Arduino Course for Absolute Beginners 2nd Edition

Have you seen some really cool stuff being made with a thing called Arduino? What is Arduino anyway? It sounds like an Italian sandwich with extra cheese or something... Well - it's that and a lot more. I hope this video can help explain some the basic premise of the Arduino!

Have you seen some really cool stuff being made with a thing called Arduino? What is Arduino anyway? It sounds like an Italian sandwich with extra cheese or something... Well - it's that and a lot more. I hope this video can help explain some the basic premise of the Arduino!

What is Arduino?

Arduino IDE

Color

Have you ever wanted to change the font color in the Arduino IDE? Maybe it is hard for you to read the light grey comments in the Arduino IDE, or maybe you prefer something a little bolder. Whatever your reason, in this short video, I demonstrate a relatively easy way to change the font color of comments.

Have you ever wanted to change the font color in the Arduino IDE? Maybe it is hard for you to read the light grey comments in the Arduino IDE, or maybe you prefer something a little bolder. Whatever your reason, in this short video, I demonstrate a relatively easy way to change the font color of comments.

How to change the font color in the Arduino IDE

In many cases while using an Arduino, you will want to see the data being generated by the Arduino. One common method of doing this is using the Serial.print() function from the Serial library to display information to your computer’s monitor.  In this week’s episode we will talk about the intricacies of the Serial.print() function.  This is the second part of a  two part series on the Serial.print() function (Click here for the first part). Here are the exact topics we will cover in this lesson:  Adjusting the number of digits to be displayed after the decimal point with the Serial.print() function. Adjusting the format to display with the Serial.print() function Formatting the output with text and tabs  If you enjoyed this video, you should consider signing up for our free Arduino Crash Course - it has 19 high quality video training classes to help build your imagination with Arduino.

In many cases while using an Arduino, you will want to see the data being generated by the Arduino. One common method of doing this is using the Serial.print() function from the Serial library to display information to your computer’s monitor. In this week’s episode we will talk about the intricacies of the Serial.print() function.  This is the second part of a <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/using-the-print-function-with-arduino-part-1/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> two part series on the Serial.print() function (Click here for the first part).</a> Here are the exact topics we will cover in this lesson: <ul> <li>Adjusting the number of digits to be displayed after the decimal point with the Serial.print() function.</li> <li>Adjusting the format to display with the Serial.print() function</li> <li>Formatting the output with text and tabs</li> </ul> If you enjoyed this video, you should consider signing up for our free Arduino Crash Course - it has 19 high quality video training classes to help build your imagination with Arduino.

Use Serial.print() to display Arduino output on your computer monitor: Part 2

In many cases while using an Arduino, you will want to see the data being generated by the Arduino. One common method of doing this is using the Serial.print() function from the Serial library to display information to your computer’s monitor. In this week’s episode, we will talk about the intricacies of the Serial.print() function. This is the first part, of a two part series on the Serial.print() function. Here are the specific topics we will cover in this lesson:  Why would you want to use the Serial.print() function? A brief overview of the Serial library The basic use of the Serial.print() function   Like this video?  Sign up for our FREE Arduino Crash Course to get more videos that don't assume you have a PhD. Why Would You Want to Use the Serial.print() Function? You may know that a function is a programming tool - it performs a specific task for you. The Serial.print() function’s task is to send information from your Arduino to your computer, so you can see the value displayed on your computer’s monitor. There are an endless number of reasons you may want to send information from the Arduino to a computer display, but two reasons really stand out to me: The first reason is being able to see information that you are generating with your Arduino. For example, if you have a temperature sensor hooked up to your Arduino and you want to see the value that the temperature sensor is recording, then you can use the Serial.print() function to send the data to a computer monitor via the USB cable. If you open up the serial monitor window (Tools &gt; Serial Monitor), you will see the values streaming in from the Arduino.   The other big reason to send information to a computer display using the Serial.print() function is for developing and debugging Arduino sketches. Very often, when you are developing an Arduino sketch, what you end up coding does something differently than what you expected it to do. Maybe you have a variable that gets incremented every so often and blinks an LED when it reaches a threshold. When you upload the code to the Arduino, you notice that the LED is blinking more often than it should. You can look at the code until your eyes bleed, but actually visualizing the variable being incremented [via the Serial.print() function], to see its values every time through the loop() can help explain what is happening very quickly. A Brief Overview of the Serial Library We can’t talk about the Serial.print() function, without briefly talking about the Serial library. Generally speaking,  a library is simply a collection of functions that all have something in common. The print() function is part of a library called the Serial library. Now, it's not cereal like Cheerios or Captain Crunch we're talking about - it's serial as in “one after another”.   The serial library allows us to interface the Arduino with other hardware, like a computer. In order for us to use the functions of the Serial library,  we have to initiate serial communication - to do this we use the Serial.begin() function. Serial.begin() needs to go in the setup().  void setup() {    //Initiate Serial communication.   Serial.begin(9600);  }  Now for reasons beyond the scope of this discussion, it is convenient to use the number 9600 in the Serial.begin() function. The value 9600 specifies the baud rate. The baud rate is the rate at which information will pass from the Arduino to the computer, or in the other direction. The Basic Use of the Serial.print() Function Let's talk about how to use the Serial.print() function. Say we have a sketch. This sketch has a variable called coolFactor. I want to be able to monitor the value of the coolFactor variable – that is, I want it displayed on my computer screen. A perfect use for the Serial.print() function! The first thing we must do in the Arduino sketch is begin serial communications. Like we just said, we use the Serial.begin() function and place it within the setup() of the sketch.  //A variable to hold the level of coolness int coolFactor = 3;  void setup() {    Serial.begin(9600);  }  void loop() {    //Send the value of coolFactor to the the Serial port.   //So we can see it in the serial monitor window   Serial.print(coolFactor);  }  Now in the loop(), if I want to display coolFactor’s value with print(), I simply type Serial.print() and in the parenthesis I type the variable name. If we upload this sketch to the Arduino, the value of coolFactor will be sent to the serial port every time through the loop(). In the Arduino IDE, if you open up the serial monitor window [Tools &gt; Serial Monitor], you will see the values streaming down.  In next week’s episode, we’ll talk about some more intricacies of the Serial.print() function. If you enjoyed this lesson, I welcome you to join 1000's of students who have enjoyed our free Arduino Crash Course - it's a 19 part video training series on using Arduino (You can sign up below).

In many cases while using an Arduino, you will want to see the data being generated by the Arduino. One common method of doing this is using the Serial.print() function from the Serial library to display information to your computer’s monitor. In this week’s episode, we will talk about the intricacies of the Serial.print() function. This is the first part, of a two part series on the Serial.print() function. Here are the specific topics we will cover in this lesson: <ul> <li>Why would you want to use the Serial.print() function?</li> <li>A brief overview of the Serial library</li> <li>The basic use of the Serial.print() function</li> </ul> <a href="#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Like this video?  Sign up for our FREE Arduino Crash Course to get more videos that don't assume you have a PhD.</a> Why Would You Want to Use the Serial.print() Function? You may know that a function is a programming tool - it performs a specific task for you. <a href="https://www.arduino.cc/en/Serial/Print" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Serial.print() function’s task</a> is to send information from your Arduino to your computer, so you can see the value displayed on your computer’s monitor. There are an endless number of reasons you may want to send information from the Arduino to a computer display, but two reasons really stand out to me: The first reason is being able to see information that you are generating with your Arduino. For example, if you have a temperature sensor hooked up to your Arduino and you want to see the value that the temperature sensor is recording, then you can use the Serial.print() function to send the data to a computer monitor via the USB cable. If you open up the serial monitor window (Tools &gt; Serial Monitor), you will see the values streaming in from the Arduino. <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/blog-pic-1.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> </a> The other big reason to send information to a computer display using the Serial.print() function is for developing and debugging Arduino sketches. Very often, when you are developing an Arduino sketch, what you end up coding does something differently than what you expected it to do. Maybe you have a variable that gets incremented every so often and blinks an LED when it reaches a threshold. When you upload the code to the Arduino, you notice that the LED is blinking more often than it should. You can look at the code until your eyes bleed, but actually visualizing the variable being incremented [via the Serial.print() function], to see its values every time through the loop() can help explain what is happening very quickly. A Brief Overview of the Serial Library We can’t talk about the Serial.print() function, without briefly talking about the Serial library. Generally speaking, <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/how-to-set-up-an-arduino-library-video-1-arduino-library-series/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> a library is simply a collection of functions that all have something in common.</a> The print() function is part of a library called the Serial library. Now, it's not cereal like Cheerios or Captain Crunch we're talking about - it's serial as in “one after another”. <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/blog-pic-2.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> </a> The serial library allows us to interface the Arduino with other hardware, like a computer. In order for us to use the functions of the Serial library, <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/digitalread-serial-port-communication/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> we have to initiate serial communication</a> - to do this we use the Serial.begin() function. Serial.begin() needs to go in the setup(). void setup() { //Initiate Serial communication. Serial.begin(9600); } Now for reasons beyond the scope of this discussion, it is convenient to use the number 9600 in the Serial.begin() function. The value 9600 specifies the baud rate. The baud rate is the rate at which information will pass from the Arduino to the computer, or in the other direction. The Basic Use of the Serial.print() Function Let's talk about how to use the Serial.print() function. Say we have a sketch. This sketch has a variable called coolFactor. I want to be able to monitor the value of the coolFactor variable – that is, I want it displayed on my computer screen. A perfect use for the Serial.print() function! The first thing we must do in the Arduino sketch is begin serial communications. Like we just said, we use the Serial.begin() function and place it within the setup() of the sketch. //A variable to hold the level of coolness int coolFactor = 3; void setup() { Serial.begin(9600); } void loop() { //Send the value of coolFactor to the the Serial port. //So we can see it in the serial monitor window Serial.print(coolFactor); } Now in the loop(), if I want to display coolFactor’s value with print(), I simply type Serial.print() and in the parenthesis I type the variable name. If we upload this sketch to the Arduino, the value of coolFactor will be sent to the serial port every time through the loop(). In the Arduino IDE, if you open up the serial monitor window [Tools &gt; Serial Monitor], you will see the values streaming down. <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/using-the-print-function-with-arduino-part-2/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> In next week’s episode, we’ll talk about some more intricacies of the Serial.print() function.</a> If you enjoyed this lesson, I welcome you to join 1000's of students who have enjoyed our free Arduino Crash Course - it's a 19 part video training series on using Arduino (You can sign up below).

Use Serial.print() to Display Arduino output on your computer monitor: Part 1

There are a couple good use-case scenarios for making a secret knock detector using an Arduino.  You are a spy who needs to authenticate your cohorts You are a super hero who wants a secret knock to open the entrance to your lair  Whatever the reason - by the end of this tutorial you will know how to use an Arduino, a piezo transducer and a couple other cheap components to make secret knock detector.  Here is an overview of exactly what we will talk about in this lesson:  The components you will need and how to set up this simple circuit. The concept of operation of this secret knock detector A thorough description of each block of code in the Arduino sketch Why North American grizzly bears love piezo transducers  For this secret knock detector circuit you need:  Arduino (I use the Arduino Uno) [1] Solderless breadboard [1] 1 Mohm Resistor [1] Piezo transducer (aka buzzer) [1] Jumper wires [4] 5.1V Zener diode (for extra protection) [1] No spill stopper for a “to-go” coffee cup  How to set up the Circuit: This is a really simple circuit to setup, below are step-by-step instructions and a breadboard diagram.  Place the piezo transducer on the breadboard, with the positive lead and the negative lead on separate rails. Connect the positive lead to pin A0 on the Arduino and the other lead to ground. Finally, use the 1Mohm resistor to connect the leads of the piezo transducer. As an additional level of protection, you might consider adding a 5.1V zener diode between the leads to protect against high voltage spikes from frying your input pin - you might call it a cheap insurance policy.    An Overview of this Secret Knock Detectors operation Here is the basic concept of how this will work. We want something to happen when you tap out a secret code. We will create a sequence of soft and hard taps - this will be our secret code which will be  represented as 0’s and 1’s in an array. For example:  secretKnock[secretKnockLength] = {0, 0, 1, 0};  The code above represents a secret code of soft , soft , hard, soft . The piezo transducer will turn the mechanical pressure created by the tap into a  signal that the Arduino analog pin can read. The level of the signal will determine whether a tap gets characterized as soft or hard. The threshold of a soft vs hard tap need to be determined empirically, once you have the circuit built - it will depend on what you have the piezo transducer attached to - I have mine taped to a piece of paper. You should start with the default threshold values provided in the sketch and change them to suit your specific setup. Once a tap signal is picked up by the Arduino, the sketch will compare the entered sequence of taps to the secret code, one tap at a time. If the code is entered correctly, then we will trigger an action on the output pin. In this code below, we trigger an LED to turn on for a couple seconds - but you could trigger a servo arm, a pump, or whatever you might need. If the code is entered incorrectly - nothing happens. Here is the code for your hacking enjoyment:  /* A simple sketch to detect a secret knock using a piezo transducer  Created JUL 2015 by Michael James http://www.programmingelectronics.com/  This code is in the public domain  */  const int outputPin = 6;    // led indicator connected to digital pin const int knockSensor = A0; // the piezo is connected to an analog pin const int thresholdHIGH = 150;  // threshold value to decide when the detected knock is hard (HIGH) const int thresholdLOW = 120;  // threshold value to decide when the detected knock is gentle (LOW)   const int secretKnockLength = 4; //How many knocks are in your secret knock  /* This is the secret knock sequence  * 0 represents a LOW or quiet knock  * 1 represents a HIGH or loud knock  * The sequence can be as long as you like, but longer codes increase the difficulty of matching */ const int secretKnock[secretKnockLength] = {0, 0, 1, 0};  int secretCounter = 0; //this tracks the correct knocks and allows you to move through the sequence int sensorReading = 0; // variable to store the value read from the sensor pin  void setup() {    //Set the output pin as an OUTPUT   pinMode(outputPin, OUTPUT);    //Begin Serial Communication.   Serial.begin(9600);  }  void loop() {    // read the piezo sensor and store the value in the variable sensorReading:   sensorReading = analogRead(knockSensor);    // First determine is knock if Hard (HIGH) or Gentle (LOW)    //Hard knock (HIGH) is detected   if (sensorReading &gt;= thresholdHIGH) {      //Check to see if a Hard Knock matches the Secret Knock in the correct sequence.     if (secretKnock[secretCounter] == 1) {        //The Knock was correct, iterate the counter.       secretCounter++;       Serial.println("Correct");      } else {        //The Knock was incorrect, reset the counter       secretCounter = 0;       Serial.println("Fail - You are a spy!");      }//close if      //Allow some time to pass before sampling again to ensure a clear signal.     delay(100);      //Gentle knock (LOW) is detected   } else if (sensorReading &gt;= thresholdLOW) {      //Check to see if a Gentle Knock matches the Secret Knock in the correct sequence.     if (secretKnock[secretCounter] == 0) {        //The Knock was correct, iterate the counter.       secretCounter++;       Serial.println("Correct");      } else {        //The Knock was incorrect, reset the counter.       secretCounter = 0;       Serial.println("Fail - You are a spy!");      }//close if      //Allow some time to pass before sampling again to ensure a clear signal.     delay(100);    }//close if else    //Check for successful entry of the code, by seeing if the entire array has been walked through.   if (secretCounter == (secretKnockLength) ) {      Serial.println("Welcome in fellow Illuminante!");      //if the sececret knock is correct, illuminate the LED for a couple seconds     digitalWrite(outputPin, HIGH);     delay(2000);     digitalWrite(outputPin, LOW);      //Reset the secret counter to 0.     secretCounter = 0;    }//close success check  }//close loop  If you enjoyed this lesson, you should join our free Arduino Crash Course - it has 19 Video Training lessons all about using Arduino (you can sign up below).

There are a couple good use-case scenarios for making a secret knock detector using an Arduino. <ul> <li>You are a spy who needs to authenticate your cohorts</li> <li>You are a super hero who wants a secret knock to open the entrance to your lair</li> </ul> Whatever the reason - by the end of this tutorial you will know how to use an Arduino, a piezo transducer and a couple other cheap components to make secret knock detector. Here is an overview of exactly what we will talk about in this lesson: <ol> <li>The components you will need and how to set up this simple circuit.</li> <li>The concept of operation of this secret knock detector</li> <li>A thorough description of each block of code in the Arduino sketch</li> <li>Why North American grizzly bears love piezo transducers</li> </ol> For this secret knock detector circuit you need: <ul> <li>Arduino (I use the Arduino Uno) [1]</li> <li>Solderless breadboard [1]</li> <li>1 Mohm Resistor [1]</li> <li>Piezo transducer (aka buzzer) [1]</li> <li>Jumper wires [4]</li> <li>5.1V Zener diode (for extra protection) [1]</li> <li>No spill stopper for a “to-go” coffee cup</li> </ul> How to set up the Circuit: This is a really simple circuit to setup, below are step-by-step instructions and a breadboard diagram. <ol> <li>Place the piezo transducer on the breadboard, with the positive lead and the negative lead on separate rails.</li> <li>Connect the positive lead to pin A0 on the Arduino and the other lead to ground.</li> <li>Finally, use the 1Mohm resistor to connect the leads of the piezo transducer.</li> <li>As an additional level of protection, you might consider adding a 5.1V zener diode between the leads to protect against high voltage spikes from frying your input pin - you might call it a cheap insurance policy.</li> </ol> <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Circuit.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> </a> An Overview of this Secret Knock Detectors operation Here is the basic concept of how this will work. We want something to happen when you tap out a secret code. We will create a sequence of soft and hard taps - this will be our secret code which will be <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/tutorial-13-how-to-use-arrays-with-arduino/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> represented as 0’s and 1’s in an array</a>. For example: secretKnock[secretKnockLength] = {0, 0, 1, 0}; The code above represents a secret code of soft , soft , hard, soft . The piezo transducer will turn the mechanical pressure created by the tap into a <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/analogread-serial-port-communications/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> signal that the Arduino analog pin can read</a>. The level of the signal will determine whether a tap gets characterized as soft or hard. The threshold of a soft vs hard tap need to be determined empirically, once you have the circuit built - it will depend on what you have the piezo transducer attached to - I have mine taped to a piece of paper. You should start with the default threshold values provided in the sketch and change them to suit your specific setup. Once a tap signal is picked up by the Arduino, the sketch will compare the entered sequence of taps to the secret code, one tap at a time. If the code is entered correctly, then we will trigger an action on the output pin. In this code below, we trigger an LED to turn on for a couple seconds - but you could trigger a servo arm, a pump, or whatever you might need. If the code is entered incorrectly - nothing happens. Here is the code for your hacking enjoyment: /* A simple sketch to detect a secret knock using a piezo transducer Created JUL 2015 by Michael James <a href="http://www.programmingelectronics.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.programmingelectronics.com/</a> This code is in the public domain */ const int outputPin = 6; // led indicator connected to digital pin const int knockSensor = A0; // the piezo is connected to an analog pin const int thresholdHIGH = 150; // threshold value to decide when the detected knock is hard (HIGH) const int thresholdLOW = 120; // threshold value to decide when the detected knock is gentle (LOW) const int secretKnockLength = 4; //How many knocks are in your secret knock /* This is the secret knock sequence * 0 represents a LOW or quiet knock * 1 represents a HIGH or loud knock * The sequence can be as long as you like, but longer codes increase the difficulty of matching */ const int secretKnock[secretKnockLength] = {0, 0, 1, 0}; int secretCounter = 0; //this tracks the correct knocks and allows you to move through the sequence int sensorReading = 0; // variable to store the value read from the sensor pin void setup() { //Set the output pin as an OUTPUT pinMode(outputPin, OUTPUT); //Begin Serial Communication. Serial.begin(9600); } void loop() { // read the piezo sensor and store the value in the variable sensorReading: sensorReading = analogRead(knockSensor); // First determine is knock if Hard (HIGH) or Gentle (LOW) //Hard knock (HIGH) is detected if (sensorReading &gt;= thresholdHIGH) { //Check to see if a Hard Knock matches the Secret Knock in the correct sequence. if (secretKnock[secretCounter] == 1) { //The Knock was correct, iterate the counter. secretCounter++; Serial.println("Correct"); } else { //The Knock was incorrect, reset the counter secretCounter = 0; Serial.println("Fail - You are a spy!"); }//close if //Allow some time to pass before sampling again to ensure a clear signal. delay(100); //Gentle knock (LOW) is detected } else if (sensorReading &gt;= thresholdLOW) { //Check to see if a Gentle Knock matches the Secret Knock in the correct sequence. if (secretKnock[secretCounter] == 0) { //The Knock was correct, iterate the counter. secretCounter++; Serial.println("Correct"); } else { //The Knock was incorrect, reset the counter. secretCounter = 0; Serial.println("Fail - You are a spy!"); }//close if //Allow some time to pass before sampling again to ensure a clear signal. delay(100); }//close if else //Check for successful entry of the code, by seeing if the entire array has been walked through. if (secretCounter == (secretKnockLength) ) { Serial.println("Welcome in fellow Illuminante!"); //if the sececret knock is correct, illuminate the LED for a couple seconds digitalWrite(outputPin, HIGH); delay(2000); digitalWrite(outputPin, LOW); //Reset the secret counter to 0. secretCounter = 0; }//close success check }//close loop If you enjoyed this lesson, you should join our free Arduino Crash Course - it has 19 Video Training lessons all about using Arduino (you can sign up below).

How to make a secret knock detector to trigger anything with only an Arduino and a few cheap components

In this video we demonstrate how to create pseudo random numbers with Arduino - with a useful twist. This lesson was inspired by the following viewer question: How do I create Random Non-Consecutive numbers with Arduino? P.S. These are the best tutorials that a complete idiot like you could ever make, thanks. -Chris   Let's overview exactly what we will talk about in today's episode:  Talk about pseudo random numbers.   Identify the problem - using an Arduino sketch to demonstrate.   Discuss how we might solve the problem.   Write an Arduino sketch that solves the problem.   Review what we talked about.  Before we answer the viewer’s question it is important to talk about what a pseudo random number is. A purely random number in the mathematical sense can't be predicted. The microcontroller that the Arduino uses (and for that case, most computers in general) can't really create pure random numbers. What they create instead are called pseudo random numbers. These are numbers that appear to be randomly generated, but if studied over time a predictable pattern emerges.   The bottom line is that the random numbers we create with Arduino can be predicted. Now there are clever ways to create pseudo random numbers that act like the real deal – you can learn about one method in  our video tutorial talking all about random numbers – but for this discussion, let’s return to our viewers inquiry. Identify the Viewer’s Problem - use an Arduino sketch to demonstrate. Ok, so let's go back to the viewers question, he wants to generate random numbers, but he never wants the same number generated two times in a row. Let's write an Arduino Sketch to make this clear.  //This sketch outputs pseudo random integers.  //A variable to hold pseudo random integers. int randomInt = 0;  void setup() {    //Initiate serial communication.   Serial.begin(9600);  }//Close setup function  void loop() {    //Create a random number and assign it to the randomInt variable.   randomInt = random(0, 10);    //Send randomInt to the serial port for displaying on the serial monitor window.   Serial.print(randomInt);  }//Close loop function.  In the first block of code a variable that will hold the pseudo random integers is declared and initialized.  //A variable to hold pseudo random integers. int randomInt = 0;  In the setup() function we begin serial communication in order to display the numbers we generate on a computer display.  void setup() {    //Initiate serial communication.   Serial.begin(9600);  }//Close setup function  In the loop() we create the random number with the Arduino random() function and assign the output to the variable we had just created. The random() function can take two arguments 1) the minimum value of the number we want generated 2) the maximum value we want generated.    //Create a random number and assign it to the randomInt variable.   randomInt = random(0, 10);  I will use 0 for the minimum, and 10 for the maximum. Every time through the loop, a new random number will be assigned the randomInt variable. Finally, the value of randomInt is sent over the serial port to be displayed in the serial monitor window.    //Send randomInt to the serial port for displaying on the serial monitor window.   Serial.print(randomInt);  If you upload this code and open the serial monitor you will see in some cases where the same number shows up two times in a row.   This is the problem.  The viewer doesn't ever want the same number two times in a row.  Discuss how we might solve the problem. So let's talk about how we might solve this problem.  We know we need to generate a random number. What if we create a variable to track the previous random number? Then we could use a condition that says something like "If the previous random number is equal to the random number that was just generated, toss that number out the window, and create a different one.” The final thing we would need to do is set the previous random number equal to the new random number, that way we keep updating our previous random number every time through the loop(). Let’s Implement our solution in an Arduino Sketch. Copy and paste this code into your Arduino IDE.  All you need is an Arduino board attached to your computer to make it work.  //This sketch outputs pseudo random non-consecutive integers.  //A variable to hold pseudo random non-consecutive integers. int randomInt = 0;  //A variable to hold the previously assigned pseudo random non-consecutive integers. int previousRandomInt = 0;  void setup() {    //Initiate serial communication.   Serial.begin(9600);  }//Close setup function  void loop() {    //Create a random number and assign it to the randomInt variable.   randomInt = random(0, 10);    /*Check if the random number is the same as the previous random number.   If it is, then reassign a new random number until it is different from the previously set one.*/   while (randomInt == previousRandomInt) {      //Create a random number and assign it to the randomInt variable.     randomInt = random(0, 10);      //When a consecutive random number has been identified, indicate it.     Serial.println();        }//close while statement    //Set previousRandomInt equal to the current randomInt.   previousRandomInt = randomInt;    //Send randomInt to the serial port for displaying on the serial monitor window.   Serial.print(randomInt);  }//Close loop function.  If you upload this code to your Arduino and open the serial monitor window you will see the numbers scrolling across the serial monitor window, but now you will not witness any duplicates side-by-side.  You may notice some X’s intermittently between the numbers, this is where the Arduino sketch identified a duplicate random number and generated a replacement.   If you look through the code, you will see this is accomplished with a While Statement. I hope you can find some application for this simple process of creating a pseudo random non-consecutive number with Arduino.  Let me know what you think the comments!

In this video we demonstrate how to create pseudo random numbers with Arduino - with a useful twist. This lesson was inspired by the following viewer question: How do I create Random Non-Consecutive numbers with Arduino? P.S. These are the best tutorials that a complete idiot like you could ever make, thanks. -Chris Let's overview exactly what we will talk about in today's episode: <ol> <li>Talk about pseudo random numbers.</li> </ol> <ol> <li>Identify the problem - using an Arduino sketch to demonstrate.</li> </ol> <ol> <li>Discuss how we might solve the problem.</li> </ol> <ol> <li>Write an Arduino sketch that solves the problem.</li> </ol> <ol> <li>Review what we talked about.</li> </ol> Before we answer the viewer’s question it is important to talk about what a pseudo random number is. A purely random number in the mathematical sense can't be predicted. The microcontroller that the Arduino uses (and for that case, most computers in general) can't really create pure random numbers. What they create instead are called pseudo random numbers. These are numbers that appear to be randomly generated, but if studied over time a predictable pattern emerges. <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Frame-1.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> </a> The bottom line is that the random numbers we create with Arduino can be predicted. Now there are clever ways to create pseudo random numbers that act like the real deal – you can learn about one method in <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/using-random-numbers-with-arduino/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> our video tutorial</a> talking all about random numbers – but for this discussion, let’s return to our viewers inquiry. Identify the Viewer’s Problem - use an Arduino sketch to demonstrate. Ok, so let's go back to the viewers question, he wants to generate random numbers, but he never wants the same number generated two times in a row. Let's write <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/arduino-ide-sketch-overview/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">an Arduino Sketch to make this clear.</a> //This sketch outputs pseudo random integers. //A variable to hold pseudo random integers. int randomInt = 0; void setup() { //Initiate serial communication. Serial.begin(9600); }//Close setup function void loop() { //Create a random number and assign it to the randomInt variable. randomInt = random(0, 10); //Send randomInt to the serial port for displaying on the serial monitor window. Serial.print(randomInt); }//Close loop function. In the first block of code a variable that will hold the pseudo random integers is declared and initialized. //A variable to hold pseudo random integers. int randomInt = 0; In the setup() function we begin serial communication in order to display the numbers we generate on a computer display. void setup() { //Initiate serial communication. Serial.begin(9600); }//Close setup function In the loop() we create the random number with the <a href="https://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/Random" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Arduino random() function</a> and assign the output to the variable we had just created. The random() function can take two arguments 1) the minimum value of the number we want generated 2) the maximum value we want generated. //Create a random number and assign it to the randomInt variable. randomInt = random(0, 10); I will use 0 for the minimum, and 10 for the maximum. Every time through the loop, a new random number will be assigned the randomInt variable. Finally, the value of randomInt is sent over the serial port to be displayed in the serial monitor window. //Send randomInt to the serial port for displaying on the serial monitor window. Serial.print(randomInt); If you upload this code and open the serial monitor you will see in some cases where the same number shows up two times in a row. <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Frame-2.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> </a> This is the problem.  The viewer doesn't ever want the same number two times in a row.  Discuss how we might solve the problem. So let's talk about how we might solve this problem.  We know we need to generate a random number. What if we create a variable to track the previous random number? Then we could use a condition that says something like "If the previous random number is equal to the random number that was just generated, toss that number out the window, and create a different one.” The final thing we would need to do is set the previous random number equal to the new random number, that way we keep updating our previous random number every time through the loop(). Let’s Implement our solution in an Arduino Sketch. Copy and paste this code into your Arduino IDE.  All you need is an Arduino board attached to your computer to make it work. //This sketch outputs pseudo random non-consecutive integers. //A variable to hold pseudo random non-consecutive integers. int randomInt = 0; //A variable to hold the previously assigned pseudo random non-consecutive integers. int previousRandomInt = 0; void setup() { //Initiate serial communication. Serial.begin(9600); }//Close setup function void loop() { //Create a random number and assign it to the randomInt variable. randomInt = random(0, 10); /*Check if the random number is the same as the previous random number. If it is, then reassign a new random number until it is different from the previously set one.*/ while (randomInt == previousRandomInt) { //Create a random number and assign it to the randomInt variable. randomInt = random(0, 10); //When a consecutive random number has been identified, indicate it. Serial.println(); }//close while statement //Set previousRandomInt equal to the current randomInt. previousRandomInt = randomInt; //Send randomInt to the serial port for displaying on the serial monitor window. Serial.print(randomInt); }//Close loop function. If you upload this code to your Arduino and open the serial monitor window you will see the numbers scrolling across the serial monitor window, but now you will not witness any duplicates side-by-side.  You may notice some X’s intermittently between the numbers, this is where the Arduino sketch identified a duplicate random number and generated a replacement. <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Frame-4.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> </a> If you look through the code, you will see this is accomplished with a While Statement. I hope you can find some application for this simple process of creating a pseudo random non-consecutive number with Arduino.  Let me know what you think the comments!

Arduino Pseudo Random Non-Consecutive Number Generator

I don’t subscribe to many magazines, but I love my subscription to Make: magazine. And even though I rarely have time to sit down and enjoy a magazine in peace and quiet (parents forget what peace and quiet means), I still manage to get through my Make: magazine cover to cover. I like it that much! This video is a short review of why I enjoy Make: magazine, and why I think you would enjoy it too. Here are some highlights: 1. Make: Magazine is published every 2 months. 2. Filled with detailed step-by-step projects 3. Has interesting editorial articles about technology 4. Covers a lot of hobby electronics topics (like Arduino) 5. Has sections dedicated to skill building Total Honesty: Nobody paid me to make this review of Make: magazine. I made this video because I personally enjoy the content and rigor and think you might like it too. That being said - if you are interested in subscribing to Make: magazine I would love for you to use the link below if you so choose: Click Here to Check Out Make: Magazine The above is an affiliate link. At no additional cost to you, I get a kick back from subscriptions that originate from the link. This cash allows me to furnish my mansion in downtown Manhattan, make necessary repairs to my yachts, and fuel the Lamborghini for joy rides. Do you subscribe to Make: magazine? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

I don’t subscribe to many magazines, but I love my subscription to Make: magazine. And even though I rarely have time to sit down and enjoy a magazine in peace and quiet (parents forget what peace and quiet means), I still manage to get through my Make: magazine cover to cover. I like it that much! This video is a short review of why I enjoy Make: magazine, and why I think you would enjoy it too. Here are some highlights: 1. Make: Magazine is published every 2 months. 2. Filled with detailed step-by-step projects 3. Has interesting editorial articles about technology 4. Covers a lot of <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/what-is-arduino/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">hobby electronics topics (like Arduino)</a> 5. Has sections dedicated to skill building Total Honesty: Nobody paid me to make this review of Make: magazine. I made this video because I personally enjoy the content and rigor and think you might like it too. That being said - if you are interested in subscribing to Make: magazine I would love for you to use the link below if you so choose: <a href="http://bit.ly/1Bq5DIa" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Click Here to Check Out Make: Magazine</a> The above is an affiliate link. At no additional cost to you, I get a kick back from subscriptions that originate from the link. This cash allows me to furnish my mansion in downtown Manhattan, make necessary repairs to my yachts, and fuel the Lamborghini for joy rides. Do you subscribe to Make: magazine? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

A Review of Make: Magazine

Understanding how the Arduino IDE sets up its file directory system can spare you some confusion when it comes to saving, organizing and opening your Arduino sketches (or sketches you have downloaded from the internet). This week’s episode covers the following:  The Arduino Sketchbook folder How to change the default location where your Arduino sketches get saved What happens when an Arduino file does not have an enclosing sketch folder of the same name Where and how multiple tabs get saved in an Arduino sketch Why the pancreas of a woodchuck is better suited than our own   Want to fast-track your Arduino skills? Click here to join our 12-part HD Video Course.   You are probably familiar with a file directory system on a computer. It's usually represented as a hierarchy of folders and files. An example would be your C Drive - inside the C drive, you may have a folder for Applications, Users, and Systems files. Inside the Users folder, you might have subfolders for Documents, Downloads, Music, etc. All the files on the computer get organized in this fashion, and Arduino sketches are no exception. The Arduino Sketchbook Folder and Changing the Default Save Location The default location where Arduino sketches you write will be saved is called the Sketchbook. The Sketchbook is simply a folder on your computer like any other. It acts as a handy repository for sketches and is also where add-on code libraries get saved. You can see the sketches in the Sketchbook folder by going to File &gt; Sketchbook. The default name of the Sketchbook folder is “Arduino” and the default location of the Sketchbook folder is in the “My Documents” folder (or just “Documents” for Mac users). If your Sketchbook does not appear to be in this default location, you can see exactly where it is by opening the Arduino IDE and going to Arduino &gt; Preferences.   The default file path for your sketches is listed at the top of Arduino Preferences window. Mine is: /Users/michaelJames/Documents/Arduino When I save a file in the Arduino IDE, this “Arduino” folder is the default location where the sketch will be saved, unless I choose to change that location by selecting a different folder on my computer's directory. If you want to change this default location, you click the Browse button next to the file directory path and choose a different place. Pretty simple. Sketch Folders If you go into your file directory system and open up the Sketchbook folder (again, named “Arduino” by default), you may see a bunch of folders that you didn’t make. This is because every Arduino file must be inside a folder that has the same name as the file (there are some exceptions to this that we'll talk about in a moment). Let me say that one more time because it is really important to understand. Every Arduino file must be inside a folder that has the same name as the file When I write a new sketch and save it, the Arduino IDE automatically creates a new folder that has the exact same name as the sketch itself. The Arduino file (which has the extension .ino) is placed inside this enclosing folder, which is called a sketch folder.   If you go into the Sketchbook folder and change the name of the enclosing folder, it will create some issues. The first issue is that when you go to File &gt; Sketchbook, the sketch will no longer show up! If you want to open this sketch you need to go to the .ino file in your directory and open it from there. If you open a .ino file that is not inside an enclosing sketch folder of the exact same name, then you will get a pop-up from the Arduino IDE that says: “The file “sketch_name.ino” needs to be inside a sketch folder named “sketch_name”. Create this folder, move the file, and continue?”   If you choose Cancel, the sketch will not open. If you choose OK, then a folder gets created (it will have the same name as the sketch) and the .ino file is placed inside it. This sketch folder will be created in whatever directory the .ino file was that you tried to open. For example, if you tried to open a .ino file that was in your My Downloads folder, then the enclosing sketch folder also will be created inside the My Downloads folder. Saving Tabs in Arduino The exception to the rule about the sketch folder having the same name as the .ino file is when you create multiple tabs in an Arduino sketch. The additional tabs do NOT need to bear the same name as the enclosing sketch folder.   Once you get a handle on some of these intricacies of the Arduino IDE file system, it can really help to clear things up. Please take a moment to leave a comment if you have any insights or thoughts about this tutorial. I would love to hear them!

Understanding how the Arduino IDE sets up its file directory system can spare you some confusion when it comes to saving, organizing and opening your Arduino sketches (or sketches you have downloaded from the internet). This week’s episode covers the following: <ol> <li>The Arduino Sketchbook folder</li> <li>How to change the default location where your Arduino sketches get saved</li> <li>What happens when an Arduino file does not have an enclosing sketch folder of the same name</li> <li>Where and how multiple tabs get saved in an Arduino sketch</li> <li>Why the pancreas of a woodchuck is better suited than our own</li> </ol> Want to fast-track your Arduino skills? <a href="#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Click here to join our 12-part HD Video Course.</a> You are probably familiar with a file directory system on a computer. It's usually represented as a hierarchy of folders and files. An example would be your C Drive - inside the C drive, you may have a folder for Applications, Users, and Systems files. Inside the Users folder, you might have subfolders for Documents, Downloads, Music, etc. All the files on the computer get organized in this fashion, and Arduino sketches are no exception. The Arduino Sketchbook Folder and Changing the Default Save Location The default location where Arduino sketches you write will be saved is called the Sketchbook. The Sketchbook is simply a folder on your computer like any other. It acts as a handy repository for sketches and is also where add-on code libraries get saved. You can see the sketches in the Sketchbook folder by going to File &gt; Sketchbook. The default name of the Sketchbook folder is “Arduino” and the default location of the Sketchbook folder is in the “My Documents” folder (or just “Documents” for Mac users). If your Sketchbook does not appear to be in this default location, you can see exactly where it is by opening the Arduino IDE and going to Arduino &gt; Preferences. <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Arduino-Preferences.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> </a> The default file path for your sketches is listed at the top of Arduino Preferences window. Mine is: /Users/michaelJames/Documents/Arduino When I save a file in the Arduino IDE, this “Arduino” folder is the default location where the sketch will be saved, unless I choose to change that location by selecting a different folder on my computer's directory. If you want to change this default location, you click the Browse button next to the file directory path and choose a different place. Pretty simple. Sketch Folders If you go into your file directory system and open up the Sketchbook folder (again, named “Arduino” by default), you may see a bunch of folders that you didn’t make. This is because every Arduino file must be inside a folder that has the same name as the file (there are some exceptions to this that we'll talk about in a moment). Let me say that one more time because it is really important to understand. Every Arduino file must be inside a folder that has the same name as the file When I write a new sketch and save it, the Arduino IDE automatically creates a new folder that has the exact same name as the sketch itself. The Arduino file (which has the extension .ino) is placed inside this enclosing folder, which is called a sketch folder. <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Sketchbook-e1431619386217.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> </a> If you go into the Sketchbook folder and change the name of the enclosing folder, it will create some issues. The first issue is that when you go to File &gt; Sketchbook, the sketch will no longer show up! If you want to open this sketch you need to go to the .ino file in your directory and open it from there. If you open a .ino file that is not inside an enclosing sketch folder of the exact same name, then you will get a pop-up from the Arduino IDE that says: “The file “sketch_name.ino” needs to be inside a sketch folder named “sketch_name”. Create this folder, move the file, and continue?” <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Popup-e1431619443754.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> </a> If you choose Cancel, the sketch will not open. If you choose OK, then a folder gets created (it will have the same name as the sketch) and the .ino file is placed inside it. This sketch folder will be created in whatever directory the .ino file was that you tried to open. For example, if you tried to open a .ino file that was in your My Downloads folder, then the enclosing sketch folder also will be created inside the My Downloads folder. Saving Tabs in Arduino The exception to the rule about the sketch folder having the same name as the .ino file is when you create multiple tabs in an Arduino sketch. The additional tabs do NOT need to bear the same name as the enclosing sketch folder. <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Tabs-e1431619489657.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> </a> Once you get a handle on some of <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/arduino-ide-sketch-overview/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">these intricacies of the Arduino IDE file</a> system, it can really help to clear things up. Please take a moment to leave a comment if you have any insights or thoughts about this tutorial. I would love to hear them!

Understanding the Arduino Sketchbook: Opening and Saving Arduino Sketches

In this video we talk about an Arduino shield designed to teach you about shift registers, I2C, SPI, temperature sensors, real time clocks, analog to digital convertors and flash memory chips - all this on one awesome Arduino shield! Electronics Concepts can be Intimidating Like any industry or hobby, electronics has its fare share of acronyms. A couple of the more common ones you might have come across are SPI, I2C, ADC, RTC and YOMAMA. All these acronyms can be intimidating. It’s like this giant lion staring you down. You can spend a lot of time reading about each of these concepts, buying a bunch of different parts and working up breadboards - this is a great way to learn – it’s kind of the common path many hobbyist and professionals have taken alike. But if you want to grab the lion by the throat - I would like to introduce you to my new favorite Arduino shield. The Rheingold Heavy Education Shield.   It's an Arduino shield designed to teach you about the ins and outs of all these really common electronics concepts (like I2C and SPI) and applying that understanding to hardware (like analog to digital convertors and Flash RAM). It’s not just the shield that makes this an education board, it’s all of the really thorough documentation and tutorials that accompany the hardware on the Rheingold Heavy website. Have Fun Learning Electronics If you are going to learn electronics, you might as well have fun doing it. That's one great thing about the Rheingold Heavy tutorials - they are fun - the author has a great sense of humor and keeps things real. He does a great job at demystifying electronics concepts that on the outside seem extremely complex, but dissected piece by piece can be made elementary. I would say my favorite part about the tutorials is the depth and detail they cover. I think this line from one of the introductory tutorials captures the style of the author… ...I don’t like “just making it work” — I want to know why it works the way it does.  Hardware and Education Unite The real magic happens when you have the Education Shield and start working through the tutorials. The lessons on the Rheingold Heavy website are all designed step-by-step to walk you through understanding in detail the hardware on the shield. The lessons are a good length, focus on just a couple concepts at a time and get into the nuts and bolts. The Rheingold Heavy Education Shield itself is jam packed with components.   It's got a shift register hooked up to 8 surface mount LEDs for learning about shift registers, a real time clock, a temperature sensor, a 10 bit analog to digital convertor, and 8Mbytes of Flash RAM. All this hardware you learn to use with either I2C protocol or SPI! It’s like an electronics learning laboratory on a single Arduino shield. If you already have a handle on some of these concepts, and you don’t think you need the whole shield, you can purchase breakout boards for each separate component and all the documentation on the website works equally well for those. I know I’ve said it once, but it deserves saying again - the tutorials are written in a fun and relaxing tone - with tons of diagrams, questions along the way to make sure you’re on track and Arduino code to help experiment with the shield and concepts. History of the Rheingold Heavy Education Shield The brainchild of this education shield is Dan Hienzsch. In 2014 he ran a successful Kickstarter campaign that brought these shields to fruition. After successfully fulfilling all his Kickstarter backers (and on time!) he has set up shop and is now churning out these education shields all over the world. My Unabashed Endorsement I am just little biased towards this education shield - I know Dan - he's a great guy and very passionate about what he does. After buying the shield and  the breakout boards and working through the tutorials on the website I have learned a ton! The best part is how much fun it has been to work through the material. I love learning and if I can have a single “aha!” kind of moment everyday, then I sleep at night pretty good. My experience with the Rheingold Heavy Education Shield has brought me these moments left after right. Needless to say I highly recommend this Arduino shield to any body who wants to get a solid and detailed grasp of concepts like SPI and I2C, or about using real time clocks, analog to digital convertors, temperature sensors, shift sensor and a whole lot more. With all this education packed into Rheingold Heavy Education Shield, backed-up with really enjoyable tutorials, you can't go wrong.

In this video we talk about an Arduino shield designed to teach you about shift registers, I2C, SPI, temperature sensors, real time clocks, analog to digital convertors and flash memory chips - all this on one awesome Arduino shield! Electronics Concepts can be Intimidating Like any industry or hobby, electronics has its fare share of acronyms. A couple of the more common ones you might have come across are SPI, I2C, ADC, RTC and YOMAMA. All these acronyms can be intimidating. It’s like this giant lion staring you down. You can spend a lot of time reading about each of these concepts, buying a bunch of different parts and working up breadboards - this is a great way to learn – it’s kind of the common path many hobbyist and professionals have taken alike. But if you want to grab the lion by the throat - I would like to introduce you to my new favorite Arduino shield. The <a href="https://rheingoldheavy.com/product/i2c-and-spi-education-shield/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Rheingold Heavy Education Shield</a>. <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/RGH-Shield_OP-e1431442893529.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> </a> It's an Arduino shield designed to teach you about the ins and outs of all these really common electronics concepts (like I2C and SPI) and applying that understanding to hardware (like analog to digital convertors and Flash RAM). It’s not just the shield that makes this an education board, it’s all of the really thorough documentation and tutorials that accompany the hardware on the Rheingold Heavy website. Have Fun Learning Electronics If you are going to learn electronics, you might as well have fun doing it. That's one great thing about the Rheingold Heavy tutorials - they are fun - the author has a great sense of humor and keeps things real. He does a great job at demystifying electronics concepts that on the outside seem extremely complex, but dissected piece by piece can be made elementary. I would say my favorite part about the tutorials is the depth and detail they cover. I think this line from one of the introductory tutorials captures the style of the author… ...I don’t like “just making it work” — I want to know why it works the way it does. Hardware and Education Unite The real magic happens when you have the Education Shield and start working through the tutorials. The lessons on the <a href="https://rheingoldheavy.com/category/education/education-shield-tutorials/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Rheingold Heavy website</a> are all designed step-by-step to walk you through understanding in detail the hardware on the shield. The lessons are a good length, focus on just a couple concepts at a time and get into the nuts and bolts. The Rheingold Heavy Education Shield itself is jam packed with components. <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/EP07-Board-components_OP.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> </a> It's got a shift register hooked up to 8 surface mount LEDs for learning about shift registers, a real time clock, a temperature sensor, a 10 bit analog to digital convertor, and 8Mbytes of Flash RAM. All this hardware you learn to use with either I2C protocol or SPI! It’s like an electronics learning laboratory on a <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/what-is-an-arduino-shield/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">single Arduino shield</a>. If you already have a handle on some of these concepts, and you don’t think you need the whole shield, you can purchase breakout boards for each separate component and all the documentation on the website works equally well for those. I know I’ve said it once, but it deserves saying again - the tutorials are written in a fun and relaxing tone - with tons of diagrams, questions along the way to make sure you’re on track and Arduino code to help experiment with the shield and concepts. History of the Rheingold Heavy Education Shield The brainchild of this education shield is Dan Hienzsch. In 2014 he ran a successful Kickstarter campaign that brought these shields to fruition. After successfully fulfilling all his Kickstarter backers (and on time!) he has set up shop and is now churning out these education shields all over the world. My Unabashed Endorsement I am just little biased towards this education shield - I know Dan - he's a great guy and very passionate about what he does. After buying the shield and <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/what-is-a-breakout-board-for-arduino/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> the breakout boards</a> and working through the tutorials on the website I have learned a ton! The best part is how much fun it has been to work through the material. I love learning and if I can have a single “aha!” kind of moment everyday, then I sleep at night pretty good. My experience with the Rheingold Heavy Education Shield has brought me these moments left after right. Needless to say I highly recommend this Arduino shield to any body who wants to get a solid and detailed grasp of concepts like SPI and I2C, or about using real time clocks, analog to digital convertors, temperature sensors, shift sensor and a whole lot more. With all this education packed into <a href="https://rheingoldheavy.com/product/i2c-and-spi-education-shield/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Rheingold Heavy Education Shield</a>, backed-up with really enjoyable tutorials, you can't go wrong.

An Easy Way to Learn I2C, SPI, RTC, ADCs and More with this Awesome Arduino Education Shield

Video lessons on learning programming and electronics with Arduino.  This is part of our Arduino Crash Course and Arduino Course for Absolute Beginners.  It's designed to take someone with little or no experience in programming and electronics and get them fast-tracked to learning the skills to prototype using Arduino.

Cured my depression

Learn Programming and Electronics with Arduino

I want to get you excited about the possibilities when you learn some basic programming and electronics that drive the Arduino.  It is literally amazing what you can do.

I want to get you excited about the possibilities when you learn some basic programming and electronics that drive the Arduino.  It is literally amazing what you can do.

What can you do with Arduino?  Let's get pumped!

What are all the components on that aesthetically pleasing blue Arduino circuit board? What does GND stand for, and what is with the "~" mark next to those plastic lifted holes mean? This tutorial covers the hardware on the Arduino board that you will likely use as you work on projects. It is by no means a comprehensive study of the physical layout, but enough to make you familiar with the parts you will be using. On an aside - isn't the packaging great too? Clean, compact and appealing - overall fun to open.

What are all the components on that aesthetically pleasing blue Arduino circuit board? What does GND stand for, and what is with the "~" mark next to those plastic lifted holes mean? This tutorial covers the hardware on the Arduino board that you will likely use as you work on projects. It is by no means a comprehensive study of the physical layout, but enough to make you familiar with the parts you will be using. On an aside - isn't the packaging great too? Clean, compact and appealing - overall fun to open.

Tutorial 01: Hardware Overview

Introduction to the Arduino Crash Course

Understanding Boolean Data Types and Using the Boolean NOT (!) operator to Switch Arduino Pin States

Discussion: In this lesson, we're going to discuss two very special functions that you will use in every single Arduino sketch that you write.  They're called Setup and Loop. Specifically, we’ll cover:  How Setup Operates and the type of code that it executes How Loop Operates and the type of code that it executes Loop Function’s Responsive Outputs How to get those little ships inside the glass bottles  I want you to pretend for a moment that you own a specialty Italian sub shop.  Business is great, and you have wonderful customers. However, you have one major problem.  Employee turnover is very high.  This is mostly because the majority of your employees are teenagers who, by nature, tend to move on to different things. It feels like as soon as you get an employee trained, they move on to Harvard Business School or get a scholarship to MIT - or they just decide that bungee jumping all day long is better than making subs.  In order to help train new employees, you create two binders of procedure lists.  One binder is called “The Morning Setup Binder”, and it lists all the stuff that you have to do when you open the store. This binder contains things like unlock the front and back doors, turn on the “Open” sign, put the delivered sausage in the fridge, and get the broccoli out of the fridge.  It's stuff that only has to be done once. Once all of that stuff has been done, a new employee can take that binder and stick it on the shelf.  Then, they can pull out “The Sub Making Binder”.  This is the binder that lists step-by-step everything an employee has to do to make a sub and deliver quality customer service. It might go something like this:  When a customer walks in, welcome them with a warm, "Hello!"  Ask them what type of sub they want.  Ask them what type of bread they want.  Ask them what type of condiments they want.  Ask them if it will be for here or to go.  See if they want to add one of Mama's homemade cookies to their order.  I think you get the gist. The binder lists these steps in detail and talks about the quantities of toppings for different subs.  “The Sub Making Binder” is really the procedure list that drives the task of the employee and will be the binder that the new employee will keep open all day long when they're starting out.  They're going to go back to it over and over again for every sub. So, what does this have to do with programming?  Well, a program in Arduino has to do similar things like the sub shop. The Setup Function There are certain tasks that need to be done just once when the program first starts.  These are things like: setting up a serial communication to talk with the computer over a USB port, setting the modes of microcontroller pins as either inputs or outputs, displaying a welcome message on an attached LCD screen, or possibly turning a servo to a default location. All of these things might only need to happen once when the sketch first starts and never need to be bothered with again until the program is restarted or the Arduino is reset.  These are the type of tasks that are put into a special function called Setup. Let's take a look at Setup.  First, notice that the color of Setup is different.  Unfortunately, the color is reminiscent of baby poop.  This automatic coloring, though, is letting you know that the Arduino IDE recognizes the function Setup as a special type of function that's used for controlling the structure of the code. You'll also notice that right after the word Setup there is an opening and closing parenthesis.  The Setup function doesn't need any arguments to operate, but you still have to include the opening and closing parentheses just as you would in any other function. To the left is the word void.  Void means that the Setup function will not return any data. So this is a function that doesn't need any arguments from us in order to operate and doesn't return any values to us, but it does do something.  Its job is to execute all the code inside its opening and closing curly braces precisely one time.  Let me say this again - and with a dramatic pause - because it’s that important!  Setup only runs once.  When the program starts up, Setup will run just once.  All of the code inside the curly brackets will get executed one time. If you pretend the program is like the high schooler at the sub shop, the first thing she does when she comes to work is open “The Setup Binder” and go line-by-line until everything is done.  Once everything in Setup is finished, she closes the binder, and then she goes on to the next binder. The Loop Function For the Arduino sketch, the next binder is the Loop function.  The Loop function looks just like the Setup function.  It doesn't take any arguments.  It has the opening and closing parentheses.  It doesn't return any values, so it has that void to the left.  Then, it has the opening and closing curly brackets.  Just like Setup, when Loop gets executed, the program will work line-by-line down the sketch.  However, here’s how Loop is different.  When the code between the curly brackets has been executed, the program starts back at the top of the loop and does it all over again. Back to our sub shop example, imagine the teenage employee during the lunch hour rush.  He has customer after customer lined up, and he's going through each line in the procedure guide step-by-step. He asks what kind of sub they want.  He asks what kind of bread they want.  He asks if they want it for here or to go, and so on and so forth.  He keeps working down that list until he gets to the end of the procedure list. Then, he starts back at the top of the list with the next customer.  He does this over and over and over, all through the lunch rush and all day long. This is how the Loop works.  It executes all of the code inside the curly brackets, step-by-step.  When it gets to the closing curly bracket, it starts all over at the top, working through all of the code again, line-by-line.  It does this over and over and over. How fast can it go through the loop?  How fast can it actually execute this code?  Well, that's a really good question.  The answer is that it depends, but the microcontroller that the Arduino uses can run at 20 megahertz.  Each line of code you write might end up being multiple instructions when it actually gets translated into machine code, but needless to say, even a sketch with several thousand instructions will be looping pretty fast. Even though I really do like this sub shop analogy, there's one key place that it breaks down.  I want to point it out so that you're not misled. In the sub shop example, the teenager waits to start the instructions again when a new customer shows up.  In reality, the code in the Loop automatically starts over.  Once it gets to the bottom, it jumps back to the top.  It doesn't wait for any outside input to do so.  Responsive Outputs for Loop Functions You might be wondering how the same code running over and over again can produce any coherent result.  How does it add any variation? Well, think about that teenage sub maker.  Do you remember the steps that she had to follow?  Many of the steps could have different results depending on the response of the customer.  So she may have had one procedure guide, but she could make a giant variety of tasty subs as a result.  It's the same way with the programming code.  You're going to write instructions that will do different things based on different new inputs. For example, if the water level is above some threshold, then beep an alarm.  Otherwise, don't do anything.  As the code loops over and over again, it's probably doing nothing until it sees that the threshold was too high.  Then it executes what you've asked it to do. Or maybe something like...  while the light is shining, keep the servo arm at 60 degrees.  There's all types of amazing things that you can do and all types of possibilities of how you can control things. There’s one last thing to keep in mind.  The Setup and Loop functions are required in your sketches.  Your sketches will not compile without them being present. In fact, these two functions are so integral that when you open up a new sketch in the Arduino IDE, you'll find them already there for you pre-populated.  Review This was a lot of information, so let's review.  Setup and Loop are special functions that help define the structure of the program. Setup is written before the loop and only executes once.  All of the code in the Setup function only runs once. The code in the Setup function does things like set pin modes, start serial communication with the computer, display default messages to an LCD screen, or just about anything that needs to happen only once at the beginning of a program. The Loop function comes after the Setup function.  All of the code in the Loop function runs over and over forever really fast. Both the Loop and the Setup function are required in your sketch.  The program will not compile without them. If you ever forget what the Loop and the Setup do, just say their names.  Setup sets up the sketch.  Loop loops over and over again.  I hope you have a wonderful day, and I can't wait to see you in the next video lesson.

Discussion: In this lesson, we're going to discuss two very special functions that you will use in every single Arduino sketch that you write.  They're called Setup and Loop. Specifically, we’ll cover: <ul> <li>How Setup Operates and the type of code that it executes</li> <li>How Loop Operates and the type of code that it executes</li> <li>Loop Function’s Responsive Outputs</li> <li>How to get those little ships inside the glass bottles</li> </ul> I want you to pretend for a moment that you own a specialty Italian sub shop.  Business is great, and you have wonderful customers. However, you have one major problem.  Employee turnover is very high.  This is mostly because the majority of your employees are teenagers who, by nature, tend to move on to different things. It feels like as soon as you get an employee trained, they move on to Harvard Business School or get a scholarship to MIT - or they just decide that bungee jumping all day long is better than making subs. In order to help train new employees, you create two binders of procedure lists.  One binder is called “The Morning Setup Binder”, and it lists all the stuff that you have to do when you open the store. This binder contains things like unlock the front and back doors, turn on the “Open” sign, put the delivered sausage in the fridge, and get the broccoli out of the fridge.  It's stuff that only has to be done once. Once all of that stuff has been done, a new employee can take that binder and stick it on the shelf.  Then, they can pull out “The Sub Making Binder”.  This is the binder that lists step-by-step everything an employee has to do to make a sub and deliver quality customer service. It might go something like this:  When a customer walks in, welcome them with a warm, "Hello!"  Ask them what type of sub they want.  Ask them what type of bread they want.  Ask them what type of condiments they want.  Ask them if it will be for here or to go.  See if they want to add one of Mama's homemade cookies to their order.  I think you get the gist. The binder lists these steps in detail and talks about the quantities of toppings for different subs.  “The Sub Making Binder” is really the procedure list that drives the task of the employee and will be the binder that the new employee will keep open all day long when they're starting out.  They're going to go back to it over and over again for every sub. So, what does this have to do with programming?  Well, a program in Arduino has to do similar things like the sub shop. The Setup Function There are certain tasks that need to be done just once when the program first starts.  These are things like: setting up a serial communication to talk with the computer over a USB port, setting the modes of microcontroller pins as either inputs or outputs, displaying a welcome message on an attached LCD screen, or possibly turning a servo to a default location. All of these things might only need to happen once when the sketch first starts and never need to be bothered with again until the program is restarted or the Arduino is reset.  These are the type of tasks that are put into a special function called Setup. Let's take a look at Setup.  First, notice that the color of Setup is different.  Unfortunately, the color is reminiscent of baby poop. This automatic coloring, though, is letting you know that the Arduino IDE recognizes the function Setup as a special type of function that's used for controlling the structure of the code. You'll also notice that right after the word Setup there is an opening and closing parenthesis.  The Setup function doesn't need any arguments to operate, but you still have to include the opening and closing parentheses just as you would in any other function. To the left is the word void.  Void means that the Setup function will not return any data. So this is a function that doesn't need any arguments from us in order to operate and doesn't return any values to us, but it does do something.  Its job is to execute all the code inside its opening and closing curly braces precisely one time. Let me say this again - and with a dramatic pause - because it’s that important!  Setup only runs once.  When the program starts up, Setup will run just once.  All of the code inside the curly brackets will get executed one time. If you pretend the program is like the high schooler at the sub shop, the first thing she does when she comes to work is open “The Setup Binder” and go line-by-line until everything is done.  Once everything in Setup is finished, she closes the binder, and then she goes on to the next binder. The Loop Function For the Arduino sketch, the next binder is the Loop function.  The Loop function looks just like the Setup function. It doesn't take any arguments.  It has the opening and closing parentheses.  It doesn't return any values, so it has that void to the left.  Then, it has the opening and closing curly brackets.  Just like Setup, when Loop gets executed, the program will work line-by-line down the sketch. However, here’s how Loop is different.  When the code between the curly brackets has been executed, the program starts back at the top of the loop and does it all over again. Back to our sub shop example, imagine the teenage employee during the lunch hour rush.  He has customer after customer lined up, and he's going through each line in the procedure guide step-by-step. He asks what kind of sub they want.  He asks what kind of bread they want.  He asks if they want it for here or to go, and so on and so forth.  He keeps working down that list until he gets to the end of the procedure list. Then, he starts back at the top of the list with the next customer.  He does this over and over and over, all through the lunch rush and all day long. This is how the Loop works.  It executes all of the code inside the curly brackets, step-by-step.  When it gets to the closing curly bracket, it starts all over at the top, working through all of the code again, line-by-line.  It does this over and over and over. How fast can it go through the loop?  How fast can it actually execute this code?  Well, that's a really good question.  The answer is that it depends, but the microcontroller that the Arduino uses can run at 20 megahertz. Each line of code you write might end up being multiple instructions when it actually gets translated into machine code, but needless to say, even a sketch with several thousand instructions will be looping pretty fast. Even though I really do like this sub shop analogy, there's one key place that it breaks down.  I want to point it out so that you're not misled. In the sub shop example, the teenager waits to start the instructions again when a new customer shows up.  In reality, the code in the Loop automatically starts over.  Once it gets to the bottom, it jumps back to the top.  It doesn't wait for any outside input to do so. Responsive Outputs for Loop Functions You might be wondering how the same code running over and over again can produce any coherent result.  How does it add any variation? Well, think about that teenage sub maker.  Do you remember the steps that she had to follow?  Many of the steps could have different results depending on the response of the customer.  So she may have had one procedure guide, but she could make a giant variety of tasty subs as a result. It's the same way with the programming code.  You're going to write instructions that will do different things based on different new inputs. For example, if the water level is above some threshold, then beep an alarm.  Otherwise, don't do anything.  As the code loops over and over again, it's probably doing nothing until it sees that the threshold was too high.  Then it executes what you've asked it to do. Or maybe something like...  while the light is shining, keep the servo arm at 60 degrees.  There's all types of amazing things that you can do and all types of possibilities of how you can control things. There’s one last thing to keep in mind.  The Setup and Loop functions are required in your sketches.  Your sketches will not compile without them being present. In fact, these two functions are so integral that when you open up a new sketch in the Arduino IDE, you'll find them already there for you pre-populated. Review This was a lot of information, so let's review.  Setup and Loop are special functions that help define the structure of the program. Setup is written before the loop and only executes once.  All of the code in the Setup function only runs once. The code in the Setup function does things like set pin modes, start serial communication with the computer, display default messages to an LCD screen, or just about anything that needs to happen only once at the beginning of a program. The Loop function comes after the Setup function.  All of the code in the Loop function runs over and over forever really fast. Both the Loop and the Setup function are required in your sketch.  The program will not compile without them. If you ever forget what the Loop and the Setup do, just say their names.  Setup sets up the sketch.  Loop loops over and over again.  I hope you have a wonderful day, and I can't wait to see you in the next video lesson.

Understanding the Arduino uber functions loop() and setup()

If you ever have a project using two or more Arduinos, it's likely you'll want them to work together. Say for example you have one Arduino connected to an LCD shield, and another Arduino controlling an LED matrix.  You want both to do something when you press a single button - how can this be done? It turns out to be extremely easy.  This video will describe in detail how to trigger multiple Arduinos with a single input. CODE:  /*   Button   Turns on and off a light emitting diode(LED) connected to digital  pin 13, when pressing a pushbutton attached to pin 2.    The circuit:  * LED attached from pin 13 to ground  * pushbutton attached to GND through pin 2 on two (or more) Arduino's   * Note: on most Arduinos there is already an LED on the board  attached to pin 13.    created 2005  by DojoDave   modified 30 Aug 2011  by Tom Igoe  Modified 16 APR 2015  by Michael James    https://programmingelectronics.com/using-the-same-input-to-trigger-multiple-arduinos/   This example code is in the public domain.   http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Button  */  // constants won't change. They're used here to // set pin numbers: const int buttonPin = 2;     // the number of the pushbutton pin const int ledPin =  13;      // the number of the LED pin  // variables will change: int buttonState = 0;         // variable for reading the pushbutton status  void setup() {   // initialize the LED pin as an output:   pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);   // initialize the pushbutton pin as an input:   pinMode(buttonPin, INPUT_PULLUP); }  void loop() {   // read the state of the pushbutton value:   buttonState = digitalRead(buttonPin);    // check if the pushbutton is pressed.   // if it is, the buttonState is HIGH:   if (buttonState == LOW) {     // turn LED on:     digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);   }   else {     // turn LED off:     digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);   } }    Breadboard Layout:     Downloads:  Schematic Fritzing File.fzz   If you like this tutorial, check out some of out very best by signing up for our free Arduino Crash Course below.

If you ever have a project using two or more Arduinos, it's likely you'll want them to work together. Say for example you have one Arduino connected to an LCD shield, and another Arduino controlling an LED matrix.  You want both to do something when you press a single button - how can this be done? It turns out to be extremely easy.  This video will describe in detail how to trigger multiple Arduinos with a single input. CODE: /* Button Turns on and off a light emitting diode(LED) connected to digital pin 13, when pressing a pushbutton attached to pin 2. The circuit: * LED attached from pin 13 to ground * pushbutton attached to GND through pin 2 on two (or more) Arduino's * Note: on most Arduinos there is already an LED on the board attached to pin 13. created 2005 by DojoDave modified 30 Aug 2011 by Tom Igoe Modified 16 APR 2015 by Michael James <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/using-the-same-input-to-trigger-multiple-arduinos/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://programmingelectronics.com/using-the-same-input-to-trigger-multiple-arduinos/</a> This example code is in the public domain. <a href="http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Button" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Button</a> */ // constants won't change. They're used here to // set pin numbers: const int buttonPin = 2; // the number of the pushbutton pin const int ledPin = 13; // the number of the LED pin // variables will change: int buttonState = 0; // variable for reading the pushbutton status void setup() { // initialize the LED pin as an output: pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); // initialize the pushbutton pin as an input: pinMode(buttonPin, INPUT_PULLUP); } void loop() { // read the state of the pushbutton value: buttonState = digitalRead(buttonPin); // check if the pushbutton is pressed. // if it is, the buttonState is HIGH: if (buttonState == LOW) { // turn LED on: digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); } else { // turn LED off: digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); } }   Breadboard Layout: <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/EP06-Circuit-Diagram_OP.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> </a>   Downloads: <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Connected-Arduinoes_5.fzz_.zip" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Schematic Fritzing File.fzz</a> If you like this tutorial, check out some of out very best by signing up for our free Arduino Crash Course below.

Using the Same Input to Trigger Multiple Arduinos

If Statement (and else-if), Comparison Operators and Conditions In the last lesson, we learned about the if statement. The if statement was the perfect choice for setting up instructions to run only when certain conditions were met. “If 30 seconds has passed – stop the heating element” or “If the sensor perceives a wall – turn 180 Degrees”. This lesson will expand on this amazingly useful function and show you how to stack different conditions to satisfy the flexibility you want in your designs. If you like this tutorial, click here to check out FREE Video Arduino course – thousands of people have really enjoyed it. You Will Need Potentiometer (doesn’t matter what resistance range) 220 Ohm Resistor LED (any color) Jumper Wires (3) Alligator Clip Dull machete with wood handle Step-by-Step Instructions Place the potentiometer in the breadboard. Place a jumper wire from one of the outside leads of the potentiometer to the 5V pin on Arduino. Place a jumper wire from the other outside lead of the potentiometer to one of the GND pins. Place the final jumper wire from the center pin of the potentiometer to the A0 pin. Connect either side of the 220 ohm resistor to pin 13. Connect the short leg of the LED to GND (the GND pin next to pin 13 is the most convenient). Attach the other leg of the resistor to the long leg of the LED. Plug your Arduino into your computer with the USB cable. Open the Arduino IDE. Open the sketch for this section. Click the Verify button (top left). The button will turn orange and then blue once finished. Click the Upload button. The button will turn orange and then blue when finished. Open up the Serial Monitor window. Tools &gt; Serial Monitor. Adjust the potentiometer and watch as the LED turns on and off based on the knob position. If Then Statement Conditionals Set up This image built with Fritzing.  /* Conditionals - If statement This example demonstrates the use of if() statements. It reads the state of a potentiometer (an analog input) and turns on an LED only if the potentiometer goes above a certain threshold level. It prints the analog value regardless of the level. The circuit: * potentiometer connected to analog pin 0. Center pin of the potentiometer goes to the analog pin. side pins of the potentiometer go to +5V and ground * LED connected from digital pin 13 to ground * Note: On most Arduino boards, there is already an LED on the board connected to pin 13, so you don't need any extra components for this example. created 17 Jan 2009 modified 9 Apr 2012 by Tom Igoe This example code is in the public domain. http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/IfStatement */ // These constants won't change: const int analogPin = A0; // pin that the sensor is attached to const int ledPin = 13; // pin that the LED is attached to const int threshold = 400; // an arbitrary threshold level that's in the range of the analog input void setup() { // initialize the LED pin as an output: pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); // initialize serial communications: Serial.begin(9600); } void loop() { // read the value of the potentiometer: int analogValue = analogRead(analogPin); // if the analog value is high enough, turn on the LED: if (analogValue &gt; threshold) { digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); } else { digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); } // print the analog value: Serial.println(analogValue); delay(1); // delay in between reads for stability } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 /* Conditionals - If statement  This example demonstrates the use of if() statements. It reads the state of a potentiometer (an analog input) and turns on an LED only if the potentiometer goes above a certain threshold level. It prints the analog value regardless of the level.  The circuit: * potentiometer connected to analog pin 0. Center pin of the potentiometer goes to the analog pin. side pins of the potentiometer go to +5V and ground * LED connected from digital pin 13 to ground  * Note: On most Arduino boards, there is already an LED on the board connected to pin 13, so you don't need any extra components for this example.  created 17 Jan 2009 modified 9 Apr 2012 by Tom Igoe  This example code is in the public domain.  http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/IfStatement  */  // These constants won't change: const int analogPin = A0; // pin that the sensor is attached to const int ledPin = 13; // pin that the LED is attached to const int threshold = 400; // an arbitrary threshold level that's in the range of the analog input  void setup() { // initialize the LED pin as an output: pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); // initialize serial communications: Serial.begin(9600); }  void loop() { // read the value of the potentiometer: int analogValue = analogRead(analogPin);  // if the analog value is high enough, turn on the LED: if (analogValue &gt; threshold) { digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); } else { digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); }  // print the analog value: Serial.println(analogValue); delay(1); // delay in between reads for stability } Discuss the Sketch In this sketch we measure voltage at an analog pin from 0 to 1023 – this voltage changes based on where the knob of the potentiometer is set. We then define a threshold value somewhere in this range, let’s pick the number 400. When the value measured at the analog pin is above 400, we turn on the LED at pin 13, when the voltage is below 400 we turn the LED off. It’s as easy as that. Make sure you read the sketch and try to figure out what is taking place before moving on. This program might look long to you – the previous ones were a bit shorter. A good way to approach any program long or short is to cut it up into chunks and only consider pieces of it at a time. The first chunk in this sketch is the multi-line comments that clearly describe: What the program will do Generally how the program will accomplish it How to set up the circuit and the components you will need Any pertinent notes The license the program is released under (if any) The author, date and version number This might seem like a lot of stuff – but I would recommend you do the same thing for your programs! This information will not only help you understand what the heck you intended when you wrote the program but if you make the program available for others then your comments will help them as well. Some of the functions that are now integrated into the Arduino IDE were created by people just like you – they had a problem, they found a solution with some well-written code, they made it available to all the Arduino users in the world – and everybody else found it useful – and before you know it your code is famous and you win the Nobel peace prize. Enough of this tirade, let’s move onto the first block of code that will be executed by the Arduino.  const int analogPin = A0; // pin that the sensor is attached to const int ledPin = 13; // pin that the LED is attached to const int threshold = 400; // an arbitrary threshold level that’s in the range of the analog input 1 2 3 4 5 const int analogPin = A0; // pin that the sensor is attached to  const int ledPin = 13; // pin that the LED is attached to  const int threshold = 400; // an arbitrary threshold level that’s in the range of the analog input Notice that all the variables have const in front of them. This keyword stands for constant. A constant is classified as a qualifier – it adjusts the behavior of the variable being declared. It is similar an adjective in a sentence – “The squishy material,” squishy qualifies what the material will behave. It might seem counterintuitive to the whole point of variables, but the constant qualifier will stop the variable from changing throughout your program. It protects the value from start to finish. Why do this? It protects you from unintentionally writing a new value to the variable. It happens more often than you might think – I recommend using constants when the variable will not change in the program. The integer constants we declare are pretty straightforward. The variables analogPin and ledPin are those pins the potentiometer and LED will be attached to on the Arduino board. Threshold is the arbitrary number chosen as the condition to turn our LED on or off. The next block of code is setup(). Here, we have to set the mode of a pin and set up serial communications.  void setup() { // initialize the LED pin as an output: pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); // initialize serial communications: Serial.begin(9600); } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 void setup() {  // initialize the LED pin as an output:  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);  // initialize serial communications:  Serial.begin(9600);  } Recall that all pins are by default set to INPUT, so we do not have to explicitly set the pin mode for our analogPin A0 as an INPUT – though I would argue it is best to do so for clarity. You should have serial communication down pat. We use the begin() function from the Serial library with a baud rate of 9600. Now that we have things setup, let’s get into the loop(). The first line of code we encounter reads from the value at the analog pin A0 and assigns this value to an integer variable called analogValue.  int analogValue = analogRead(analogPin); 1 int analogValue = analogRead(analogPin); To do this, we use the analogRead() function. Recall that analogRead() will return a value between 0 and 1023. This value will change as we adjust the potentiometer. This line of code is checking the position of the potentiometer every time through the loop(). The next thing we want to do is compare the value we just read from the analog pin to our threshold value. The if-else statement is perfect for this.  if (analogValue &gt; threshold) { digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); } else { digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 if (analogValue &gt; threshold) {  digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);  } else {  digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);  } You have seen the if statement before, now we add an else statement. The if statement checks a condition in the parenthesis, if it is TRUE, then the code in the curly brackets is executed – if the condition is not met (FALSE), then it moves to the else statement. Consider this pseudocode:  if(apple is NOT rotten) { } else { } 1 2 3 4 5 if(apple is NOT rotten) {  } else {  } You can see that the else statement gives you control over what to do when the condition in the if statement is not met. In a later lesson we will talk about the else-if statement which will offer even further control over conditions.  Explanation of iF-Then Statements In this example the condition we are interested in is: In this example the condition we are interested in is thus…  analogValue &gt; threshold 1 analogValue &gt; threshold If this is TRUE we turn the LED on by using the digitalWrite() function:  if (analogValue &gt; threshold) { digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); } 1 2 3 4 5 if (analogValue &gt; threshold) {  digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);  } If this condition is FALSE we turn off the LED by executing the code inside the curly brackets of the else statement:  else { digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); } 1 2 3 4 5 else {  digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);  } Before we continue discussing the sketch, let’s do a quick overview of Comparison Operators. The condition set in an if-else statement will use what are called comparison operators. The list of comparison operators on the Arduino Reference page is as follows: == (equal to) != (not equal to) &lt; (less than) &gt; (greater than) &lt;= (less than or equal to) &gt;= (greater than or equal to) These operators offer a broad spectrum of comparisons to use. It’s vital to pay close attention to the syntax of the comparison operators. Accidentally dropping an equal sign, or typing a &gt; instead of a &lt; is easy to do, and usually leaves you scratching your head when the program acts differently than you might have expected. Now that we have turned the LED on or off depending on the position of the potentiometer, let’s see exactly what values are being read. We want to do this to ensure the program is doing what we think it should and also to make sure our potentiometer (sensor) is working properly.  // print the analog value: Serial.println(analogValue); 1 2 3 // print the analog value:  Serial.println(analogValue); This line of code uses the println() function from the Serial library – which (as you know by now) sends the values from the Arduino to your computer. Adjust your potentiometer and watch the values change in the Serial Monitor window. Then adjust the potentiometer so the value is right at the 400 threshold and make sure the LED is responding appropriately. Finally, we want to slow down the readings to add some stability. We do this with the delay() function.  delay(1); // delay in between reads for stability 1 delay(1); // delay in between reads for stability Let’s recap. First we read the value at the analog pin and assign that value to a variable. Next we check if that variable is more than or less than our threshold value. If it is above the threshold the LED turns on, if it is below the threshold the LED turns off. We also want to see the actual values at the analog pin, so we print them to the serial monitor. Finally, we wait a millisecond before our next reading – which starts the loop() at the top. You can see how handy the if-else statement can be. As I have said previously, the if-else statement is a staple of programming – you will see it (or a similar form of it), in any programming language you encounter henceforth. Try On Your Own Challenges Adjust the value of the threshold variable. Write an additional if statement to turn on the LED when the analogValue variable is less than 100. The LED should turn on when analogValue is greater than 400 and less than 100. Further Reading If-Else Statement – From the Arduino Reference More on the If-Else statement – The example sketch on the Arduino Website

If Statement (and else-if), Comparison Operators and Conditions In the last lesson, we learned about the if statement. The if statement was the perfect choice for setting up instructions to run only when certain conditions were met. “If 30 seconds has passed – stop the heating element” or “If the sensor perceives a wall – turn 180 Degrees”. This lesson will expand on this amazingly useful function and show you how to stack different conditions to satisfy the flexibility you want in your designs. If you like this tutorial, click here to check out FREE Video Arduino course – thousands of people have really enjoyed it. You Will Need Potentiometer (doesn’t matter what resistance range) 220 Ohm Resistor LED (any color) Jumper Wires (3) Alligator Clip Dull machete with wood handle Step-by-Step Instructions Place the potentiometer in the breadboard. Place a jumper wire from one of the outside leads of the potentiometer to the 5V pin on Arduino. Place a jumper wire from the other outside lead of the potentiometer to one of the GND pins. Place the final jumper wire from the center pin of the potentiometer to the A0 pin. Connect either side of the 220 ohm resistor to pin 13. Connect the short leg of the LED to GND (the GND pin next to pin 13 is the most convenient). Attach the other leg of the resistor to the long leg of the LED. Plug your Arduino into your computer with the USB cable. Open the Arduino IDE. Open the sketch for this section. Click the Verify button (top left). The button will turn orange and then blue once finished. Click the Upload button. The button will turn orange and then blue when finished. Open up the Serial Monitor window. Tools &gt; Serial Monitor. Adjust the potentiometer and watch as the LED turns on and off based on the knob position. If Then Statement Conditionals Set up This image built with Fritzing. /* Conditionals - If statement This example demonstrates the use of if() statements. It reads the state of a potentiometer (an analog input) and turns on an LED only if the potentiometer goes above a certain threshold level. It prints the analog value regardless of the level. The circuit: * potentiometer connected to analog pin 0. Center pin of the potentiometer goes to the analog pin. side pins of the potentiometer go to +5V and ground * LED connected from digital pin 13 to ground * Note: On most Arduino boards, there is already an LED on the board connected to pin 13, so you don't need any extra components for this example. created 17 Jan 2009 modified 9 Apr 2012 by Tom Igoe This example code is in the public domain. <a href="http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/IfStatement" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/IfStatement</a> */ // These constants won't change: const int analogPin = A0; // pin that the sensor is attached to const int ledPin = 13; // pin that the LED is attached to const int threshold = 400; // an arbitrary threshold level that's in the range of the analog input void setup() { // initialize the LED pin as an output: pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); // initialize serial communications: Serial.begin(9600); } void loop() { // read the value of the potentiometer: int analogValue = analogRead(analogPin); // if the analog value is high enough, turn on the LED: if (analogValue &gt; threshold) { digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); } else { digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); } // print the analog value: Serial.println(analogValue); delay(1); // delay in between reads for stability } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 /* Conditionals - If statement This example demonstrates the use of if() statements. It reads the state of a potentiometer (an analog input) and turns on an LED only if the potentiometer goes above a certain threshold level. It prints the analog value regardless of the level. The circuit: * potentiometer connected to analog pin 0. Center pin of the potentiometer goes to the analog pin. side pins of the potentiometer go to +5V and ground * LED connected from digital pin 13 to ground * Note: On most Arduino boards, there is already an LED on the board connected to pin 13, so you don't need any extra components for this example. created 17 Jan 2009 modified 9 Apr 2012 by Tom Igoe This example code is in the public domain. <a href="http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/IfStatement" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/IfStatement</a> */ // These constants won't change: const int analogPin = A0; // pin that the sensor is attached to const int ledPin = 13; // pin that the LED is attached to const int threshold = 400; // an arbitrary threshold level that's in the range of the analog input void setup() { // initialize the LED pin as an output: pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); // initialize serial communications: Serial.begin(9600); } void loop() { // read the value of the potentiometer: int analogValue = analogRead(analogPin); // if the analog value is high enough, turn on the LED: if (analogValue &gt; threshold) { digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); } else { digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); } // print the analog value: Serial.println(analogValue); delay(1); // delay in between reads for stability } Discuss the Sketch In this sketch we measure voltage at an analog pin from 0 to 1023 – this voltage changes based on where the knob of the potentiometer is set. We then define a threshold value somewhere in this range, let’s pick the number 400. When the value measured at the analog pin is above 400, we turn on the LED at pin 13, when the voltage is below 400 we turn the LED off. It’s as easy as that. Make sure you read the sketch and try to figure out what is taking place before moving on. This program might look long to you – the previous ones were a bit shorter. A good way to approach any program long or short is to cut it up into chunks and only consider pieces of it at a time. The first chunk in this sketch is the multi-line comments that clearly describe: What the program will do Generally how the program will accomplish it How to set up the circuit and the components you will need Any pertinent notes The license the program is released under (if any) The author, date and version number This might seem like a lot of stuff – but I would recommend you do the same thing for your programs! This information will not only help you understand what the heck you intended when you wrote the program but if you make the program available for others then your comments will help them as well. Some of the functions that are now integrated into the Arduino IDE were created by people just like you – they had a problem, they found a solution with some well-written code, they made it available to all the Arduino users in the world – and everybody else found it useful – and before you know it your code is famous and you win the Nobel peace prize. Enough of this tirade, let’s move onto the first block of code that will be executed by the Arduino. const int analogPin = A0; // pin that the sensor is attached to const int ledPin = 13; // pin that the LED is attached to const int threshold = 400; // an arbitrary threshold level that’s in the range of the analog input 1 2 3 4 5 const int analogPin = A0; // pin that the sensor is attached to const int ledPin = 13; // pin that the LED is attached to const int threshold = 400; // an arbitrary threshold level that’s in the range of the analog input Notice that all the variables have const in front of them. This keyword stands for constant. A constant is classified as a qualifier – it adjusts the behavior of the variable being declared. It is similar an adjective in a sentence – “The squishy material,” squishy qualifies what the material will behave. It might seem counterintuitive to the whole point of variables, but the constant qualifier will stop the variable from changing throughout your program. It protects the value from start to finish. Why do this? It protects you from unintentionally writing a new value to the variable. It happens more often than you might think – I recommend using constants when the variable will not change in the program. The integer constants we declare are pretty straightforward. The variables analogPin and ledPin are those pins the potentiometer and LED will be attached to on the Arduino board. Threshold is the arbitrary number chosen as the condition to turn our LED on or off. The next block of code is setup(). Here, we have to set the mode of a pin and set up serial communications. void setup() { // initialize the LED pin as an output: pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); // initialize serial communications: Serial.begin(9600); } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 void setup() { // initialize the LED pin as an output: pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); // initialize serial communications: Serial.begin(9600); } Recall that all pins are by default set to INPUT, so we do not have to explicitly set the pin mode for our analogPin A0 as an INPUT – though I would argue it is best to do so for clarity. You should have serial communication down pat. We use the begin() function from the Serial library with a baud rate of 9600. Now that we have things setup, let’s get into the loop(). The first line of code we encounter reads from the value at the analog pin A0 and assigns this value to an integer variable called analogValue. int analogValue = analogRead(analogPin); 1 int analogValue = analogRead(analogPin); To do this, we use the analogRead() function. Recall that analogRead() will return a value between 0 and 1023. This value will change as we adjust the potentiometer. This line of code is checking the position of the potentiometer every time through the loop(). The next thing we want to do is compare the value we just read from the analog pin to our threshold value. The if-else statement is perfect for this. if (analogValue &gt; threshold) { digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); } else { digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 if (analogValue &gt; threshold) { digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); } else { digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); } You have seen the if statement before, now we add an else statement. The if statement checks a condition in the parenthesis, if it is TRUE, then the code in the curly brackets is executed – if the condition is not met (FALSE), then it moves to the else statement. Consider this pseudocode: if(apple is NOT rotten) { } else { } 1 2 3 4 5 if(apple is NOT rotten) { } else { } You can see that the else statement gives you control over what to do when the condition in the if statement is not met. In a later lesson we will talk about the else-if statement which will offer even further control over conditions. Explanation of iF-Then Statements In this example the condition we are interested in is: In this example the condition we are interested in is thus… analogValue &gt; threshold 1 analogValue &gt; threshold If this is TRUE we turn the LED on by using the digitalWrite() function: if (analogValue &gt; threshold) { digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); } 1 2 3 4 5 if (analogValue &gt; threshold) { digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); } If this condition is FALSE we turn off the LED by executing the code inside the curly brackets of the else statement: else { digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); } 1 2 3 4 5 else { digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); } Before we continue discussing the sketch, let’s do a quick overview of Comparison Operators. The condition set in an if-else statement will use what are called comparison operators. The list of comparison operators on the Arduino Reference page is as follows: == (equal to) != (not equal to) &lt; (less than) &gt; (greater than) &lt;= (less than or equal to) &gt;= (greater than or equal to) These operators offer a broad spectrum of comparisons to use. It’s vital to pay close attention to the syntax of the comparison operators. Accidentally dropping an equal sign, or typing a &gt; instead of a &lt; is easy to do, and usually leaves you scratching your head when the program acts differently than you might have expected. Now that we have turned the LED on or off depending on the position of the potentiometer, let’s see exactly what values are being read. We want to do this to ensure the program is doing what we think it should and also to make sure our potentiometer (sensor) is working properly. // print the analog value: Serial.println(analogValue); 1 2 3 // print the analog value: Serial.println(analogValue); This line of code uses the println() function from the Serial library – which (as you know by now) sends the values from the Arduino to your computer. Adjust your potentiometer and watch the values change in the Serial Monitor window. Then adjust the potentiometer so the value is right at the 400 threshold and make sure the LED is responding appropriately. Finally, we want to slow down the readings to add some stability. We do this with the delay() function. delay(1); // delay in between reads for stability 1 delay(1); // delay in between reads for stability Let’s recap. First we read the value at the analog pin and assign that value to a variable. Next we check if that variable is more than or less than our threshold value. If it is above the threshold the LED turns on, if it is below the threshold the LED turns off. We also want to see the actual values at the analog pin, so we print them to the serial monitor. Finally, we wait a millisecond before our next reading – which starts the loop() at the top. You can see how handy the if-else statement can be. As I have said previously, the if-else statement is a staple of programming – you will see it (or a similar form of it), in any programming language you encounter henceforth. Try On Your Own Challenges Adjust the value of the threshold variable. Write an additional if statement to turn on the LED when the analogValue variable is less than 100. The LED should turn on when analogValue is greater than 400 and less than 100. Further Reading If-Else Statement – From the Arduino Reference More on the If-Else statement – The example sketch on the Arduino Website

If Statement Conditionals

You Will Need:  The Arduino IDE installed and an Arduino connected to your computer.  Discussion: In this lesson, we're going to be talking about programming syntax.  We'll be introducing some of the basic programming syntax that you'll be using every time you write a sketch. Specifically, we'll be talking about:  what programming syntax is comments the semicolon keywords function syntax layout &amp; indentation  Programming Syntax What is programming syntax? I like to use this analogy.  You can think of programming syntax like the punctuation and grammar of computer programming. If you've ever read a book, then you're probably really familiar with written punctuation and grammar.  For example, in the written word, we use things such as periods, commas, dashes, or semicolons. Languages also have verbs, nouns, diphthongs, and all types of crazy grammar that goes with them.  The punctuation and grammar that you're familiar with are tools that help us communicate effectively with one another in the written word. Commas convey a pause.  Periods let us know a sentence has ended.  Italics and bold text let us know if a word is emphasized.  When we're communicating to another person, these are tools that help us do so. Just as written sentences require correct grammar and punctuation to be correct, the same is true for programming languages. However, with programming, in most cases we're communicating with the compiler - the compiler being the program that looks at our code and creates machine language for us.  The programming syntax that we use is meant to communicate our intent to the compiler program.  For this reason, the programming syntax MUST be correct. You can get away with messing up some grammar and punctuation when you're writing to a friend or an audience.  They'll probably understand what your intent is. On the other hand, if you make an error in your programming syntax, there's almost assuredly going to be an issue.  You’ll have either a compiler error when you go to compile the code or a subtle and hard to find bug in the actual operation of your sketch. When you start out, you'll likely find that getting all the program syntax correct is a major hassle.  It just doesn't feel natural, and the compiler is far more exacting than most “red pen crazy” elementary school teachers. The good news is that as you get more comfortable in the programming language, the syntax will come more naturally to you.  It will become second nature as you write your code. Comments Let's start with one of the most important tools in programming - the comment.  Comments are descriptive statements that a programmer writes to help explain the code. They are syntax and punctuation that really have nothing to do with the compiler.  In fact, the whole purpose of a comment is so that you can hide these words from the compiler. There are two ways to create a comment.  The first is the single line comment, which uses a double forward slash. It looks like this:  Notice that all the text after the double forward slash is grayed out. If you have a lot to say, then you can use a multi-line comment.  To start a multi-line comment, you type a forward slash followed by an asterisk.  Now you can type multiple lines of comments.  You'll notice that they're all grayed out.  Also, when you press the enter key after that first line, the Arduino IDE actually auto closes the comment for you.  It is closed with an asterisk and another forward slash. These additional asterisks on the lines in between are not required, but they are added by the Arduino IDE.  These help the multi-line comment stand out from the rest of the code. As I said, comments are hidden from the compiler.  They are words specifically for any other person reading your code - not the computer. I won't go into the substance of comments right now.  You'll learn more about what comments should say as you work through the course, but I will say that comments should be descriptive statements explaining what that part of the code will do. Semicolons The next thing I want to talk about is the semicolon.  The semicolon is to the C++ programming language as the period is to the English language. A semicolon lets the compiler know that a specific statement of computer code is complete.  Let's take this line of code: . I know right now this code means nothing to you, but what I want you to see is the semicolon at the end.  This semicolon lets the compiler know that your next line of code is independent from the previous one. If you wanted, you could move the semicolon to the next line of code or even insert spaces.  It wouldn't make a difference.  However, this is horrible form. You really should keep your semicolon on the same line of code that it ends.  I just wanted to point this out to demonstrate that the compiler will ignore the spaces before and after a semicolon. If you forget to type a semicolon and then compile your sketch, you may get several different types of errors.  I took out the semicolon from the previous line of code and compiled the code using the verify button.  I then get an error.  The message bar says, “expected unqualified id before numeric constant”.  What does that mean?  Well, let's look down into the error and see what it actually says.  If we look through these error messages, we can see that it's referring to the name of the program and the line of code - line 12.  Then it says, “expected comma or semicolon before void”. If we look back up to line 12, it says, “void”.  It's saying that it expected a comma or a semicolon.  Now we can trace back our steps to that particular line of code and put in a semicolon.  If I compile it now, it will be successful. In many cases, error codes are not very informative.  Luckily, these are pretty descriptive.  They tell you what line of code to look at, and they even tell you what you forgot.  So it's pretty handy. Keywords You may have noticed that some of the words typed into the Arduino IDE automatically change color.  These are called keywords.  Keywords are specially designated terms in a programming language.  They perform specific functions for us and are reserved to be used only for those functions. You'll get very familiar with different keywords as you work through the course.  Therefore, we won't give an in-depth description of every keyword in this module. Remember, you'll know when you've typed a keyword because it will automatically change color. Function Syntax The next thing I want to talk about are functions.  Keep in mind that this is a very cursory overview of functions.  I want to give you just the gist of what a function does. Functions are programming tools that package up frequently used pieces of code to make them easy to use. Let's say, for example, that you had some code that did a calculation to convert degrees Celsius to degrees Fahrenheit.  Maybe it was just a couple lines of code, but you found yourself using that code pretty frequently. Instead of having to type that code into the program every time you wanted to do the calculation, you could turn it into a function.  To use a function, all you have to do is write the name of the function.  Then, give it some pieces of information so that it can do the job.  For example, if it was a Celsius to Fahrenheit converter, you'd have to give it the temperature in Celsius, and it would give you back the value in Fahrenheit.  The Arduino language has tons of built-in functions, and, just like keywords, they also change color automatically when you type them. Functions are kind of like the verbs of a programming language.  They make things happen, and they do stuff for us. The real reason I brought up functions isn't because I want to explain how they work.  We'll be learning, in detail, about all different types of functions throughout the course.  What I really want to talk about is function syntax. All functions are followed by an opening and closing parenthesis.  Inside these parentheses is where you give the function what it needs to perform its task.  If the function needs multiple pieces of information, those items are separated by commas. Some functions don't take any data, but they still must have a pair of parentheses.  Also, every open parenthesis MUST have a closing parenthesis. Notice when I put my cursor on an opening parenthesis that the closing parenthesis is highlighted.  Likewise, if I put my cursor by the closing parenthesis, the opening parenthesis is highlighted.  This can be a handy tool to determine if you've actually closed the parenthesis after you opened it, or vice versa. Some functions, called control structures, have opening and closing curly brackets following the parentheses.  The code that goes between these opening and closing curly brackets will get executed under different circumstances. Just as with parentheses, every open curly bracket must have a closing curly bracket.  Furthermore, just like parentheses, if you put your cursor by one of the curly brackets, it will highlight the partner of that curly bracket. Layout &amp; Indentation You may have also noticed that there is indentation in these lines of code.  Indentation doesn't communicate anything at all to the compiler, but it helps the author of the code - as well as anyone else reading it- navigate through what’s been written. As a general rule of thumb, when you're writing code inside opening and closing curly brackets of a control structure, the code is indented two spaces from the rest of that code.  Then, that indentation continues if a new set of curly brackets is opened up.  Another tool for indenting is the “Auto Format” tool in the Arduino IDE.  Simply go up to “Tools” at the top of the screen, and then choose “Auto Format”.  You could also just press command T. This will automatically create the correct layout for you.  It’s much easier to use than manually indenting, and it keeps your code from looking sloppy. Review We talked about what programming syntax is.  It’s like punctuation and grammar for computer programming languages.  We talked about comments, both single line and multi-line. We also talked about the semicolon and how it's like the period of a sentence for the C++ programming language. Next, we discussed the automatic coloring of keywords and about function syntax.  Finally, we talked about layout indenting. That's it for this lesson.  Again, this was just a cursory overview.  Don't worry about memorizing every little thing and about whether or not you understood the coding shown.  That's not the expectation right now. Really we just want to get our eyes inside the Arduino IDE and start understanding some of the basics - symbols being used and what some of the coloring and layout mean.  I look forward to seeing you in the next lesson. Try On Your Own Challenge:  Type the following code  (exactly how it is typed), into the Arduino IDE.  Remember - the compiler program will not accept errors - so don't get angry if you see a couple spur up the first time around - it is just part of the learning experience.   When you are done, Verify the code by pressing "Control + r", you should not get any errors.   //Type this into your Arduino IDE *EXACTLY* how it is typed here. //Don't worry about what the program does - this is about practicing the syntax.  //This is a single line commment - What color is the text here? //Will the complier *see* these comments?  /*    This is a mutli-line comment.    Will the compiler see these words?    Are these multi-line comments colored different than single line comments? */  String dog; //Which of these words is a keyword?  How do you know?  //Setup only runs once. void setup() { //notice that setup() has a different color.     // Comments are meant to explain your code to you and other people.    //Set up Serial Communication.   Serial.begin(9600); //This is the color of a library function   }//This curly bracket "closes" the setup function.   // Put your main code here, to run repeatedly: void loop() { //This curly bracket opens the loop() function.     //Assign a bark to the dog.   dog = "bark";    //Send the dog bark to the computer.   Serial.println(dog);    //Upload this code to the Arduino (CONTROL + U) and open the Serial Monitor Window (SHIFT + CONTROL + M)   } //This curly bracket closes the loop() function.     Further Reading:  ; Semicolon {} Curly Braces Comments 

You Will Need: <ul> <li>The Arduino IDE installed and an Arduino connected to your computer.</li> </ul> Discussion: In this lesson, we're going to be talking about programming syntax.  We'll be introducing some of the basic programming syntax that you'll be using every time you write a sketch. Specifically, we'll be talking about: <ul> <li>what programming syntax is</li> <li>comments</li> <li>the semicolon</li> <li>keywords</li> <li>function syntax</li> <li>layout &amp; indentation</li> </ul> Programming Syntax What is programming syntax? I like to use this analogy.  You can think of programming syntax like the punctuation and grammar of computer programming. If you've ever read a book, then you're probably really familiar with written punctuation and grammar.  For example, in the written word, we use things such as periods, commas, dashes, or semicolons. Languages also have verbs, nouns, diphthongs, and all types of crazy grammar that goes with them.  The punctuation and grammar that you're familiar with are tools that help us communicate effectively with one another in the written word. Commas convey a pause.  Periods let us know a sentence has ended.  Italics and bold text let us know if a word is emphasized.  When we're communicating to another person, these are tools that help us do so. Just as written sentences require correct grammar and punctuation to be correct, the same is true for programming languages. However, with programming, in most cases we're communicating with the compiler - the compiler being the program that looks at our code and creates machine language for us. The programming syntax that we use is meant to communicate our intent to the compiler program.  For this reason, the programming syntax MUST be correct. You can get away with messing up some grammar and punctuation when you're writing to a friend or an audience.  They'll probably understand what your intent is. On the other hand, if you make an error in your programming syntax, there's almost assuredly going to be an issue.  You’ll have either a compiler error when you go to compile the code or a subtle and hard to find bug in the actual operation of your sketch. When you start out, you'll likely find that getting all the program syntax correct is a major hassle.  It just doesn't feel natural, and the compiler is far more exacting than most “red pen crazy” elementary school teachers. The good news is that as you get more comfortable in the programming language, the syntax will come more naturally to you.  It will become second nature as you write your code. Comments Let's start with one of the most important tools in programming - the comment.  Comments are descriptive statements that a programmer writes to help explain the code. They are syntax and punctuation that really have nothing to do with the compiler.  In fact, the whole purpose of a comment is so that you can hide these words from the compiler. There are two ways to create a comment.  The first is the single line comment, which uses a double forward slash. It looks like this: Notice that all the text after the double forward slash is grayed out. If you have a lot to say, then you can use a multi-line comment.  To start a multi-line comment, you type a forward slash followed by an asterisk.  Now you can type multiple lines of comments. You'll notice that they're all grayed out.  Also, when you press the enter key after that first line, the Arduino IDE actually auto closes the comment for you.  It is closed with an asterisk and another forward slash. These additional asterisks on the lines in between are not required, but they are added by the Arduino IDE.  These help the multi-line comment stand out from the rest of the code. As I said, comments are hidden from the compiler.  They are words specifically for any other person reading your code - not the computer. I won't go into the substance of comments right now.  You'll learn more about what comments should say as you work through the course, but I will say that comments should be descriptive statements explaining what that part of the code will do. Semicolons The next thing I want to talk about is the semicolon.  The semicolon is to the C++ programming language as the period is to the English language. A semicolon lets the compiler know that a specific statement of computer code is complete.  Let's take this line of code: . I know right now this code means nothing to you, but what I want you to see is the semicolon at the end.  This semicolon lets the compiler know that your next line of code is independent from the previous one. If you wanted, you could move the semicolon to the next line of code or even insert spaces.  It wouldn't make a difference.  However, this is horrible form. You really should keep your semicolon on the same line of code that it ends.  I just wanted to point this out to demonstrate that the compiler will ignore the spaces before and after a semicolon. If you forget to type a semicolon and then compile your sketch, you may get several different types of errors.  I took out the semicolon from the previous line of code and compiled the code using the verify button.  I then get an error. The message bar says, “expected unqualified id before numeric constant”.  What does that mean?  Well, let's look down into the error and see what it actually says. If we look through these error messages, we can see that it's referring to the name of the program and the line of code - line 12.  Then it says, “expected comma or semicolon before void”. If we look back up to line 12, it says, “void”.  It's saying that it expected a comma or a semicolon.  Now we can trace back our steps to that particular line of code and put in a semicolon. If I compile it now, it will be successful. In many cases, error codes are not very informative.  Luckily, these are pretty descriptive.  They tell you what line of code to look at, and they even tell you what you forgot.  So it's pretty handy. Keywords You may have noticed that some of the words typed into the Arduino IDE automatically change color.  These are called keywords. Keywords are specially designated terms in a programming language.  They perform specific functions for us and are reserved to be used only for those functions. You'll get very familiar with different keywords as you work through the course.  Therefore, we won't give an in-depth description of every keyword in this module. Remember, you'll know when you've typed a keyword because it will automatically change color. Function Syntax The next thing I want to talk about are functions.  Keep in mind that this is a very cursory overview of functions.  I want to give you just the gist of what a function does. Functions are programming tools that package up frequently used pieces of code to make them easy to use. Let's say, for example, that you had some code that did a calculation to convert degrees Celsius to degrees Fahrenheit.  Maybe it was just a couple lines of code, but you found yourself using that code pretty frequently. Instead of having to type that code into the program every time you wanted to do the calculation, you could turn it into a function. To use a function, all you have to do is write the name of the function.  Then, give it some pieces of information so that it can do the job.  For example, if it was a Celsius to Fahrenheit converter, you'd have to give it the temperature in Celsius, and it would give you back the value in Fahrenheit. The Arduino language has tons of built-in functions, and, just like keywords, they also change color automatically when you type them. Functions are kind of like the verbs of a programming language.  They make things happen, and they do stuff for us. The real reason I brought up functions isn't because I want to explain how they work.  We'll be learning, in detail, about all different types of functions throughout the course.  What I really want to talk about is function syntax. All functions are followed by an opening and closing parenthesis.  Inside these parentheses is where you give the function what it needs to perform its task.  If the function needs multiple pieces of information, those items are separated by commas. Some functions don't take any data, but they still must have a pair of parentheses.  Also, every open parenthesis MUST have a closing parenthesis. Notice when I put my cursor on an opening parenthesis that the closing parenthesis is highlighted. Likewise, if I put my cursor by the closing parenthesis, the opening parenthesis is highlighted.  This can be a handy tool to determine if you've actually closed the parenthesis after you opened it, or vice versa. Some functions, called control structures, have opening and closing curly brackets following the parentheses.  The code that goes between these opening and closing curly brackets will get executed under different circumstances. Just as with parentheses, every open curly bracket must have a closing curly bracket.  Furthermore, just like parentheses, if you put your cursor by one of the curly brackets, it will highlight the partner of that curly bracket. Layout &amp; Indentation You may have also noticed that there is indentation in these lines of code.  Indentation doesn't communicate anything at all to the compiler, but it helps the author of the code - as well as anyone else reading it- navigate through what’s been written. As a general rule of thumb, when you're writing code inside opening and closing curly brackets of a control structure, the code is indented two spaces from the rest of that code.  Then, that indentation continues if a new set of curly brackets is opened up. Another tool for indenting is the “Auto Format” tool in the Arduino IDE.  Simply go up to “Tools” at the top of the screen, and then choose “Auto Format”.  You could also just press command T. This will automatically create the correct layout for you.  It’s much easier to use than manually indenting, and it keeps your code from looking sloppy. Review We talked about what programming syntax is.  It’s like punctuation and grammar for computer programming languages.  We talked about comments, both single line and multi-line. We also talked about the semicolon and how it's like the period of a sentence for the C++ programming language. Next, we discussed the automatic coloring of keywords and about function syntax.  Finally, we talked about layout indenting. That's it for this lesson.  Again, this was just a cursory overview.  Don't worry about memorizing every little thing and about whether or not you understood the coding shown.  That's not the expectation right now. Really we just want to get our eyes inside the Arduino IDE and start understanding some of the basics - symbols being used and what some of the coloring and layout mean.  I look forward to seeing you in the next lesson. Try On Your Own Challenge: <ol> <li>Type the following code  (exactly how it is typed), into the Arduino IDE.  Remember - the compiler program will not accept errors - so don't get angry if you see a couple spur up the first time around - it is just part of the learning experience.   When you are done, Verify the code by pressing "Control + r", you should not get any errors.</li> <li> //Type this into your Arduino IDE *EXACTLY* how it is typed here. //Don't worry about what the program does - this is about practicing the syntax. //This is a single line commment - What color is the text here? //Will the complier *see* these comments? /* This is a mutli-line comment. Will the compiler see these words? Are these multi-line comments colored different than single line comments? */ String dog; //Which of these words is a keyword? How do you know? //Setup only runs once. void setup() { //notice that setup() has a different color. // Comments are meant to explain your code to you and other people. //Set up Serial Communication. Serial.begin(9600); //This is the color of a library function }//This curly bracket "closes" the setup function. // Put your main code here, to run repeatedly: void loop() { //This curly bracket opens the loop() function. //Assign a bark to the dog. dog = "bark"; //Send the dog bark to the computer. Serial.println(dog); //Upload this code to the Arduino (CONTROL + U) and open the Serial Monitor Window (SHIFT + CONTROL + M) } //This curly bracket closes the loop() function. </li> </ol>   Further Reading: <ul> <li><a href="https://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/SemiColon" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">; Semicolon</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/Braces" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">{} Curly Braces</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/Comments" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Comments</a></li> </ul>

Syntax; the spelling and grammar of programming

In this lesson we discuss some common shorthand for simple arithmetic in Arduino. We cover several compound operators that add, subtract, multiply and divide making it easy to increment variables in useful ways.

In this lesson we discuss some common shorthand for simple arithmetic in Arduino. We cover several compound operators that add, subtract, multiply and divide making it easy to increment variables in useful ways.

Shorthand Arithmetic :: Using Compound Operators (+= , -= , *= , /= ) with Arduino

If you are just getting started with Arduino, you might be wondering what the heck all this HIGH and LOW stuff everyone is talking about really means. At first I just figured everyone using micro-controllers was just on some type of emotional roller-coaster, until I began to realize that HIGH and LOW are actually abstractions. But let us not talk in abstractions - let us talk in concrete numbers and get down to the bottom of what HIGH and LOW actually mean. This Tutorial Will Include:  What the heck is a PIN state? What are the values for Arduino Pin States? Practical Application: What do we see in practice? 

If you are just getting started with Arduino, you might be wondering what the heck all this HIGH and LOW stuff everyone is talking about really means. At first I just figured everyone using micro-controllers was just on some type of emotional roller-coaster, until I began to realize that HIGH and LOW are actually abstractions. But let us not talk in abstractions - let us talk in concrete numbers and get down to the bottom of what HIGH and LOW actually mean. This Tutorial Will Include: <ol> <li>What the heck is a PIN state?</li> <li>What are the values for Arduino Pin States?</li> <li>Practical Application: What do we see in practice?</li> </ol>

Understanding HIGH and LOW Arduino Pin States

IDE stands for Integrated Development Environment. Pretty fancy sounding, and should make you feel smart anytime you use it. The IDE is a text editor like program that allows you to write computer code for your Arduino board. When you open up the Arduino program, you are opening the IDE. It is intentionally stream lined to keep things as simple and straightforward as possible. When you save a file in Arduino, the file is called a sketch - a sketch is where you save all the computer code that you have written. Lets take a look at some of the buttons on the IDE. The button that looks like a checkmark is called "verify". When you press this, your code will be compiled and any errors will be displayed in the window at the bottom. The short cut key for verify is Control + R. The button in the shape of an arrow pointing right is the upload button. When you press this, the sketch will be uploaded to your Arduino board. The short cut key for upload is Control + U. The button on the far right side of the screen is the serial monitor button. When you use the serial monitor functions, you can send and receive information from your Arduino board while it is running. We will talk much more about serial monitor later, but I just wanted to point it out now. The shortcut key for serial monitor is Shift + Control + M. *Try On Your Own: This course is based around the example sketches provided with the Arduino IDE. Open up your Arduino IDE and go to File - Example - 01.Basics and open up three different sketches. Try loading the sketches to your Arduino using the mouse and the key board short cuts. *Further Reading:* Check out this Arduino.cc webpage and see if you can identify a couple things you learned and pick up on other things I did not cover.

IDE stands for Integrated Development Environment. Pretty fancy sounding, and should make you feel smart anytime you use it. The IDE is a text editor like program that allows you to write computer code for your Arduino board. When you open up the Arduino program, you are opening the IDE. It is intentionally stream lined to keep things as simple and straightforward as possible. When you save a file in Arduino, the file is called a sketch - a sketch is where you save all the computer code that you have written. Lets take a look at some of the buttons on the IDE. The button that looks like a checkmark is called "verify". When you press this, your code will be compiled and any errors will be displayed in the window at the bottom. The short cut key for verify is Control + R. The button in the shape of an arrow pointing right is the upload button. When you press this, the sketch will be uploaded to your Arduino board. The short cut key for upload is Control + U. The button on the far right side of the screen is the serial monitor button. When you use the serial monitor functions, you can send and receive information from your Arduino board while it is running. We will talk much more about serial monitor later, but I just wanted to point it out now. The shortcut key for serial monitor is Shift + Control + M. *Try On Your Own: This course is based around the example sketches provided with the Arduino IDE. Open up your Arduino IDE and go to File - Example - 01.Basics and open up three different sketches. Try loading the sketches to your Arduino using the mouse and the key board short cuts. *Further Reading:* Check out this <a href="http://Arduino.cc" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Arduino.cc</a> webpage and see if you can identify a couple things you learned and pick up on other things I did not cover.

Arduino IDE and Sketch Overview

Discussion: In this video, I’ll explain what parts you'll need to complete this Arduino Crash Course. Immediately below this discussion section, there is a summary checklist of links for these parts. You're welcome to check it out! The links take you to Jameco, a United States based electronics supplier. I'm actually one of their affiliates. So, if you decide to click any of those links below, you’ll be helping to make me a multi-millionaire and continue to buy fuel for my yacht. So that would be awesome. All joking aside, you might already have a lot of this stuff laying around. It just depends on how much you've been into electronics thus far. The first thing you'll need is an Arduino UNO. As you may or may not know, Arduino has all types of derivatives out there. An Arduino UNO There is a company named Arduino that made the board. That is the official Arduino, but Arduino is open-source hardware. In other words, the Arduino company made the board’s schematics and everything publicly available. Therefore, anybody can take access that information and replicate the board. Anyone can duplicate it, modify it, and even legally sell it. That’s why there are so many derivatives, or clones, out there of an Arduino UNO board. They are basically the exact same thing as your official Arduino UNO. Sometimes you’ll find that maybe one or two customizations have been made. My recommendation to you is to get an authentic, official Arduino UNO from the Arduino company while working through this course. The reason is because that prevents any discrepancies and concerns about hardware when following the tutorials. If you're following everything in the lesson, and something is amiss, then you can at least know it's not the hardware. You’ll know that you have the same hardware with which I’m working. Again... that’s just my recommendation. Now, if you already have an Arduino clone or derivative, feel free to use it. It will probably work just fine. The next thing you'll need is a USB cable to plug your Arduino into your computer. Basic procedure is to write code on the computer and then transfer that code, uploading it to the Arduino board. An AB USB cord The USB we’ll be using in this course is an A-B type. One end looks like your typical USB that just plugs into a computer, and the other end is almost square - or maybe more like a little house, depending on your imagination. This other end is what would typically go into the back of a printer. You will also need light-emitting diodes, or LEDs. An LED It’s best to get at least 10 of the five millimeter type. Any color of mix of colors is fine. I usually use red or white. Next on the list are resistors. Resistors Resistors, as the name suggests, resist the flow of current in a circuit. The bigger the number of the resistor, the more current they resist. When it resists current, the resistor takes that electrical energy and transforms it into heat energy. Therefore, it’s important to note resistors can get hot. Just file that away as a quick mental note for later down the line when we begin setting up circuits. You may not notice it that much for the lower level things we will be doing. However, I wanted to make you aware just in case. This is the list of required resistors: ten 220 Ohm resistors and two 10,000 Ohm resistors (also referred to as 10 K resistors). You’ll also need a potentiometer. Potentiometers It really doesn't matter what size you get. I’ll be using a 10 K potentiometer for this course. If you have one around, you can just use that. A potentiometer is similar to a resistor, but it's resistance can vary. That allows you to create something called a voltage divider. We won't get into that now. Just know that you need a potentiometer of any size. Next, you'll use a solderless breadboard. No, we won’t be cutting bread - although food does sound really good right now…. But I digress, a solderless breadboard is a circuit board where you can connect electrical components together without having to solder them. It has a bunch of little holes in it, and in the holes are all these little copper clips. A solderless breadboard The holes are aligned in a bunch of rows and columns. The columns are electrically connected, but the rows are not. So, you stick the leads of your electrical components, such as an LED, into the holes for the metal clips. This will complete the circuit, connecting the electronics. This is an example of how you'll use the breadboard. Don’t worry, it’s a lot easier than it sounds. For prototyping, like we'll be doing, it's a great tool since it permits quick and easy setup and changes to your circuit. The next required items are jumper wires. Jumper wires These fit down into the little holes on a breadboard and into the little holes on the Arduino board. (We'll be talking about the Arduino board more later, but those are called the headers.) Anyway, the jumper wires allow you to extend your electrical connections, giving you some extra space with which to work. You'll need 12. Two momentary push-buttons are also on the course list. A push button This button is normally off. That means if you're not pressing the button, no electrical connection is made between either side of the button. The button is off until you push it. When you’re holding the button down, though, an electrical connection is made. Once you remove your finger, the button pops back out again, breaking the electrical connection. They come in all different styles. However, if you follow the links below, you'll get an idea for what to look. Finally, you'll need some alligator clips. Alligator clips These help you connect leads together if, for some reason, we need to connect them in a way a little different than using the holes on the solderless breadboard. It may seems like quite a bit of equipment, but it’s really not that bad. I kept convenience in mind when creating this list. All of these items are relatively cheap. There are a couple of other things you'll need, though. I assume that you already have a computer running Windows, Mac, some type of Mac software, or Linux. Of course, an internet connection is also required because you'll have to download the Arduino software. I’ll explain the Arduino software in a later lesson. There are few things that are optional. These are not covered in this crash course, but they would be fun to have in order to experiment with your code. This is the optional equipment. You could get a photoresistor, a temperature sensor, maybe some additional potentiometers, and an RGB LED. RGB means red, green, blue LED. It's kind of an all in one, and they are pretty neat use. I believe that's it for the required and optional equipment. Again, the parts list is below. I’m looking forward to jumping into the course with you. See you in the next video! Hardware List for the Arduino Crash Course Below is the list of items you will need to get you through the course. The quantities of each provide a little leeway in case your cat eats an LED or you loose a resistor in your shag carpet. I have made every effort to keep this list minimal to provide the lowest cost to entry. NOTE: The links below take you to Jameco, of whom I am an affiliate. The cost to you is the same, but I get a small commission for purchases that helps me keep the site running and allows me to buy giant yachts. I use Jameco for a bunch of stuff - I like and trust them. I also use Digikey, Mouser, Adafruit, Makershed and Sparkfun. Required: Arduino Compatible Board USB Cable to plug in Arduino (A/B type - one end is typical USB, the other is what would go into a printer) LEDs AKA Light Emitting Diodes (10) 10K potentiometer (1) 220 Ohm Resistor (10) 10K Ohm Resistor (2) Jumper Wires (12) Solderless Breadboard (1) Pushbutton (2) Alligator Clips (3) Another option is to buy our Kit-on-a-Shield for Arduino:   Click here to learn more.   You'll need this stuff too: Now there are certain things I am assuming you have access to that you will also need, these include the below items. A computer running Windows, Mac OS, or Linux An internet connection to download the Arduino Software Optional stuff: While the list above will meet all your needs, sometimes having a little extra stuff to play with makes for a more fun and diverse learning experience. Below are items you can easily experiment with alongside this course: Photo Resistor Additional potentiometers RGB LEDs - red, green and blue all in one LED matrix Temperature sensors Arduino Kit just for this course from Jameco: I have had the pleasure of working with Jameco to create a kit that provides all the needed items for the Arduino Crash Course. You can check it out here.

Discussion: In this video, I’ll explain what parts you'll need to complete this Arduino Crash Course. Immediately below this discussion section, there is a summary checklist of links for these parts. You're welcome to check it out! The links take you to Jameco, a United States based electronics supplier. I'm actually one of their affiliates. So, if you decide to click any of those links below, you’ll be helping to make me a multi-millionaire and continue to buy fuel for my yacht. So that would be awesome. All joking aside, you might already have a lot of this stuff laying around. It just depends on how much you've been into electronics thus far. The first thing you'll need is an Arduino UNO. As you may or may not know, Arduino has all types of derivatives out there. An Arduino UNO There is a company named Arduino that made the board. That is the official Arduino, but Arduino is open-source hardware. In other words, the Arduino company made the board’s schematics and everything publicly available. Therefore, anybody can take access that information and replicate the board. Anyone can duplicate it, modify it, and even legally sell it. That’s why there are so many derivatives, or clones, out there of an Arduino UNO board. They are basically the exact same thing as your official Arduino UNO. Sometimes you’ll find that maybe one or two customizations have been made. My recommendation to you is to get an authentic, official Arduino UNO from the Arduino company while working through this course. The reason is because that prevents any discrepancies and concerns about hardware when following the tutorials. If you're following everything in the lesson, and something is amiss, then you can at least know it's not the hardware. You’ll know that you have the same hardware with which I’m working. Again... that’s just my recommendation. Now, if you already have an Arduino clone or derivative, feel free to use it. It will probably work just fine. The next thing you'll need is a USB cable to plug your Arduino into your computer. Basic procedure is to write code on the computer and then transfer that code, uploading it to the Arduino board. An AB USB cord The USB we’ll be using in this course is an A-B type. One end looks like your typical USB that just plugs into a computer, and the other end is almost square - or maybe more like a little house, depending on your imagination. This other end is what would typically go into the back of a printer. You will also need light-emitting diodes, or LEDs. An LED It’s best to get at least 10 of the five millimeter type. Any color of mix of colors is fine. I usually use red or white. Next on the list are resistors. Resistors Resistors, as the name suggests, resist the flow of current in a circuit. The bigger the number of the resistor, the more current they resist. When it resists current, the resistor takes that electrical energy and transforms it into heat energy. Therefore, it’s important to note resistors can get hot. Just file that away as a quick mental note for later down the line when we begin setting up circuits. You may not notice it that much for the lower level things we will be doing. However, I wanted to make you aware just in case. This is the list of required resistors: ten 220 Ohm resistors and two 10,000 Ohm resistors (also referred to as 10 K resistors). You’ll also need a potentiometer. Potentiometers It really doesn't matter what size you get. I’ll be using a 10 K potentiometer for this course. If you have one around, you can just use that. A potentiometer is similar to a resistor, but it's resistance can vary. That allows you to create something called a voltage divider. We won't get into that now. Just know that you need a potentiometer of any size. Next, you'll use a solderless breadboard. No, we won’t be cutting bread - although food does sound really good right now…. But I digress, a solderless breadboard is a circuit board where you can connect electrical components together without having to solder them. It has a bunch of little holes in it, and in the holes are all these little copper clips. A solderless breadboard The holes are aligned in a bunch of rows and columns. The columns are electrically connected, but the rows are not. So, you stick the leads of your electrical components, such as an LED, into the holes for the metal clips. This will complete the circuit, connecting the electronics. This is an example of how you'll use the breadboard. Don’t worry, it’s a lot easier than it sounds. For prototyping, like we'll be doing, it's a great tool since it permits quick and easy setup and changes to your circuit. The next required items are jumper wires. Jumper wires These fit down into the little holes on a breadboard and into the little holes on the Arduino board. (We'll be talking about the Arduino board more later, but those are called the headers.) Anyway, the jumper wires allow you to extend your electrical connections, giving you some extra space with which to work. You'll need 12. Two momentary push-buttons are also on the course list. A push button This button is normally off. That means if you're not pressing the button, no electrical connection is made between either side of the button. The button is off until you push it. When you’re holding the button down, though, an electrical connection is made. Once you remove your finger, the button pops back out again, breaking the electrical connection. They come in all different styles. However, if you follow the links below, you'll get an idea for what to look. Finally, you'll need some alligator clips. Alligator clips These help you connect leads together if, for some reason, we need to connect them in a way a little different than using the holes on the solderless breadboard. It may seems like quite a bit of equipment, but it’s really not that bad. I kept convenience in mind when creating this list. All of these items are relatively cheap. There are a couple of other things you'll need, though. I assume that you already have a computer running Windows, Mac, some type of Mac software, or Linux. Of course, an internet connection is also required because you'll have to download the Arduino software. I’ll explain the Arduino software in a later lesson. There are few things that are optional. These are not covered in this crash course, but they would be fun to have in order to experiment with your code. This is the optional equipment. You could get a photoresistor, a temperature sensor, maybe some additional potentiometers, and an RGB LED. RGB means red, green, blue LED. It's kind of an all in one, and they are pretty neat use. I believe that's it for the required and optional equipment. Again, the parts list is below. I’m looking forward to jumping into the course with you. See you in the next video! Hardware List for the Arduino Crash Course Below is the list of items you will need to get you through the course. The quantities of each provide a little leeway in case your cat eats an LED or you loose a resistor in your shag carpet. I have made every effort to keep this list minimal to provide the lowest cost to entry. NOTE: The links below take you to Jameco, of whom I am an affiliate. The cost to you is the same, but I get a small commission for purchases that helps me keep the site running and allows me to buy giant yachts. I use Jameco for a bunch of stuff - I like and trust them. I also use Digikey, Mouser, Adafruit, Makershed and Sparkfun. Required: Arduino Compatible Board USB Cable to plug in Arduino (A/B type - one end is typical USB, the other is what would go into a printer) LEDs AKA Light Emitting Diodes (10) 10K potentiometer (1) 220 Ohm Resistor (10) 10K Ohm Resistor (2) Jumper Wires (12) Solderless Breadboard (1) Pushbutton (2) Alligator Clips (3) Another option is to buy our Kit-on-a-Shield for Arduino: Click here to learn more. You'll need this stuff too: Now there are certain things I am assuming you have access to that you will also need, these include the below items. A computer running Windows, Mac OS, or Linux An internet connection to download the Arduino Software Optional stuff: While the list above will meet all your needs, sometimes having a little extra stuff to play with makes for a more fun and diverse learning experience. Below are items you can easily experiment with alongside this course: Photo Resistor Additional potentiometers RGB LEDs - red, green and blue all in one LED matrix Temperature sensors Arduino Kit just for this course from Jameco: I have had the pleasure of working with Jameco to create a kit that provides all the needed items for the Arduino Crash Course. You can check it out here.

Parts List

If you are learning about Arduino, you have no doubt come across the term Arduino Shield.  This tutorial will explain what Arduino Shields are, why they are awesome, and several things to consider when buying shields. cool electronics ideas that you have. Now the Arduino in and of itself is pretty amazing - you can do a lot of stuff with an Arduino alone. But when you want to start adding all types of cool technologies like bluetooth, wifi, RF, motor-drivers, etc. it can be pretty tricky; especially if you are new to electronics and programming. Arduino shields take all the complexity of the hardware and reduce it to a simple interface.  This allows you to get your idea up and running fast. Now it's not just the hardware that shields take care of, in many cases, Arduino shields also have programming libraries associated with them.  These libraries allow you to easily implement the hardware features available on the shield. There are shields for all types of things - LCD shields, LED matrix shields, wifi and bluetooth shields, motor shields, power supply shields, geiger counter shields, there are even shields for cooking hot dogs.  Chances are if you need to do something, a shield exists to get you up and running quick. Shields plug right into the top of an Arduino.  The black plastic rows of holes along the sides of an Arduino are called headers, and on the bottom of a shield, you have these long spiky pieces of metal, these are called pins.  The pins on a shield line up with the header rows on an Arduino and fit snuggly (more on this later). Buying an Arduino Shield?  Think about this stuff:   Does it have good documentation? Documentation is the fancy way of saying - “will they show me how to use this thing?” Basically, is there some type of tutorial or user manual or forum that talks about how to use the shield. This is one of the biggest factors for me when it comes to buying an Arduino shield.  For all the ease of use that a shield provides, if I don't know how to use it, it's about as a good as a rock. Lucky for us, people who use Arduino tend to be awesome and do a great job writing about how to use stuff, so even if the manufacturer doesn't have good instructions, if people actually use the shield, then you will find a wealth of information online.  But if you do a web search and it doesn't turn up much of anything useful, you might consider looking for another option. Two US companies that provide superb documentation of the shields they make and sell are Adafruit Industries and Sparkfun.  Soldering may be required Many shields are sold as kits, that means they are not fully assembled - and will require you to do some soldering.  If you are buying from a reputable source, you should know this ahead of time, but it is worth double checking. Sometimes manufacturers will offer the shield as a kit or fully assembled - I often go for the fully assembled option just to save time.  If you have not soldered before, shields are usually a cinch to solder, so don't be intimidated - go get a cheap soldering iron and some solder and go for it! Probably the most important thing when soldering a shield is making sure that the pins on the bottom of the shield are straight up and down, if they aren't they won't line up to the Arduino headers and be a major pain to connect.  Stackable or Not Stackable Arduino Shields If you plan on stacking an Arduino shield with other shields, you will want to make sure it is stackable.  If it doesn't have pin headers on the top of the shield, or they don't look aligned correctly (usually too narrowly spaced), than it is likely another shield cannot be stacked on top of it. You might also run into a problem if components on the shield stick up too high to allow shields above from getting a snug fit.  Manufactures of shields are getting more savvy to this issue, but you should always check. Not all Arduino shields have the same pinout Some older Arduino shields may not have all the pins to fill the header rows of an Arduino.  This is because older versions of Arduino didn't have as many pin header slots.  This usually isn't too much trouble, unless you needed to use those pins that are not connected on the shield. If you have an older version of Arduino, then a shield you buy might have more pins than your Arduino has headers for - usually they are still physically compatible - this should not be anything to sweat about. Matching Hardware and Software Versions On a final note, if you are having trouble with a shield working, it worth checking to see if you are using the most current library version for your version of shield. A great example is the near ubiquitous Adafruit motor shield.  There is a hardware version 1 and a hardware version 2.  There are two separate code libraries for these.  If you are trying to run your new version of the hardware on the old version of the library - then you will likely run into troubles.  It worth checking to see you have the correct library for the job. I hope you found this tutorial helpful, please be sure to check out our free Arduino Crash Course (signup below) if you want to accelerate your learning.

If you are learning about Arduino, you have no doubt come across the term Arduino Shield.  This tutorial will explain what Arduino Shields are, why they are awesome, and several things to consider when buying shields. cool electronics ideas that you have. Now the Arduino in and of itself is pretty amazing - you can do a lot of stuff with an Arduino alone. But when you want to start adding all types of cool technologies like bluetooth, wifi, RF, motor-drivers, etc. it can be pretty tricky; especially if you are new to electronics and programming. Arduino shields take all the complexity of the hardware and reduce it to a simple interface.  This allows you to get your idea up and running fast. Now it's not just the hardware that shields take care of, in many cases, Arduino shields also have programming libraries associated with them.  These libraries allow you to easily implement the hardware features available on the shield. There are shields for all types of things - LCD shields, LED matrix shields, wifi and bluetooth shields, motor shields, power supply shields, geiger counter shields, there are even shields for cooking hot dogs.  Chances are if you need to do something, a shield exists to get you up and running quick. Shields plug right into the top of an Arduino.  The black plastic rows of holes along the sides of an Arduino are called headers, and on the bottom of a shield, you have these long spiky pieces of metal, these are called pins.  The pins on a shield line up with the header rows on an Arduino and fit snuggly (more on this later). Buying an Arduino Shield?  Think about this stuff:   Does it have good documentation? Documentation is the fancy way of saying - “will they show me how to use this thing?” Basically, is there some type of tutorial or user manual or forum that talks about how to use the shield. This is one of the biggest factors for me when it comes to buying an Arduino shield.  For all the ease of use that a shield provides, if I don't know how to use it, it's about as a good as a rock. Lucky for us, people who use Arduino tend to be awesome and do a great job writing about how to use stuff, so even if the manufacturer doesn't have good instructions, if people actually use the shield, then you will find a wealth of information online.  But if you do a web search and it doesn't turn up much of anything useful, you might consider looking for another option. Two US companies that provide superb documentation of the shields they make and sell are <a href="https://www.adafruit.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Adafruit Industries</a> and <a href="https://www.sparkfun.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sparkfun</a>. Soldering may be required Many shields are sold as kits, that means they are not fully assembled - and will require you to do some soldering.  If you are buying from a reputable source, you should know this ahead of time, but it is worth double checking. Sometimes manufacturers will offer the shield as a kit or fully assembled - I often go for the fully assembled option just to save time.  If you have not soldered before, shields are usually a cinch to solder, so don't be intimidated - go get a cheap soldering iron and some solder and go for it! Probably the most important thing when soldering a shield is making sure that the pins on the bottom of the shield are straight up and down, if they aren't they won't line up to the Arduino headers and be a major pain to connect. Stackable or Not Stackable Arduino Shields If you plan on stacking an Arduino shield with other shields, you will want to make sure it is stackable.  If it doesn't have pin headers on the top of the shield, or they don't look aligned correctly (usually too narrowly spaced), than it is likely another shield cannot be stacked on top of it. You might also run into a problem if components on the shield stick up too high to allow shields above from getting a snug fit.  Manufactures of shields are getting more savvy to this issue, but you should always check. Not all Arduino shields have the same pinout Some older Arduino shields may not have all the pins to fill the <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/hardware-overview/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">header rows of an Arduino</a>.  This is because older versions of Arduino didn't have as many pin header slots.  This usually isn't too much trouble, unless you needed to use those pins that are not connected on the shield. If you have an older version of Arduino, then a shield you buy might have more pins than your Arduino has headers for - usually they are still physically compatible - this should not be anything to sweat about. Matching Hardware and Software Versions On a final note, if you are having trouble with a shield working, it worth checking to see if you are using the most current library version for your version of shield. A great example is the near ubiquitous Adafruit motor shield.  There is a hardware version 1 and a hardware version 2.  There are two separate code libraries for these.  If you are trying to run your new version of the hardware on the old version of the library - then you will likely run into troubles.  It worth checking to see you have the correct library for the job. I hope you found this tutorial helpful, please be sure to check out our free Arduino Crash Course (signup below) if you want to accelerate your learning.

What is an Arduino Shield?

Floating Pins on Arduino have always been a bit of mystery to me.  It just never made much sense.  I did this video more for my own sake - just to concrete it in my brain.  I hope it can add some solidarity to  your understanding as well...

Floating Pins on Arduino have always been a bit of mystery to me.  It just never made much sense.  I did this video more for my own sake - just to concrete it in my brain.  I hope it can add some solidarity to  your understanding as well...

Floating Pins, Pull-Up Resistors and Arduino

Discussion: In this lesson, we're going to do an overview of the Arduino toolchain.  The toolchain includes all of the software tools that are between us pressing the Verify/Upload buttons and that code actually getting loaded onto the integrated circuit on the Arduino board. I definitely want to stress the keyword overview because there is a lot going on behind the scenes that actually makes it happen.  In practice for us, though, the entire process is just a matter of pressing a button. As we start to dig in, it's tempting to want to know every detail.  However, remember that our goal in this course is to learn programming and electronics. If we're not careful, we can get pulled down this huge rabbit hole.  That being said, I do think it's important to be familiar with the process. We don’t need to understand it in depth.  I just want you to be able to understand and recognize some of the terms and basic concepts associated with this toolchain. Specifically, we’ll discuss:  What Is a Toolchain A Toolchain Analogy Toolchain Basics  What in the World Is a Toolchain? So, what is a toolchain in the first place?  In programming, a toolchain is just a series of programming tools that work together in order to complete a task. If we were cooking something, like carrot soup, the toolchain might include a carrot peeler, a produce knife, a pot, some water, and a stove.  Together, these tools help you create the desired output, carrot soup. When we're developing programs for Arduino, we'll also be using a toolchain.  This all happens behind the scenes. On our end, we literally only have to press a button for the code to get to the board, but it wouldn’t happen without the toolchain. A Helpful Analogy So, I want to start peeling back the curtain on this Arduino toolchain.  Imagine for a moment that you're an author.  In fact, you're a New York Times bestselling author... just like me. What type of toolchain might you use?  Maybe you start off with text editing software, just like Microsoft Word, to type your awesome story. Once you're done with that manuscript, you send it off to a professional editor at a publishing company.  That professional editor is part of this toolchain.  He will look over your manuscript and point out any errors.  He might do some rearranging and other things, as well. After he sends the suggested edits back to you, you make any necessary corrections.  Then, you give the manuscript back to that professional editor to do one last check for errors. He then hands it off to the office next door at that publishing company.  The publishing company can't just take that Microsoft Word file and send it off to a printer.  They need a special file type to format the book for how it should look on a physical page when it actually gets printed. Therefore, they take the manuscript in a Microsoft Word file format, and they turn it into a new file format.  Once this is done, the publisher can send it off to be printed. Luckily, to make the process of printing a whole lot easier, this publisher has an in-house printer.  So, he simply needs to just go right down the hall, so to speak.  The printer takes that file and prints it onto an actual physical page. So, let's review this author's toolchain.  The author writes with a text editor program.  Then, he sends the manuscript to an editor at a publishing company.  That editor reviews the manuscript until it is perfect.  He then sends it next door to be formatted. The manuscript is converted into the proper file format, and it is sent off to the printer to create the physical book.  Finally, voilà, somebody buys your book from Amazon to read all about zombies over a warm cup of latte. Arduino Toolchain Basics Why did I go through that long scenario?  Well, the Arduino has a similar toolchain.  When we start writing our code, and we become the author. We do this in the Arduino IDE, which is akin to a text editor.  We also write the code in a programming language called C++, with a file type extension of .ino. The code that we write is called human readable code since it's meant for us to read and, hopefully, understand.  However, the Arduino hardware doesn't understand C++ code. It needs what's called machine code.  In order to generate that machine code, we use a software tool called a compiler. Remember that Verify button in the Arduino IDE that looks like the checkmark?  When you press this button, it compiles the code using compiler software called AVR-GCC.  This compiler software does a bunch of stuff. The main thing it does it rearrange some code and check for errors.  This is like the professional editor at the publishing company. The compiler also translates the human readable code into machine code.  There are some in-between file types and other fuzzy things that go on, but the final output of the compiler is a machine language saved as a .hex file. In order to get this .hex file loaded onto our Arduino's integrated circuit, we need to press the Upload button.  This begins another piece of software called AVRDUDE, which sends the file to the integrated circuit. Normally, we would have to use some external hardware to load that circuit.  However, in Arduino’s infinite wisdom, they loaded a small piece of software onto the integrated circuit that automatically comes with an Arduino board. That piece of software is called a bootloader.  It works with ARVDUDE to take the outputted .hex file and put it onto the flash memory of that Arduino's integrated circuit using only the USB cable. Again, all we had to do was press the Upload button.  This whole process happens behind the scenes. Now the process is complete.  So, what was our toolchain?  We have the Arduino IDE Editor.  Then, we have the compiler, which is AVR-GCC.  The result is a .hex file. Next, we have AVRDUDE and the bootloader on the integrated circuit of the Arduino board.  These work together to upload the .hex file to the board. REVIEW That was a lot of information to absorb.  Let’s summarize what we learned in this lesson. First, we learned that in programming, a toolchain is simply a group of software tools used to complete a task.  Then we discussed the book publishing analogy to help illustrate that point. Lastly, we walked through the Arduino toolchain.  As an encore, we’ll go over that toolchain one more time. We start by writing human-readable C++ code in the Arduino IDE Editor.  Then, we click Verify. The compiler program, called AVR-GCC, checks the code for error and adjusts some of the code for us.  The result is machine code in a .hex file. When we press the Upload button, AVRDUDE takes that .hex file and works with the bootloader.  The bootloader is pre-installed on the Arduino's integrated circuit, and it helps get the machine code loaded onto the Arduino's integrated circuit. Wow, I'm so glad that all happens behind the scenes!  Again, this was meant only to be a cursory overview. I wanted to make sure that if you see AVR-GCC in error message or hear the word compiler or any of the other jargon we discussed here, at least you now have an idea of their significance.  You now know where they are in the Arduino toolchain.

Discussion: In this lesson, we're going to do an overview of the Arduino toolchain.  The toolchain includes all of the software tools that are between us pressing the Verify/Upload buttons and that code actually getting loaded onto the integrated circuit on the Arduino board. I definitely want to stress the keyword overview because there is a lot going on behind the scenes that actually makes it happen.  In practice for us, though, the entire process is just a matter of pressing a button. As we start to dig in, it's tempting to want to know every detail.  However, remember that our goal in this course is to learn programming and electronics. If we're not careful, we can get pulled down this huge rabbit hole.  That being said, I do think it's important to be familiar with the process. We don’t need to understand it in depth.  I just want you to be able to understand and recognize some of the terms and basic concepts associated with this toolchain. Specifically, we’ll discuss: <ul> <li>What Is a Toolchain</li> <li>A Toolchain Analogy</li> <li>Toolchain Basics</li> </ul> What in the World Is a Toolchain? So, what is a toolchain in the first place?  In programming, a toolchain is just a series of programming tools that work together in order to complete a task. If we were cooking something, like carrot soup, the toolchain might include a carrot peeler, a produce knife, a pot, some water, and a stove. Together, these tools help you create the desired output, carrot soup. When we're developing programs for Arduino, we'll also be using a toolchain.  This all happens behind the scenes. On our end, we literally only have to press a button for the code to get to the board, but it wouldn’t happen without the toolchain. A Helpful Analogy So, I want to start peeling back the curtain on this Arduino toolchain.  Imagine for a moment that you're an author.  In fact, you're a New York Times bestselling author... just like me. What type of toolchain might you use?  Maybe you start off with text editing software, just like Microsoft Word, to type your awesome story. Once you're done with that manuscript, you send it off to a professional editor at a publishing company.  That professional editor is part of this toolchain.  He will look over your manuscript and point out any errors.  He might do some rearranging and other things, as well. After he sends the suggested edits back to you, you make any necessary corrections.  Then, you give the manuscript back to that professional editor to do one last check for errors. He then hands it off to the office next door at that publishing company.  The publishing company can't just take that Microsoft Word file and send it off to a printer.  They need a special file type to format the book for how it should look on a physical page when it actually gets printed. Therefore, they take the manuscript in a Microsoft Word file format, and they turn it into a new file format.  Once this is done, the publisher can send it off to be printed. Luckily, to make the process of printing a whole lot easier, this publisher has an in-house printer.  So, he simply needs to just go right down the hall, so to speak.  The printer takes that file and prints it onto an actual physical page. So, let's review this author's toolchain.  The author writes with a text editor program.  Then, he sends the manuscript to an editor at a publishing company. That editor reviews the manuscript until it is perfect.  He then sends it next door to be formatted. The manuscript is converted into the proper file format, and it is sent off to the printer to create the physical book.  Finally, voilà, somebody buys your book from Amazon to read all about zombies over a warm cup of latte. Arduino Toolchain Basics Why did I go through that long scenario?  Well, the Arduino has a similar toolchain.  When we start writing our code, and we become the author. We do this in the Arduino IDE, which is akin to a text editor.  We also write the code in a programming language called C++, with a file type extension of .ino. The code that we write is called human readable code since it's meant for us to read and, hopefully, understand.  However, the Arduino hardware doesn't understand C++ code. It needs what's called machine code.  In order to generate that machine code, we use a software tool called a compiler. Remember that Verify button in the Arduino IDE that looks like the checkmark? When you press this button, it compiles the code using compiler software called AVR-GCC.  This compiler software does a bunch of stuff. The main thing it does it rearrange some code and check for errors.  This is like the professional editor at the publishing company. The compiler also translates the human readable code into machine code.  There are some in-between file types and other fuzzy things that go on, but the final output of the compiler is a machine language saved as a .hex file. In order to get this .hex file loaded onto our Arduino's integrated circuit, we need to press the Upload button. This begins another piece of software called AVRDUDE, which sends the file to the integrated circuit. Normally, we would have to use some external hardware to load that circuit.  However, in Arduino’s infinite wisdom, they loaded a small piece of software onto the integrated circuit that automatically comes with an Arduino board. That piece of software is called a bootloader.  It works with ARVDUDE to take the outputted .hex file and put it onto the flash memory of that Arduino's integrated circuit using only the USB cable. Again, all we had to do was press the Upload button.  This whole process happens behind the scenes. Now the process is complete.  So, what was our toolchain? We have the Arduino IDE Editor.  Then, we have the compiler, which is AVR-GCC.  The result is a .hex file. Next, we have AVRDUDE and the bootloader on the integrated circuit of the Arduino board.  These work together to upload the .hex file to the board. REVIEW That was a lot of information to absorb.  Let’s summarize what we learned in this lesson. First, we learned that in programming, a toolchain is simply a group of software tools used to complete a task.  Then we discussed the book publishing analogy to help illustrate that point. Lastly, we walked through the Arduino toolchain.  As an encore, we’ll go over that toolchain one more time. We start by writing human-readable C++ code in the Arduino IDE Editor.  Then, we click Verify. The compiler program, called AVR-GCC, checks the code for error and adjusts some of the code for us.  The result is machine code in a .hex file. When we press the Upload button, AVRDUDE takes that .hex file and works with the bootloader.  The bootloader is pre-installed on the Arduino's integrated circuit, and it helps get the machine code loaded onto the Arduino's integrated circuit. Wow, I'm so glad that all happens behind the scenes!  Again, this was meant only to be a cursory overview. I wanted to make sure that if you see AVR-GCC in error message or hear the word compiler or any of the other jargon we discussed here, at least you now have an idea of their significance.  You now know where they are in the Arduino toolchain.

The Arduino Development Toolchain - How it all gets done...

Discussion: Will the Chicken Cross the Road? So there's this chicken, and he's on the side of the road. He wants to cross the road. He wants to get to the other side. Before he steps out and crosses the road, he looks both ways. That is a rational thing to do. If he doesn't look both ways, and he just steps out, he's going to get smashed by a car, and he won't get to the other side of the road. This chicken is a little bit of a nervous chicken. He is just sitting there and watching. A car passes by, another car passes by, and he's looking at each one. He is analyzing the traffic, but he never steps out in the street and actually makes any progress because he's always afraid a car is going to come and nail him.  Now, in some regards, you and I are a little bit like that chicken. No, I'm not calling you yellow, or anything like that. That's not where I'm going with this. What I'm saying is that, many times, when we're learning something, especially a step-by-step process, we can get a little caught up on learning it and trying to learn that something to perfection. Instead of actually stepping out into the street and crossing the road, and actually making progress, we're sitting back and kind of studying, and studying, and studying. We're studying that traffic. We're actually not getting anywhere. Stepping out into Uncertainty- At Some Point You Have to Cross the Road In programming electronics, there is a lot to learn. Anytime you start to learn one thing, another thing is going to pop up. It's like this endless amount of rabbit holes. In order for us to actually make progress to our goal, we have to be willing to accept a certain level of uncertainty. We have to be willing to say, okay, you know what, maybe I don't get all of this. But, I am going to take a step forward, and I am to keep moving forward.  That is really what I want you to try to think about as you learn all this new information. Some of it might (will) feel a little fuzzy as you move forward, and that is okay! As we go through the course, I'll give you some really good rules of thumb for when I think it's okay for you to take a step forward and say, “You know what? I think that I know this enough.” Alright, let's go ahead and get cracking!

Discussion: Will the Chicken Cross the Road? So there's this chicken, and he's on the side of the road. He wants to cross the road. He wants to get to the other side. Before he steps out and crosses the road, he looks both ways. That is a rational thing to do. If he doesn't look both ways, and he just steps out, he's going to get smashed by a car, and he won't get to the other side of the road. This chicken is a little bit of a nervous chicken. He is just sitting there and watching. A car passes by, another car passes by, and he's looking at each one. He is analyzing the traffic, but he never steps out in the street and actually makes any progress because he's always afraid a car is going to come and nail him. Now, in some regards, you and I are a little bit like that chicken. No, I'm not calling you yellow, or anything like that. That's not where I'm going with this. What I'm saying is that, many times, when we're learning something, especially a step-by-step process, we can get a little caught up on learning it and trying to learn that something to perfection. Instead of actually stepping out into the street and crossing the road, and actually making progress, we're sitting back and kind of studying, and studying, and studying. We're studying that traffic. We're actually not getting anywhere. Stepping out into Uncertainty- At Some Point You Have to Cross the Road In programming electronics, there is a lot to learn. Anytime you start to learn one thing, another thing is going to pop up. It's like this endless amount of rabbit holes. In order for us to actually make progress to our goal, we have to be willing to accept a certain level of uncertainty. We have to be willing to say, okay, you know what, maybe I don't get all of this. But, I am going to take a step forward, and I am to keep moving forward. That is really what I want you to try to think about as you learn all this new information. Some of it might (will) feel a little fuzzy as you move forward, and that is okay! As we go through the course, I'll give you some really good rules of thumb for when I think it's okay for you to take a step forward and say, “You know what? I think that I know this enough.” Alright, let's go ahead and get cracking!

Progress vs Perfection: Chicken Analogy

As simple as it may seem, knowing when something is either on or off can be a great tool for designing something useful. This lesson will answer the following questions: Is a button being pressed? Has a switch been turned on? What is the on/off sensor status? When you can answer questions like these, you can implement actions based on the current status – if the button is pressed do this – otherwise, do that. If the sensor is HIGH take this action, otherwise do nothing. You get the gist. But before we can implement the actions, we have to be able to track the status and the changes of the digital pins.  If you like this tutorial, click here to check out FREE Video Arduino course – thousands of people have really enjoyed it. You Will Need A momentary push button – this is a button that is spring-loaded, i.e. it never stays in a down position unless it’s held down. Jumper wires (3) A 10,000 Ohm resistor more commonly referred to as a 10K resistor A very ripe banana, (1) – not completely useful, but nutritious Step-by-Step Instructions Connect the pushbutton to the breadboard. Connect one side of the pushbutton to the 5-volt pin on the Arduino board using a jumper wire. Connect one side of the 10K resistor to the other side of the pushbutton. Connect the other side of the resistor to the ground pin on the Arduino. You may have to use a jumper wire to make it reach. On the same side, the resistor is connected to the pushbutton, connect a jumper wire and run it to pin 2 on the Arduino board. Connect the Arduino to your computer with the USB cable. Open the sketch for this section. Click the Verify button in the top left corner of the IDE. The Verify button will turn orange and then back to blue when it has completed compiling. Click the Upload Button (located to the immediate right of the Verify button). This button will also turn orange and then back to blue once the sketch is uploaded to the Arduino board. Now go to the menu bar at the top and select Tools &gt; Serial Monitor. Or you could use the shortcut key, Shift + Control + M. The serial monitor window will open and will be spouting off numbers. It should be a bunch of zeros. Press and hold the pushbutton – watch the serial monitor window, the numbers should now be ones. If the numbers are not scrolling, make sure you click Autoscroll at the bottom left of the serial monitor window. digitalRead Serial Port Circuit This image built with Fritzing. The Arduino Code /* DigitalReadSerial Reads a digital input on pin 2, prints the result to the serial monitor This example code is in the public domain. */ // digital pin 2 has a pushbutton attached to it. Give it a name: int pushButton = 2; // the setup routine runs once: void setup() { // initialize serial communication at 9600 bits per second: Serial.begin(9600); // make the pushbutton’s pin an input: pinMode(pushButton, INPUT); } // the loop routine runs over and over again forever: void loop() { // read the input pin: int buttonState = digitalRead(pushButton); // print out the state of the button: Serial.println(buttonState); delay(1); // delay in between reads for stability } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 /*  DigitalReadSerial  Reads a digital input on pin 2, prints the result to the serial monitor  This example code is in the public domain.  */  // digital pin 2 has a pushbutton attached to it. Give it a name:  int pushButton = 2;  // the setup routine runs once:  void setup() {  // initialize serial communication at 9600 bits per second:  Serial.begin(9600);  // make the pushbutton’s pin an input:  pinMode(pushButton, INPUT);  }  // the loop routine runs over and over again forever:  void loop() {  // read the input pin:  int buttonState = digitalRead(pushButton);  // print out the state of the button:  Serial.println(buttonState);  delay(1); // delay in between reads for stability  } Discuss the Sketch This sketch opens with a multi-line comment containing a short description of the program and circuit. The first block of code following the comment is where we declare and initialize variables. From the last lesson, we are familiar with the integer data type.  int pushButton = 2; //This is the pin that our push button is connected to. 1 int pushButton = 2; //This is the pin that our push button is connected to. Notice how the variable pushButton is declared and initialized all on the same line. Also, notice the descriptive name of the variable – pushButton – the variable name implies its use within the program – this is a good example to follow. Let’s consider what we have done so far – we have made a variable that will store the pin number that our pushbutton is connected to. The next block of code we come to is the setup(). Inside these wily curly brackets there are two functions – a familiar one, pinMode() and another which we will learn to love – Serial.begin(). Serial.begin() is part of a family of functions referred to as a library. The name of the library is the Serial library. A library is just a group of functions that work toward a similar purpose. If you had a Circus library, it might contain the functions juggle(), balance() and flamingCircleOfDeath(). To access the functions in a library, you write the name of the library followed by the name of the function in the library, with a period in between.  Circus.juggle(); 1 Circus.juggle(); Arduino has many preinstalled libraries. There are also many community-contributed libraries that you can add. You can view all of the preinstalled libraries and some of the contributed libraries at http://arduino.cc/en/Reference/Libraries. So what does the Serial library do? The Serial library helps establish communication between your computer and the Arduino board. If you ever go to marriage counseling, you will learn that communication involves sending and receiving. Data can flow both ways. If we want to establish this communication, we use the begin() function from the Serial library.  Serial.begin(9600); 1 Serial.begin(9600); The begin() function takes one argument – the baud rate. What is the baud rate you ask? It is the rate at which data will flow between your computer and the Arduino. For most Arduino sketches a baud rate of 9600 is used as the argument. That’s all you really need to know about the baud rate to get started with serial monitoring. But I have a feeling you want to know more, so if you check out the further reading section at the end of this tutorial, there will be some links to tempt your insatiable desire for acquiring an understanding of all things in the universe. The next function after Serial.begin() is the pinMode() function. We want to set the mode of a pin and what is cool about pinMode() this time around is that we are changing the arguments we pass to the function. Instead of being an OUTPUT (as in the Blink sketch), we want our pin to be an INPUT because we want to read voltage at this pin, not provide it.  pinMode(pushButton, INPUT) ; 1 pinMode(pushButton, INPUT) ; Here we use the variable pushButton to let the function know we are setting the mode at pin 2. Then we use the keyword INPUT, to say which mode we want. Those are the only two functions in the setup() curly braces – and just as a reminder – setup() only runs once. The next block of code is the function loop(). What do we see inside the curly braces of the loop()?  int buttonState = digitalRead(pushButton); 1 int buttonState = digitalRead(pushButton); Whoa! What the heck is this? It looks like the programmer is declaring a variable! I thought variables were declared at the top of the sketch. While variables are often declared before the setup() function, you can actually declare and initialize a variable just about anywhere in a sketch. Soon you will see why this placement is the way to go. Let’s break down this statement. First, look at the data type and the name. We declare an integer and name it buttonState. Notice the variable name buttonState is indicative of its purpose, as we will see this variable is assigned the position of the button. To initialize the variable, we see something altogether new – the variable is set equal to the output of a function called digitalRead(). This is going to take a little recall power on your part. Do you remember the reason for the word void in front of the loop() function? We had to write void because the function loop() does not return a value. But that is not the case for the function digitalRead(). The digitalRead() function returns an integer – either 1 or 0. This value is then assigned to the variable buttonState. If it is 1, the voltage at the pin is HIGH, if the value is 0, the voltage at the pin is LOW. What pin you ask? Well the pin you pass as an argument in the digitalRead() function. In this case, we send the variable pushButton, because we want to read the state of pin 2 (if you recall pushButton was initialized to equal 2). All of this is in the following line of code:  int buttonState = digitalRead(pushButton); 1 int buttonState = digitalRead(pushButton); This is why Arduino rocks – one line of code and you are on your way to dominating the world. Now the state of our pushbutton will be either HIGH (pressed) or LOW (not-pressed). HIGH will be reported as a 1, and LOW will be reported as 0. When we press the pushbutton, pin 2 is exposed to the 5-volts from the Arduino board, this is considered HIGH, and the digitalRead() function will return 1. If the button is not pressed, then all that pin 2 is exposed to is the ground voltage which is 0 and digitalRead() will return 0. Explanation of Digital Read Code In the next line of code we return to the Serial library for another function called println().  Serial.println(buttonState); 1 Serial.println(buttonState); The Serial.println() function returns the value of whatever variable you stick in as an argument. It will report this value to the serial monitor window on your Arduino IDE. To open up the serial monitor window all you have to do is click Tools &gt; Serial Monitor (or SHIFT + CONTROL + M). This is one way to retrieve the data on your Arduino board. Keep in mind, that when you unplug your Arduino and use some batteries to charge it, the Serial.println() function won’t do you much good. But while you are creating the circuit and the sketch, there is no better way to troubleshoot than use the println() and print() functions from the Serial library. So let’s cover what we have done so far in the loop. First we read the state of digital pin 2 and save the state in a variable. Then we display the state in the serial monitor window. Finally, we use the delay() function and wait one millisecond – this allows the reading at the pin to stabilize. Once this is done, the loop starts from the top. We read another value at pin 2 – we are checking every time whether the button is pressed or not pressed – this value gets assigned to our buttonState variable, then we display the newly recorded value to serial monitor window – again. And we do this over and over – hundreds of times per second. So go ahead, press that button, watch the serial monitor window – I think you are already brewing applications for these functions… Try On Your Own Challenge Change the function Serial.println() to Serial.print(). What happens to the output in the serial monitor window? Can you tell the difference between the two functions? Change the pin that you are reading to pin 3. Make the circuit change and the changes to the sketch. Further Reading Baud Rate Serial Library Serial.begin() Serial.println() Serial.print()

As simple as it may seem, knowing when something is either on or off can be a great tool for designing something useful. This lesson will answer the following questions: Is a button being pressed? Has a switch been turned on? What is the on/off sensor status? When you can answer questions like these, you can implement actions based on the current status – if the button is pressed do this – otherwise, do that. If the sensor is HIGH take this action, otherwise do nothing. You get the gist. But before we can implement the actions, we have to be able to track the status and the changes of the digital pins. If you like this tutorial, click here to check out FREE Video Arduino course – thousands of people have really enjoyed it. You Will Need A momentary push button – this is a button that is spring-loaded, i.e. it never stays in a down position unless it’s held down. Jumper wires (3) A 10,000 Ohm resistor more commonly referred to as a 10K resistor A very ripe banana, (1) – not completely useful, but nutritious Step-by-Step Instructions Connect the pushbutton to the breadboard. Connect one side of the pushbutton to the 5-volt pin on the Arduino board using a jumper wire. Connect one side of the 10K resistor to the other side of the pushbutton. Connect the other side of the resistor to the ground pin on the Arduino. You may have to use a jumper wire to make it reach. On the same side, the resistor is connected to the pushbutton, connect a jumper wire and run it to pin 2 on the Arduino board. Connect the Arduino to your computer with the USB cable. Open the sketch for this section. Click the Verify button in the top left corner of the IDE. The Verify button will turn orange and then back to blue when it has completed compiling. Click the Upload Button (located to the immediate right of the Verify button). This button will also turn orange and then back to blue once the sketch is uploaded to the Arduino board. Now go to the menu bar at the top and select Tools &gt; Serial Monitor. Or you could use the shortcut key, Shift + Control + M. The serial monitor window will open and will be spouting off numbers. It should be a bunch of zeros. Press and hold the pushbutton – watch the serial monitor window, the numbers should now be ones. If the numbers are not scrolling, make sure you click Autoscroll at the bottom left of the serial monitor window. digitalRead Serial Port Circuit This image built with Fritzing. The Arduino Code /* DigitalReadSerial Reads a digital input on pin 2, prints the result to the serial monitor This example code is in the public domain. */ // digital pin 2 has a pushbutton attached to it. Give it a name: int pushButton = 2; // the setup routine runs once: void setup() { // initialize serial communication at 9600 bits per second: Serial.begin(9600); // make the pushbutton’s pin an input: pinMode(pushButton, INPUT); } // the loop routine runs over and over again forever: void loop() { // read the input pin: int buttonState = digitalRead(pushButton); // print out the state of the button: Serial.println(buttonState); delay(1); // delay in between reads for stability } 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 /* DigitalReadSerial Reads a digital input on pin 2, prints the result to the serial monitor This example code is in the public domain. */ // digital pin 2 has a pushbutton attached to it. Give it a name: int pushButton = 2; // the setup routine runs once: void setup() { // initialize serial communication at 9600 bits per second: Serial.begin(9600); // make the pushbutton’s pin an input: pinMode(pushButton, INPUT); } // the loop routine runs over and over again forever: void loop() { // read the input pin: int buttonState = digitalRead(pushButton); // print out the state of the button: Serial.println(buttonState); delay(1); // delay in between reads for stability } Discuss the Sketch This sketch opens with a multi-line comment containing a short description of the program and circuit. The first block of code following the comment is where we declare and initialize variables. From the last lesson, we are familiar with the integer data type. int pushButton = 2; //This is the pin that our push button is connected to. 1 int pushButton = 2; //This is the pin that our push button is connected to. Notice how the variable pushButton is declared and initialized all on the same line. Also, notice the descriptive name of the variable – pushButton – the variable name implies its use within the program – this is a good example to follow. Let’s consider what we have done so far – we have made a variable that will store the pin number that our pushbutton is connected to. The next block of code we come to is the setup(). Inside these wily curly brackets there are two functions – a familiar one, pinMode() and another which we will learn to love – Serial.begin(). Serial.begin() is part of a family of functions referred to as a library. The name of the library is the Serial library. A library is just a group of functions that work toward a similar purpose. If you had a Circus library, it might contain the functions juggle(), balance() and flamingCircleOfDeath(). To access the functions in a library, you write the name of the library followed by the name of the function in the library, with a period in between. Circus.juggle(); 1 Circus.juggle(); Arduino has many preinstalled libraries. There are also many community-contributed libraries that you can add. You can view all of the preinstalled libraries and some of the contributed libraries at <a href="http://arduino.cc/en/Reference/Libraries" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://arduino.cc/en/Reference/Libraries</a>. So what does the Serial library do? The Serial library helps establish communication between your computer and the Arduino board. If you ever go to marriage counseling, you will learn that communication involves sending and receiving. Data can flow both ways. If we want to establish this communication, we use the begin() function from the Serial library. Serial.begin(9600); 1 Serial.begin(9600); The begin() function takes one argument – the baud rate. What is the baud rate you ask? It is the rate at which data will flow between your computer and the Arduino. For most Arduino sketches a baud rate of 9600 is used as the argument. That’s all you really need to know about the baud rate to get started with serial monitoring. But I have a feeling you want to know more, so if you check out the further reading section at the end of this tutorial, there will be some links to tempt your insatiable desire for acquiring an understanding of all things in the universe. The next function after Serial.begin() is the pinMode() function. We want to set the mode of a pin and what is cool about pinMode() this time around is that we are changing the arguments we pass to the function. Instead of being an OUTPUT (as in the Blink sketch), we want our pin to be an INPUT because we want to read voltage at this pin, not provide it. pinMode(pushButton, INPUT) ; 1 pinMode(pushButton, INPUT) ; Here we use the variable pushButton to let the function know we are setting the mode at pin 2. Then we use the keyword INPUT, to say which mode we want. Those are the only two functions in the setup() curly braces – and just as a reminder – setup() only runs once. The next block of code is the function loop(). What do we see inside the curly braces of the loop()? int buttonState = digitalRead(pushButton); 1 int buttonState = digitalRead(pushButton); Whoa! What the heck is this? It looks like the programmer is declaring a variable! I thought variables were declared at the top of the sketch. While variables are often declared before the setup() function, you can actually declare and initialize a variable just about anywhere in a sketch. Soon you will see why this placement is the way to go. Let’s break down this statement. First, look at the data type and the name. We declare an integer and name it buttonState. Notice the variable name buttonState is indicative of its purpose, as we will see this variable is assigned the position of the button. To initialize the variable, we see something altogether new – the variable is set equal to the output of a function called digitalRead(). This is going to take a little recall power on your part. Do you remember the reason for the word void in front of the loop() function? We had to write void because the function loop() does not return a value. But that is not the case for the function digitalRead(). The digitalRead() function returns an integer – either 1 or 0. This value is then assigned to the variable buttonState. If it is 1, the voltage at the pin is HIGH, if the value is 0, the voltage at the pin is LOW. What pin you ask? Well the pin you pass as an argument in the digitalRead() function. In this case, we send the variable pushButton, because we want to read the state of pin 2 (if you recall pushButton was initialized to equal 2). All of this is in the following line of code: int buttonState = digitalRead(pushButton); 1 int buttonState = digitalRead(pushButton); This is why Arduino rocks – one line of code and you are on your way to dominating the world. Now the state of our pushbutton will be either HIGH (pressed) or LOW (not-pressed). HIGH will be reported as a 1, and LOW will be reported as 0. When we press the pushbutton, pin 2 is exposed to the 5-volts from the Arduino board, this is considered HIGH, and the digitalRead() function will return 1. If the button is not pressed, then all that pin 2 is exposed to is the ground voltage which is 0 and digitalRead() will return 0. Explanation of Digital Read Code In the next line of code we return to the Serial library for another function called println(). Serial.println(buttonState); 1 Serial.println(buttonState); The Serial.println() function returns the value of whatever variable you stick in as an argument. It will report this value to the serial monitor window on your Arduino IDE. To open up the serial monitor window all you have to do is click Tools &gt; Serial Monitor (or SHIFT + CONTROL + M). This is one way to retrieve the data on your Arduino board. Keep in mind, that when you unplug your Arduino and use some batteries to charge it, the Serial.println() function won’t do you much good. But while you are creating the circuit and the sketch, there is no better way to troubleshoot than use the println() and print() functions from the Serial library. So let’s cover what we have done so far in the loop. First we read the state of digital pin 2 and save the state in a variable. Then we display the state in the serial monitor window. Finally, we use the delay() function and wait one millisecond – this allows the reading at the pin to stabilize. Once this is done, the loop starts from the top. We read another value at pin 2 – we are checking every time whether the button is pressed or not pressed – this value gets assigned to our buttonState variable, then we display the newly recorded value to serial monitor window – again. And we do this over and over – hundreds of times per second. So go ahead, press that button, watch the serial monitor window – I think you are already brewing applications for these functions… Try On Your Own Challenge Change the function Serial.println() to Serial.print(). What happens to the output in the serial monitor window? Can you tell the difference between the two functions? Change the pin that you are reading to pin 3. Make the circuit change and the changes to the sketch. Further Reading Baud Rate Serial Library Serial.begin() Serial.println() Serial.print()

digitalRead() and the Serial Port

In this episode I talk about the video channel that I host on YouTube. If you have watched any previous episodes of this channel then you know I focus on Arduino related topics. The purpose of the channel is to help people learn about using Arduino. Specifically, the target audience is electronics hobbyists who are interested in learning to use Arduino. That being said, I try to make the videos from the perspective of a beginner so if you don't know jack about electronics or programming, then the show should still be a great place for you to learn.Every Tuesday I will be releasing a new episode. Every fourth video will be something like the video shown above. The reason I am doing this is because it gives me a little bit of a break in video production, which is extremely time consuming. I am calling these types of videos "Intermissions" which is all I could come up with. So this is the first intermission video (and post). A Little Bit About Myself: I am an electronics hobbyist - I've be messing around with hobby electronics for a about a decade, and I have been learning about Arduino for a big part of that time. I don't have any formal training in electronics so the perspective you get from me might be a lot like you, someone who has tried really hard to learn about electronics with as much spare time as I could find between work, family, and the curve balls of life. I do have some formal training in programming (though not much). I took a C++ course in college and used Matlab for some research I was doing at the university. What type of topics can you expect to watch on this video channel? Like I said before this channel is focused on Arduino - but there so many applications for Arduino it gives me a bunch of latitude for all types of stuff. There will be a ton of “how to” tutorials. Not about cutting and pasting the code – they’ll be about understanding how to make your own code. I'll talk about Arduino derivatives, shields and cool hardware and sensors you can use. I am really interested in science, so I plan to start doing some videos on using Arduino to enable Citizen Science. I might start with some data logging ideas. Student Projects: On a quick aside, what I do for a living is run an online course that uses a very structured curriculum to teach electronics hobbyists how to use Arduino. The Arduino Course is designed so you don’t need any electronics background to work through it, but I find most of my students do have some electronics experience to begin with.   The reason I bring this up is because many of the students submit projects they are working on and I plan to use these “intermission” videos to show off some of the stuff they have done. For example, James (a really quick study) who took the course has been making all types of  cool Laser tag accessories using Arduino. Which is pretty awesome - and very impressive. Projects I am Working on: I will also use these “intermission” videos to talk about some of the projects I am working on. Lately, I have been thinking about a little robot that can draw. I only really work on it when my kids are around, so the progress is painfully slow.   What I would really like is to get the robot to draw sketches of people. No idea if I will ever make it to that point (or how the heck I am going to pull it off), but it's my pet project that I have been working on. So that’s it for this first intermission post (and video). I will see you in the next show, where we will be talking more things to consider when assembling Arduino Shields from kits. Until then! If you are interested in learning how to use Arduino, sign up for our free Arduino Crash Course below.

In this episode I talk about the video channel that I host on YouTube. If you have watched any previous episodes of this channel then you know I focus on Arduino related topics. The purpose of the channel is to help people learn about using Arduino. Specifically, the target audience is electronics hobbyists who are interested in learning to use Arduino. That being said, I try to make the videos from the perspective of a beginner so if you don't know jack about electronics or programming, then the show should still be a great place for you to learn.Every Tuesday I will be releasing a new episode. Every fourth video will be something like the video shown above. The reason I am doing this is because it gives me a little bit of a break in video production, which is extremely time consuming. I am calling these types of videos "Intermissions" which is all I could come up with. So this is the first intermission video (and post). A Little Bit About Myself: I am an electronics hobbyist - I've be messing around with hobby electronics for a about a decade, and I have been learning about Arduino for a big part of that time. I don't have any formal training in electronics so the perspective you get from me might be a lot like you, someone who has tried really hard to learn about electronics with as much spare time as I could find between work, family, and the curve balls of life. I do have some formal training in programming (though not much). I took a C++ course in college and used Matlab for some research I was doing at the university. What type of topics can you expect to watch on this video channel? Like I said before this channel is focused on Arduino - but there <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/what-is-arduino/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">so many applications for Arduino</a> it gives me a bunch of latitude for all types of stuff. There will be a ton of “how to” tutorials. Not about cutting and pasting the code – they’ll be about understanding how to make your own code. I'll talk about Arduino derivatives, shields and cool hardware and sensors you can use. I am really interested in science, so I plan to start doing some videos on using Arduino to enable Citizen Science. I might start with some data logging ideas. Student Projects: On a quick aside, what I do for a living is run an online course that uses a very structured curriculum to teach electronics hobbyists how to use Arduino. The Arduino Course is designed so you don’t need any electronics background to work through it, but I find most of my students do have some electronics experience to begin with. <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Laser-tag-grenade.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> </a> The reason I bring this up is because many of the students submit projects they are working on and I plan to use these “intermission” videos to show off some of the stuff they have done. For example, James (a really quick study) who took the course has been making all types of <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/laser-tag-arduino-featured-student-project/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> cool Laser tag accessories using Arduino</a>. Which is pretty awesome - and very impressive. Projects I am Working on: I will also use these “intermission” videos to talk about some of the projects I am working on. Lately, I have been thinking about a little robot that can draw. I only really work on it when my kids are around, so the progress is painfully slow. <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/kids-project.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> </a> What I would really like is to get the robot to draw sketches of people. No idea if I will ever make it to that point (or how the heck I am going to pull it off), but it's my pet project that I have been working on. So that’s it for this first intermission post (and video). I will see you in the next show, where we will be talking more things to consider when <a href="https://programmingelectronics.com/assembling-an-arduino-shield/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">assembling Arduino Shields</a> from kits. Until then! If you are interested in learning how to use Arduino, sign up for our free Arduino Crash Course below.

A YouTube Channel for Learning about Arduino

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