Arduino
Arduino is an open-source prototyping platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. Arduino boards are able to read inputs - light on a sensor, a finger on a button, or a Twitter message - and turn it into an output - activating a motor, turning on an LED, publishing something online. You can tell your board what to do by sending a set of instructions to the microcontroller on the board. To do so you use the Arduino programming language (based onWiring), and the Arduino Software (IDE), based on Processing.
Over the years Arduino has been the brain of thousands of projects, from everyday objects to complex scientific instruments. A worldwide community of makers - students, hobbyists, artists, programmers, and professionals - has gathered around this open-source platform, their contributions have added up to an incredible amount of accessible knowledge that can be of great help to novices and experts alike.
Arduino was born at the Ivrea Interaction Design Institute as an easy tool for fast prototyping, aimed at students without a background in electronics and programming. As soon as it reached a wider community, the Arduino board started changing to adapt to new needs and challenges, differentiating its offer from simple 8-bit boards to products for IoT applications, wearable, 3D printing, and embedded environments. All Arduino boards are completely open-source, empowering users to build them independently and eventually adapt them to their particular needs. Thesoftware, too, is open-source, and it is growing through the contributions of users worldwide.
Why Arduino?
Arduino has been used in thousands of different projects and applications. The Arduino software is easy-to-use for beginners, yet flexible enough for advanced users. It runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux. Teachers and students use it to build low cost scientific instruments, to prove chemistry and physics principles, or to get started with programming and robotics. Designers and architects build interactive prototypes, musicians and artists use it for installations and to experiment with new musical instruments. Makers, of course, use it to build many of the projects exhibited at the Maker Faire, for example. Arduino is a key tool to learn new things. Anyone - children, hobbyists, artists, programmers - can start tinkering just following the step by step instructions of a kit, or sharing ideas online with other members of the Arduino community.
There are many other microcontrollers and microcontroller platforms available for physical computing. Parallax Basic Stamp, Netmedia's BX-24, Phidgets, MIT's Handyboard, and many others offer similar functionality. All of these tools take the messy details of microcontroller programming and wrap it up in an easy-to-use package. Arduino also simplifies the process of working with microcontrollers, but it offers some advantage for teachers, students, and interested amateurs over other systems:
- Inexpensive - Arduino boards are relatively inexpensive compared to other microcontroller platforms. The least expensive version of the Arduino module can be assembled by hand, and even the pre-assembled Arduino modules cost less than $50
- Cross-platform - The Arduino Software (IDE) runs on Windows, Macintosh OSX, and Linux operating systems. Most microcontroller systems are limited to Windows.
- Simple, clear programming environment - The Arduino Software (IDE) is easy-to-use for beginners, yet flexible enough for advanced users to take advantage of as well. For teachers, it's conveniently based on the Processing programming environment, so students learning to program in that environment will be familiar with how the Arduino IDE works.
- Open source and extensible software - The Arduino software is published as open source tools, available for extension by experienced programmers. The language can be expanded through C++ libraries, and people wanting to understand the technical details can make the leap from Arduino to the AVR C programming language on which it's based. Similarly, you can add AVR-C code directly into your Arduino programs if you want to.
- Arduino Uno Pin Out
Install the Arduino Software
Step-by-step instructions for setting up the Arduino Software (IDE) on your computer and connecting it to an Arduino Uno, Mega2560, Duemilanove, Mega, or Diecimila.
Click on the list on the side if you want to use another Arduino board.- Arduino Software (IDE)
- Write Program in this window. And then compile
- Sketch>Compile
- After compiling Successful or error message will show in bottom window. After compiling load program into Arduino Board.
- Sketch>Upload.
- Sample Programs
Most Arduinos have an on-board LED you can control. On the Uno and Leonardo, it is attached to digital pin 13. If you're unsure what pin the on-board LED is connected to on your Arduino model, check the documentation at http://www.arduino.cc
This example code is in the public domain.
modified 8 May 2014 by Scott Fitzgerald */
// the setup function runs once when you press reset or power the boardvoid setup() { // initialize digital pin 13 as an output. pinMode(13, OUTPUT);}
// the loop function runs over and over again forevervoid loop() { digitalWrite(13, HIGH); // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level) delay(1000); // wait for a second digitalWrite(13, LOW); // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW delay(1000); // wait for a second}
Connection Diagram
Pushbutton
The pushbutton is a component that connects two points in a circuit when you press it. The example turns on an LED when you press the button.
We connect three wires to the Arduino board. The first goes from one leg of the pushbutton through a pull-up resistor (here 2.2 KOhms) to the 5 volt supply. The second goes from the corresponding leg of the pushbutton to ground. The third connects to a digital i/o pin (here pin 7) which reads the button's state.
When the pushbutton is open (unpressed) there is no connection between the two legs of the pushbutton, so the pin is connected to 5 volts (through the pull-up resistor) and we read a HIGH. When the button is closed (pressed), it makes a connection between its two legs, connecting the pin to ground, so that we read a LOW. (The pin is still connected to 5 volts, but the resistor in-between them means that the pin is "closer" to ground).
We connect three wires to the Arduino board. The first goes from one leg of the pushbutton through a pull-up resistor (here 2.2 KOhms) to the 5 volt supply. The second goes from the corresponding leg of the pushbutton to ground. The third connects to a digital i/o pin (here pin 7) which reads the button's state.
When the pushbutton is open (unpressed) there is no connection between the two legs of the pushbutton, so the pin is connected to 5 volts (through the pull-up resistor) and we read a HIGH. When the button is closed (pressed), it makes a connection between its two legs, connecting the pin to ground, so that we read a LOW. (The pin is still connected to 5 volts, but the resistor in-between them means that the pin is "closer" to ground).
Connection Diagram
Program
/* Basic Digital Read
* ------------------
*
* turns on and off a light emitting diode(LED) connected to digital
* pin 13, when pressing a pushbutton attached to pin 7. It illustrates the
* concept of Active-Low, which consists in connecting buttons using a
* 1K to 10K pull-up resistor.
*
* Created 1 December 2005
* copyleft 2005 DojoDave <http://www.0j0.org>
* http://arduino.berlios.de
*
*/
int ledPin = 13; // choose the pin for the LED
int inPin = 7; // choose the input pin (for a pushbutton)
int val = 0; // variable for reading the pin status
void setup() {
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); // declare LED as output
pinMode(inPin, INPUT); // declare pushbutton as input
}
void loop(){
val = digitalRead(inPin); // read input value
if (val == HIGH) { // check if the input is HIGH (button released)
digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); // turn LED OFF
} else {
digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); // turn LED ON
}
}
