Introduction to Arduino

Kids & Technology MeetupApril 6, 2013

Washington, DC

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What is the Arduino?• A microcontroller• Hardware + software• You can program it, make projects with it

Arduino

Your program (sketch)

Inputs/Sensors• Light• Motion• GPS

Outputs: Make things happen• Light up LEDs• Move wheels• Tweet

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The Arduino’s PartsDigital Pins (0 – 13) inputs & outputs

Micro-processor

USB - sketch - power

AnalogInputs (0-5)Power

Sockets

ExternalPower (battery)

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Some Components

LEDs – light emitting diodes

ResistorsBreadboard

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Programming

Variables

Setup – runs once

Loop – main program that repeats

A Processing “Sketch”3 main sketch areas

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Basic Processing Structure// this is a comment - make notes to yourself and to others

int led = 13; // we will connect an LED to pin # 13 – and 13 is an integer // end lines with semicolons

void setup () // place things here that need to be set up at the beginning{ // curly braces { } define blocks of code

pinMode(led, OUTPUT); // digital pin 13 will be an output – OUTPUT is a key word}

void loop() // main sketch code goes here. It will repeat until the board is turned off.{ digitalWrite(led, HIGH); // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level) – HIGH = key word delay(1000); // wait for one second digitalWrite(led, LOW); // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW – LOW = key word delay(1000); // wait for one second}

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Processing Language Basic Interactive Functions

pinMode(pin, mode): set a digital pin to input or output mode (INPUT or OUTPUT).

digitalRead(pin): returns the value of a digital pin, either LOW or HIGH

digitalWrite(pin, value): writes LOW or HIGH to a digital pin.

analogRead(pin): returns the value of an analog input (from 0 to 1023).

analogWrite(pin, value): writes an analog value (PWM wave) to a digital pin that supports it (pins 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 11); value should be from 0 (always off) to 255 (always on).

delay(time in milliseconds): pauses the code for the amount of time in milliseconds (1 second = 1000 milliseconds)

More terms, syntax, functions: http://arduino.cc/en/Reference/HomePage

ArduBlocks

• It is a tool to use block programming with Arduino

It is similar to Scratch

The classic blink script

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Project Demonstrations

• We will demonstrate several projects– Interactive game (Simon Says)– ArduBlocks – Light sensor input– Arduino + Scratch– Drawbot – a drawing robot

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Videos of Other Projects for Inspiration

• LED cube: – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUcX41pokZY

• Turn signal cycling jacket:– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtNEPkwCfxA

• Robot controlled by iPhone: – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgMHxu6gS40

• Quadcopter: – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKWboJ0RJtQ

Search for other ideas!

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Links• Start here: http://arduino.cc/ • We have compiled links for:

– Project ideas – lists and videos– How to program– The videos of the demos projects– Places to learn

• HacDC http://www.meetup.com/hac-dc/• Nova Labs http://www.meetup.com/NOVA-Makers/

– Places to buy Arduinos and components

• All of these links will be posted at the Kids Tech Meetup site (http://www.meetup.com/Kids-and-Technology/) and this public EverNote notebook: https://www.evernote.com/pub/greenmoonart/arduino

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Raffle

• We have a few prizes to give away– Arduinos– Breadboards– Patches

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Questions?

• Feel free to contact us– John Dukovich – twitter: @JohnDukovich– Hugo Estrada – Google+– Phil Shapiro – twitter: @PhilShapiro

• Stay in touch with the MeetUp: – http://www.meetup.com/Kids-and-Technology/