ARDUINO

Introduction

Micro-controllers and its firmware / software are used for a variety of purposes in today's world ranging from laptops, consoles, mobile phones to toys and home appliances. Although they are everywhere, they are hard to make and code, but there are many companies now making starter kits as an introduction to micro-controllers and programming them.

Arduino is an open-source computer hardware and software company, project and user community that designs and manufactures microcontroller-based kits for building digital devices and interactive objects that can sense and control objects in the real world.

The loading splash screen of the Arduino program

The workspace of Arduino looks similar to that of Processing but is different

Understanding The Features

Below is a diagram exploring it's features

File: Gives the user options regarding saving, exporting printing the code. Also contains the 'Preferences' section for setting up the the program.

Edit: Gives the user basic command keys like to undo, redo, cut, copy as well as changing the indentation of the code and a basic 'find' search box.

Sketch: Gives the option to 'compile' the code as well as upload, export code and add library's to you're code (language library's).

Tools: Gives a selection of necessary tools related to assisting with code including error correction, auto formatting, board selection and board selection.

Help: Provides a selection of help options for troubleshooting, software versions, first time user guides and FAQ's.

Errors: Shows which lines of the code are incorrect and what specific issue is.

Console: Where the code will be written.

Tabs: Gives the option to cycle through the tabs (If multiple ones are being used).

Compile/Upload: Finalizing options to compile the code ready to upload to the device.

Introduction to Arduino (Video Tutorial By Jeremy Blum)

This is a tutorial by Jeremy Blum that gives a basic introduction to it's features, abilities and other useful information. I liked it and found it very useful in getting a clear understanding of how the whole Arduino experiance works.

Equipment Needed

"Arduino Uno" Micro-Controller

USB Cable

DC Motor

'"Jumper" Cables

Colored LED's

Resistors

Experimenting With Arduino

As well as this we also had to download the software from the official Arduino website (www.arduino.cc) to write the initial code.

This setup allowed the motor to spin by twisting the blue toggle.

This setup allowed the Green LED to pulsate like a beacon.

This code allows the LED to fade from bright to dim/off. Also by altering the 'delay' option you can change the speed in which it dims.

This code allows the LED to simply blink.

This code allows the motor to simply rotate upon activating. Speed of the motor can be altered where the numbers 0-255 are currently placed in the code.