Adventures in Arduino

Becky Stewart founded Codasign, a London education company that teaches Arduino and other technology skills to young people. She documents her engineering work at http://blog.theleadingzero.com/.

Introduction 1

What Is an Arduino? 1

What You Will Learn 1

Parts You Will Need 2

Tools You Will Need 11

Software You Will Need 15

Other Useful Materials 15

What I Assume You Already Know 16

How This Book Is Organised 16

Conventions 18

The Companion Website 20

Reaching Out 20

Adventure 1

Setting Up Your Arduino 21

What You Need 22

Downloading and Installing the Arduino Software on Your Computer 22

Installing Arduino Software on a Mac 24

Installing Arduino Software on a Windows PC 25

Installing Arduino Software on a Linux Machine 27

Exploring the Arduino IDE 27

Using Blink to Test That Everything Is Set Up Correctly 29

Uploading Blink 30

Troubleshooting Common Problems 33

Building an LED Circuit 38

What You Need 38

Understanding Circuit Schematics 38

Using a Breadboard 41

Building Your First Circuit 43

Further Adventures with Arduino 45

Adventure 2

Reading from Sensors 47

What You Need 47

Adding More LEDs 48

Printing Messages to the Computer 54

Reading Data from a Potentiometer 58

Making Decisions in Code 62

Building a Status Message Sign 64

What You Need 64

Understanding the Circuit 65

Prototyping on a Breadboard 66

Writing the Code 67

Creating your Sign 71

Cutting Holes for the Potentiometer and LEDs 72

Adding the Status Messages and Decorating the Sign 72

Soldering the Circuit 73

Inserting the Electronics 76

Further Adventures with Arduino 77

Adventure 3

Working with Servos 79

What You Need 79

Understanding Different Types of Motors 81

Controlling a Servo with Arduino 82

Repeating the Same Thing Over and Over 85

Digital Input with a Push Button 87

Building a Combination Safe 91

What You Need 92

Understanding the Circuit 94

Prototyping on a Breadboard 95

Writing the Code 95

Making the Safe 102

Soldering the Wires 104

Inserting the Electronics 107

Further Adventures with Arduino 107

Adventure 4

Using Shift Registers 109

What You Need 110

Organising Your Code 111

Using Functions 111

Using for Loops 115

Getting More Outputs with Shift Registers 117

How a Shift Register Works 118

Clock 118

Data 119

Latch 119

Making the Connections for a Shift Register 119

Adding LEDs 122

Writing the Code 123

Adding More Shift Registers 127

Building Your Name in Lights 129

What You Need 130

Understanding the Circuit 131

Prototyping on a Breadboard 131

Writing the Code 132

Making the Lights 136

Soldering the Wires 137

Inserting the Electronics 138

Further Adventures with Shift Registers 139

Adventure 5

Playing Sounds 141

What You Need 141

Making a List 142

Making Your Intentions Known 144

Looping Through an Array 146

Putting It Into Practice 146

Making Noise 150

Wiring the Circuit 151

Writing the Code 151

Building an Augmented Wind Chime 155

What You Need 157

Understanding the Circuit 158

Prototyping on a Breadboard 158

Writing the Code 160

Making the Wind Chime 160

Making the Base 162

Making the Chimes 162

Attaching the Chimes 164

Connecting the Electronics 164

Further Adventures with Sound 165

Adventure 6

Adding Libraries 167

What You Need 167

Analogue Out168

Fading an LED 171

Mixing Light 174

Wiring the Circuit 175

Writing the Code 176

Capacitive Sensing 181

Adding a Library 181

Wiring the Circuit 183

Writing the Code 184

Building a Crystal Ball 187

What You Need 187

Understanding the Circuit 188

Prototyping on a Breadboard 189

Writing the Code 190

Making the Crystal Ball 193

Making a Papier Mache Ball 193

Soldering the Electronics 195

Connecting the Electronics 196

Further Adventures with Libraries 197

Adventure 7

Working with the Arduino Leonardo 199

What You Need 199

Introducing the Arduino Leonardo 200

Connecting Your Leonardo for the First Time 201

Acting Like a Keyboard 203

Sensing Light 206

Building the Circuit 208

Writing the Code 210

Building a Game Controller 211

What You Need 212

Building the Circuit 212

Writing the Code 214

Making the Controller Cover 220

Putting It All Together 220

Further Adventures with the Leonardo 221

Adventure 8

Working with the Lilypad Arduino USB 223

What You Need 224

Introducing the Lilypad Arduino USB 224

Blinking from a Lilypad Arduino 226

Prototyping Soft Circuits 228

Getting Clever with Arrays 230

Passing Data Between Functions 236

Building a POV Hoodie 239

What You Need 240

Understanding The Circuit 241

Prototyping with Alligator Clips 241

Charging the Battery 242

Writing the Code 243

Making the POV Hoodie 246

Making Sewable LEDs 246

Sewing the Electronics 247

Further Adventures with the Lilypad 249

In the Next Adventure 250

Adventure 9

The Big Adventure: Building a Marble Maze Game 251

What You Need 252

Part One: Scoring Points 253

Sensing Vibrations with Piezos 253

Setting a Points Threshold 254

Adding Sound Effects 258

Keeping Score 259

Part Two: Designing Your Maze Game 261

Drawing the Maze 261

Designing the Game Code 262

Prototyping the Circuit 263

Part Three: Writing the Code 265

Starting the Game 265

Ending the Game 266

Starting a New Game 269

Keeping Track of the High Score 270

Adding Sounds 272

Part Four: Building the Maze Game 280

Making the Maze 280

Assembling the Piezos 282

Assembling the LEDs and Button 283

Completing the Finishing Touches 284

Further Adventures: Continuing Your Adventures with Arduino 285

Appendix A

Where to Go From Here 287

More Boards, Shields, Sensors and Actuators 287

Shields 287

Sensors and Actuators 288

On the Web 288

The Arduino Site 288

Manufacturers 289

Blogs 289

Videos 289

Books 289

Getting Started with Arduino and General Projects 290

General Electronics 290

Soft Circuits and Wearables 290

Other Specialised Topics 290

Appendix B

Where to Get Tools and Components 291

Starter Kits 291

Brick]and]Mortar Stores 292

In the UK 292

In the US 292

Online Stores 292

Online Stores Shipping from the EU 292

Online Stores Shipping from the US or Canada 293

Glossary 295

Index 301