“No, I guess not. I guess not at all.”
“Why not?”
“Because, frankly, your presence is irksome to me.”
“How so?”
“Oh, I can't analyze it. You make me feel uncomfortable. Put
yourself in my place, and you'll understand.”
“You're mistaken, Elias. It isn't I that makes you feel
uncomfortable.”
“Who, then?”
“Nobody. It's your guilty conscience.”
“So? My guilty conscience doesn't trouble me much, when you're
not around.”
“How about last night?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why, it kept you awake all night, didn't it?”
“Oh.”
“Well, didn't it?”
“Gammon. I was busy, making my preparations for this evening.”
“Oh, that reminds me. At what time is it your intention to start?”
“Start?”
“Yes, for the place of the wedding.”
“Why do you want to know?”
“So as to be ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“To start with you.”
“Good heavens! You don't mean to say that you expect to go with
me to the wedding?”
“Certainly.”
“O, well, really, I can't let you.”
“Why not?”
“I can't let you make a scene there. You may plague me as much
as you like. But I can't have any disturbance at the wedding.”
“You ought to know me well enough not to fear my making a
disturbance. I'm not in the habit of making disturbances.”
“Well, then, what do you want to go for?”
“Simply to be there.”
“But I thought—I thought my own going was to be prevented.”
“Oh, no, I never said that. You may be suffered to go. It is the
performance of the wedding ceremony that will be prevented.”
“Oh, then you think the 'moment of my need' has been put off a
little?”
“I don't know. I say, you may be permitted to continue straight up
to the brink, but before the marriage is consummated, the Lord will
interfere.”
“His confidence is weakening,” thought Elias, and held his tongue.
“Well?” questioned the rabbi.
“Well, what?”
“At what hour shall I be ready?”
“You promise not to make a row?”
“You needn't be afraid.”
“And to conduct yourself exactly as though you were an ordinary
guest?”
“I generally conduct myself as a gentleman, don't I?”
“Well, then, I mean to leave here at a quarter before eight.”
“All right,” said the rabbi; “and now it is a quarter after four. Since
you refuse to let me in, I'll go and sit in my own bedroom. I might
catch cold, standing here in the hall. Call me if any thing should
happen.”
For the sake of killing time, Elias dawdled as long as he could over
his toilet. When, at length, it was completed, he picked up a book,
and, seating himself at the window, tried to read. But it was no use.
His mind wandered. The thought of his wedding was the only
thought that he could keep fast hold of. He was very much excited
and very impatient. He wished heartily that it was over and done
with, and thus all room for doubt or accident excluded. He wondered
how he would manage to survive the remaining hours. What a pity
that he had not left something till the last moment to be attended
to. Then he would have had an occupation. But, unfortunately, every
arrangement was complete. He had packed all his trunks, and sent
them off to the steamer. A shawl-strap and a hand-satchel were the
only luggage not thus disposed of; and these, also, were packed and
locked. Well, he must busy himself with something; and so by and
by he proceeded slowly to unpack the hand-satchel, and thereupon
forthwith to pack it over again. He had about finished, when the
dinner-bell rang. That meant half-past six.
The dinner-bell sounded musically in Elias's ears, partly because
he thought that he was hungry, chiefly because the process of dining
would consume a certain quantity of time.
He found the rabbi already established at the table. He observed,
with a half contemptuous, half annoyed, sense of its childishness,
that the rabbi had discarded his customary white cravat for a black
one—a thing which he never did except when he had a funeral to
conduct.
The two men covered their heads. The rabbi intoned his grace.
The servant brought in the eatables. Elias asked her to go out to the
livery-stable, and order a carriage for a quarter to eight. She had
been employed in the Bacharach household as long as Elias could
remember, this servant, Maggie. Now she felt entitled to display a
little friendly curiosity.
“Excuse me,” said she, “for asking; but is it true, Mr. Elias, that
you're going to get married to-night?”
Elias was about to answer, when the rabbi interposed:
“Who has been putting such a notion into your head? Of course, it
isn't true. When Mr. Elias gets married, you shall be invited to the
wedding, Maggie.”
Elias did not care to join his uncle in debate. Maggie went off
upon her errand. They dined without speaking. The gentle clink of
their knives and forks sounded painfully distinct.
Elias's excitement, his nervousness, his impatience, were
constantly becoming more intense. At every unexpected noise, no
matter how slight or how commonplace, at every footstep in the
hall, at every clatter of dishes in the kitchen, at every gust of wind
upon the window-pane, he started and caught his breath. He felt his
heart alternately growing hot and cold. Now it would leap with joy,
at the thought of what was so near at hand; now it would cease
beating, in spasmodic terror of some unknown calamity. It began to
gallop tempestuously, when at last Elias heard the carriage rattle up,
and stop before the house. “Oh,” he told himself, “it's only the way
any man in my place would feel. One doesn't get married every day
in the week.” His cheeks burned. His mouth was dry and feverish.
His hands gave off a cold perspiration, and they shook like those of
an old man.
The rabbi entered the carriage. Elias, having instructed the
coachman where to drive, followed. The carriage moved off.
“At a church?” questioned the rabbi.
“No; at their house,” replied Elias.
“A large affair? Many guests?”
“Very few. Perhaps twenty-five or thirty. Their friends.”
“That's good. It would be a pity to have a crowd.”
After which both held their peace. Elias leaned back in his seat,
and looked out of the window.
Now, not only his hands, but all his limbs, were trembling,
quaking, as if he had the ague. He gritted his teeth firmly together
to keep them from chattering. In his breast he was conscious of a
vague, palpitating pain, very like extreme fear. He tried hard, but
vainly, to exercise his will and his intelligence. In his brain all was
bewilderment and confusion. Mechanically, he repeated to himself,
“It is as every man in my place would feel.” But he did not believe it.
His condition mystified him completely. He was suffering miserably.
One thought alone rode clear above the mental hurricane: “Thank
God, it will soon be over.” Meanwhile, in a dull, sick way, he was
looking out of the window, and observing the progress of the
carriage. Onward, onward, they were jolting, through the wet
streets, where the sidewalks, like inky mirrors, gave back distorted
images of the street lamps; past blazing shop-fronts, past jingling
horse-cars, past solitary foot-passengers; ever nearer and nearer to
their destination; and that sinking in his breast, and that uproar in
his brain, ever growing more marked, more painful, more perplexing.
A happy bridegroom driving to his wedding! More like a doomed
criminal driving to the place of expiation. Presently they reached the
great circle at the junction of Fifty-ninth Street and Eighth Avenue.
Elias drew a long, deep breath, clenched his fists, straightened up,
by a huge effort mustered a little self-possession, and announced
faintly, “Well, we're almost there.” To his bewildered senses, his own
voice sounded unfamiliar and far away.
A few seconds of acute suspense, and the carriage came to a
stand-still in front of Redwood's door.
“Well,” began the rabbi, as Elias made no movement, “is this the
house?”
“Yes.”
“Well, sha'n't we get out?”
“Yes, of course. But first, let me tell you. You go right into the
parlor—at the left as we enter. I'll go straight up-stairs. For God's
sake, remember your promise. Don't—don't make any disturbance
here.”
They got out of the carriage, and climbed the stoop, over which
an awning had been erected. The door was opened by a negro, in
dress-suit and white gloves. The rabbi, pursuant to Elias's request,
turned at once into the parlor, where already a half-dozen early
arrivals were assembled. Elias, bearing the rabbi's hat and overcoat,
hurried up the staircase to the room that had been set apart for him.
There, having slammed the door behind him, he flung himself into
an easy-chair, took his head between his hands, closed his eyes, and
strove with might and main to summon a little strength, a little
composure.
“There is no more chance of its taking place, than there is of the
sun's failing to rise to-morrow morning”—that phrase had begun
again to ring hideously in his ears.
Pretty soon he became aware that he was no longer alone.
Somebody had entered the room, and was speaking to him. He
looked up. Dazed and dizzy, as if through a veil, he saw old
Redwood standing before him.
“Did you speak? What did you say?” he asked.
“I said how-d'ye-do,” answered Redwood. “You look sort of rattled.
What's the matter with you?”
“Oh, nothing. I'm very well, thank you. How—where is Christine?”
“Oh, she's busy making her toilet—she and her friends. They've
been at it pretty much all the afternoon. But, I say, brace up. Would
you like something to drink?”
“No. Much obliged, but I—I'm all right. Only a little excited you
know.”
“And, by the way, who was that old party that came in with ye—
black and white?”
“Black and white?”
“Yes—black hair, white face—black tie, white collar—looks like a
parson, and like an Israelite, at the same time.”
“Oh, that's my uncle—Dr. Gedaza.”
“You don't say so! So he's come around, has he? Relented, and
got reconciled? Well, I must go down stairs, and clasp his fist.”
“No; don't please. That is, I wouldn't if I were you. Better let him
alone,” said Elias.
“Why, man alive, why not? Mustn't I do the honors of the house?”
“Yes; but he—he's sort of eccentric. I wouldn't pay any attention
to him. It might get him started, you understand.”
“Oh, well, you know him, I suppose; and if you say so, all right.
But it don't seem just the thing not to bid him welcome. You'll have
to excuse me, any how, now. The guests are arriving right along,
and I must be on deck to receive 'em.”
Old Redwood departed. Elias felt rather better—less feverish and
excited, but somewhat dull and weak.
In a few minutes Redwood reappeared.
“Come,” he cried. “Chris is ready—waiting for ye.”
Elias's heart bounding fiercely, he rose, and followed the old man
through the hall into the front room. Christine advanced to meet
him, a vision of dazzling whiteness. “Oh, I'm so afraid,” she
whispered, as he folded her in his arms. Then, after he had released
her, “Here, dear,” she said, and plucked a rosebud from her bouquet,
and pinned it into his button-hole. Her fingers trembled. A truant
wisp of golden hair lightly brushed his cheek.
“Now, children,” said old Redwood, “you understand the
programme, do ye? I go in first, and stand up alongside the parson.
You follow about a minute after, Christine leaning on Elias's left arm.
Now the sooner you're ready the better. Shall I start?”
“Yes,” they answered.
He kissed his daughter, wrung Elias's hand, and left the room.

The clergyman stood between the front parlor windows. At a


distance of two or three yards, the guests formed an irregular horse-
shoe. There were a few young girls in bright colors, a few young
men in white waistcoats and swallow-tails. The rest were elderly
folk, the women in black silks, the men in black frock-coats. A goodly
quantity of cut flowers, distributed about the room, refreshed the
hot, close air.
There was a low buzz of conversation—which, however, abruptly
subsided, as the door opened, and old Redwood marched gravely
up, and took his position at the clergyman's right hand.
The inevitable hush of expectancy. All eyes focused upon the door.
Through which, next instant, entered the bridal couple, and walked
slowly forward to where they were awaited.
“Dearly beloved,” solemnly began the minister, “we are gathered
together here in the sight of God, and in the face of this company, to
join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony”—and
continued to the end of his preliminary address.
After a brief pause, he proceeded: “Elias, wilt thou have this
woman, Christine, to thy wedded wife, to live together after God's
ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Wilt thou love her,
comfort her, honor and keep her in sickness and in health; and,
forsaking al! others, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both
shall live?”—and again paused, waiting for Elias to respond.
A crimson flush suffused Elias's face, then, in an instant, faded to
an intense waxen pallor. A film, a glassiness, appeared to form over
the pupils of his eyes. His lips parted and twisted convulsively,
writhing, as if in a desperate struggle to shape the expected words.
Suddenly he threw his arm up into the air; a stifled, broken groan
burst from his throat; he fell backward, head foremost, full length
upon the floor, and lay there rigid, lifeless.
For a moment a breathless, startled stillness among the people.
Then a quick outbreak of voices, and an eager pressing forward
toward the spot where Elias had fallen.
Christine for a breathing-space remained motionless, aghast. All at
once, “Oh, my God! He is dead—dead!” she cried, an agonized,
heart-piercing cry, and sank upon her knees beside him, and flung
herself sobbing upon his breast.
Parrot-like, the guests caught up her cry, and repeated it in low,
awed tones among themselves: “He is dead. He has dropped down
dead.”
The poor minister looked very badly scared, and as though he felt
it incumbent upon him to say or to do something, without knowing
what.
At first old Redwood himself had started back, completely
staggered. But he very speedily recovered his presence of mind.
“Oh, no, he ain't dead either,” he called out.
“He's got a fit or something. Hey, Dr. Whipple, down there! Come
up here—will ye?—and see what ye can do.”
The person thus appealed to, a tall old gentleman, with iron-gray
hair, had gradually been elbowing his way to the front; and before
Redwood had fairly spoken his last word, was bending over Elias,
and gazing curiously at his face.
Close upon the doctor's heels came the rabbi. The rabbi's
countenance wore a strangely inappropriate smile—one would have
said, a smile of satisfaction.
“Well, doctor?” questioned Redwood.
“Oh, doctor, doctor,” cried Christine, looking up through her tears,
“is—is he—?”
“No, no, my child,” answered the doctor, kindly. “He'll be as well as
ever in an hour or two—only a bit head-achey and shaken up.
There's no occasion for any alarm at all.” Turning to Redwood: “It's
epilepsy. Does he have these attacks often?”
“I'm blamed if I knew he had them at all,” said Redwood. “How is
it about that?” he asked, addressing the rabbi.
“He has never been troubled this way before,” the rabbi replied.
“Perhaps it's in his family?” questioned the doctor.
“Perhaps. I don't know,” the rabbi answered, though he did know
perfectly well that Elias's father had died in an epileptic fit; a fact, by
the way, of which Elias himself was ignorant.
“Brought on, then, by nervous excitement, worry, loss of sleep, or
what not, I suppose. It will be interesting to note whether he ever
has another,” the medical man concluded.
Christine, upon receiving the doctor's assurance that her lover was
in no danger of death, had begun anew to sob upon his breast,
more violently, if possible, than at first.
The clergyman had retired to the back parlor, and was discoursing
of the mishap to a bevy of gaping guests.
“He turned as red, madam, as red as a beet,” the clergyman
declared, “and then as white—as white as your handkerchief, and
frothed at the mouth. I never saw a person turn so white—positively
livid. Conceive my feelings. I was really very much pained, and very
apprehensive. I thought certainly that it was heart-disease, and that
he was about to breathe his last. I can't tell you how distressing it is,
to have such a thing occur in the midst of such a joyful occasion. It
has given my nerves a most serious shock.”
His auditors murmured sympathetically.
“Well, doctor, what's to be done? Can you fetch him around?”
Redwood asked.
“Oh,” the doctor said, “he'll come around naturally in a little while
—an hour or two, at the furthest. I think that we had better carry
him to another room, where it will be quieter and cooler and away
from the people.”
“No,” put in the rabbi; “if you will help me get him into the
carriage, I'll take him home.”
“Why,” exclaimed Redwood, “if you do that we'll have to postpone
the wedding.”
“Yes, I shouldn't wonder,” concurred the rabbi.
“But then—there'll be the very deuce to pay. Here are these
guests assembled, and supper prepared, and their passage engaged
on to-morrow's steamer, and their trunks gone aboard, by George,
and every thing in apple-pie order; and take it all around, you
couldn't make a more awkward proposition.”
“Add to which,” interposed the medical man, “that in his present
condition, a carriage-drive, and the jolting up which it would involve,
are just the things that might do him the most injury.”
“I'm sorry,” the rabbi said; “but being his only relative here, I feel
myself responsible for him, and must act as my own judgment
directs. I shall thank you, therefore, if you will assist me in carrying
him to our carriage.”
“I'll be hanged,” cried Redwood, “if I think it's decent for you to
step in here, and knock all our plans into a cocked hat, like that.
And, any how, didn't you hear the doctor say that a carriage drive
would hurt him?”
“And yet,” volunteered the doctor, “if the gentleman insists, Mr.
Redwood, it will be wiser to let him have his own way. A dispute,
you know, under the circumstances, is hardly desirable.”
“I do insist. I feel in duty bound to,” said the rabbi.
“Well, you've got a mighty queer sense of duty, then,” retorted
Redwood; “and you can bet your life that when Elias comes to, he'll
be as mad as jingo. But if you choose to take the responsibility on
your own shoulders, go ahead.”
When Christine saw that they were about to bear Elias from the
room, she demanded eagerly, almost fiercely, whither? And upon
being informed that the rabbi meant to carry him home, she
passionately besought the old man not to do it; imploring him to let
her sweetheart remain where he was, at least till he should have
regained his senses; and pleading that until then she could not help
fearing the worst.
“Oh, sir—please—please don't take him away from me. How shall
I rest, until he has come to, and spoken to me? Oh, I can't—I can't
bear to have you take him away, like that. If you would-only leave
him till he can speak to me! What shall I do, all night long, not
knowing whether he is sick—or dead—or what, and—and always
seeing him before me, that way? Oh, there, there! They are taking
him away. Oh, Elias! Oh, sir! Oh, God, God! Oh, what shall I do?”
She might as well have addressed her entreaties to a stone.
Neither by gesture, nor by word of mouth, nor by variation of
feature, did the rabbi signify that he had even heard her voice, or
was even aware of her existence. The carriage drove away, leaving
Christine in a paroxysm of frantic grief.
“Well,” remarked old Redwood to Dr. Whipple, “I've heard tell of
bowels of mercy; but actually, that old Hebrew there, he must have
bowels of brass.”
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