Notes

10/3/20

Arduino is an open source physical computing platform based on a simple input/output board and a development environment that implements the processing language. This platform can be used to develop standalone interactive objects or can be connected to software on your computer (i.e flash)

Using Processing you can paste examples of code in from https://processing.org and run them. In the image below I took from drawing, called 'pattern' which follows the mouse.

Sensors detect and respond to types of input from the physical environment. inputs can be from light, heat, motion, moisture, pressure etc. it is a resistor - of a variable type or a simple binary.

Arduino takes power from USB or 9-12 volts

Touch-pad sensors are variable resistors

Arduino platform - arduino is composed of two parts; the board which is hardware you work on when you build your object; and the arduino IDE the software you run on the computer where you create a sketch that you upload to the arduino board.

Arduino hardware - a micro controller board, which is a small circuit that contains a whole computer on a small chip.

IO Pins

14 Digital IO pins (pins 0–13)

These can be inputs or outputs, which is specified by the sketch you create in the IDE.

6 Analogue In pins (pins 0–5)

These dedicated analogue input pins take analogue values (i.e., voltage readings from a sensor) and convert them into a number between 0 and 1023.

6 Analogue Out pins (pins 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 11)

These are actually six of the digital pins that can be reprogrammed for analogue output using the sketch you create in the IDE.

The board can be powered from the computers USB port

Below the image is explaining the numbers:

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USB Jack (1)
Power Jack (2)
GND (3): Short for ‘Ground’. There are several GND pins on the Arduino, any of which can be used to ground your circuit.
Power pins (3,4,5) 5V (4) & 3.3V (5): the 5V pin supplies 5 volts of power, and the 3.3V pin supplies 3.3 volts of power. Most of the simple components used with the Arduino run happily off of 5 or 3.3 volts.
Analog (6): The area of pins under the ‘Analog In’ label (A0 through A5 on the UNO) are Analog In pins. These pins can read the signal from an analog sensor (like a temperature sensor) and convert it into a digital value that we can read.
Digital pins (7): Across from the analog pins are the digital pins (0 through 13 on the UNO). These pins can be used for both digital input (like telling if a button is pushed) and digital output (like powering an LED).
PWM (8): You may have noticed the tilde (~) next to some of the digital pins (3, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 11 on the UNO). These pins act as normal digital pins, but can also be used for something called Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM). We have a tutorial on PWM, but for now, think of these pins as being able to simulate analog output (like fading an LED in and out).
Analogue Input Pins (AREF) (9): Stands for Analog Reference. Most of the time you can leave this pin alone. It is sometimes used to set an external reference voltage (between 0 and 5 Volts) as the upper limit for the analog input pins.
Reset button (10)
Power LED indicator (11)
TX RX LEDs (12) transmit, receive. these LEDs give us indication whenever our arduino is receiving or transmitting data.
Main IC (13) integrated circuit, the brains of our arduino. its important as you may need to know the Ic type before loading up the program. this info can usually be found on top of the IC
Voltage Regulator (14) this controlls the amount of voltage that is let into the arduino board. acting as a safeguard.

Breadboard - used to prototype electronic circuits

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Arduino Uno (diagram) with Breadboard (create a blinking LED)

Shields can be fit on top for your arduino boards to create additional capabilities - such as controlling motors, connecting to internet, providing cellular or other wireless communications etc.

Software
based on processiing, using basic syntax.

Safety
Risk of short-circuiting - may make wires really hot or for battery to explode.
Electrocution
Keep away from water

Good resources for help - https://processing.org/reference/

Symbols

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