This past week our class was once again at the Fab Lab where we were able to learn how to code with Arduino breadboards! Here we utilized cables, a breadboard, Arduino, and a couple of LEDs. We learned the basics of coding with Arduinos in order to light up a single LED first. Along with that, we learned how ECE works in order to wire up the breadboard. Although we only really touched the surface of ECE it was pretty cool to learn how another discipline works outside of the College of Business. The very first task was to try to figure out how to light the LED and make it blink with the SOS pattern. Which could be done by figuring out the right amount of timing to delay the lights within the code so that it would blink in the right pattern.
Following that more complexity was added to how the lights would blink. We added more lights to the board so more light was blinking and changed up the code. How the relationship between the code and the Arduino worked was that we would change the configuration on the breadboard, hook it up to the Arduino, then upload the code from the computer into the Arduino. After everything was uploaded you would sit there and wait to see if everything worked ok and if it did the LEDs would start blinking!
It was really cool to be able to build something totally different than what we would make at the MakerLab. For the final step, we added a sensor that would make the lights blink depending on how much light was available. If a lot of light was available then the far right LED would be lit then it would descend to the left as light availability lessens. Finally, if there was no light available then the whole thing would just start blinking.
The end result was very cool and I was amazed that I was able to build something like that in such a short amount of time. Albeit we had a lot of help from our amazing instructors. A lot of the breadboard configuration and the code was premade but it certainly got me a lot more interested in coding Arduinos. The final step it seems to be for the whole project is to put that blinking breadboard inside of our wooden cube – needless to say I’m pretty excited!
Hey Ian, I also agree that seeing how the Arduino works from a coding point of view gave me a really cool perspective. It definitely got me more interested in coding Arduinos and I hope to continue to use it in the future. Arduino coding is cool cause you can easily program the board to do many different types of things. This could be really cool because one board could be used to create an infinite amount of inventions. I wish you luck on finishing your sensor next week, I’m pretty excited to see how mine turns out as well!
Ian, I have yet to reach the coding portion of our time at the FabLab and I think that this was very insightful for me coming into this upcoming session. I have never really coded either and so I am very excited to be able to develop more of my skills for our upcoming final project too. I believe that you will be going to solder the wires together next week as that is what I started with. I do not know how familiar you are with soldering but I found an Instructables article that may be helpful for you this upcoming Monday.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Soldering-tips-and-tricks/