Basic Arduino Workshop

Teacher Behavior

Student Behavior

Introduce the Workshop Facilitator

[Show slide 1]

• Who you are, what you do, how you got to this point, what you hope to learn in the workshop

Introduce the workshop

[Show slide 2]

Objectives of the workshop

• In this workshop you will learn about and how to use some basic electronics components: resistor, LED, photoresistor, button.
• You will learn what an Arduino is and why they can be useful.
• You will learn how to build a circuit and program the Arduino.
• And, hopefully, you will come away with a feeling that you can create your own electronics projects that will improve your and other people’s environments.

Listen

Participant introductions

[Show slide 3]

• Introduce yourself

• Your name
• What you do
• Why interested in Arduino

[Show slide 4]

In this workshop, we’ll go through the basics of electricity, learn about some of the components, and then put together a few circuits.

Basics of Electricity

[Show slide 5]

Sometimes it’s hard to grasp electrical current and what happens in a circuit because you can’t see what is happening inside the components. To help visualize the electrical concepts, you can imagine electrical current flowing through a circuit similar to water flowing through a system of pipes.

1. Electrons = water

2. Wires = pipes

3. Battery = Reservoir and pump

4. Voltage = The pump creates pressure in the system. In a house, your water pressure is usually between 50 and 80 psi. This is like the difference in electrical potential between the negative and positive side of the battery. This potential difference is called voltage.

5. Amperage = The rate that the water flows through the pump is like the rate at which the electrons travel in a circuit.

6. Resistance = making the pipe smaller or putting in a sponge or filter.

Water pipes need to be all connected in order for the water to flow. If there is a break in a pipe, then the system is broken.

Similarly, in an electronic circuit, all the components need to connect to each other in such a way that the electrons can freely flow from the negative to the positive side of the power source. If there is a break, the electrons don’t flow out like in a water circuit, they just don’t flow at all. Sometimes this is done intentionally, this is called a switch.

Switch = intentionally opening and closing a gap in the circuit.

This is perhaps the most important concept for this workshop and when working with Arduinos. If the circuit is not working, the circuit is probably incomplete somewhere. So that is the first thing to always check. Make sure everything is plugged in where it is supposed to be plugged in.

Any questions so far?

Look at slides, take notes, thoughtfully ponder how a system of water pipes is like an electrical circuit.

The Components

[Show slide 6]

• Power source
  • [Progress slide]
  • An electrical circuit needs power, or a source of stored electrons. To power an Arduino, you can use a battery, a wall outlet adapter, or a USB cable to a computer.

• Wires/conductors
  • [Progress slide]
  • We use wires to connect the different components to each other and the Arduino. All of the wires are the same inside. The colors are to help you organize your circuit.

• Resistors
  • [Progress slide]
  • Resistors are bi-directional, meaning that they can be used in a circuit in any position. We use the resistors to restrict the current to certain components.  Resistors have colored bands on them to denote how much resistance they have.

• Photoresistor
  • [Progress slide]
  • A photoresistor is a special kind of resistor. It changes resistance based on how much light is detected. In our pipe analogy, you can think of it like a sponge that grows more dense or more porous depending on the light.

• LED (light emitting diode)
  • [Progress slide]
  • The LED, or Light Emitting Diode, is a component that is directional, meaning it allows electrons to flow through in only one direction. This would be like a one-way valve in a water pipe. As electrons flow through the diode, they lose energy in the form of light. Because LEDs are directional, there are two ways to determine the negative or positive side.
    First, there is a flat spot on the “brim” of the LED to denote the negative side. Second, the “leads” or legs of the LED are different lengths. The positive, or “anode” side is longer. The negative, or “cathode” side is shorter. Just as a plus sign has more to it than a negative sign, the positive lead is longer than the negative.
  • [Progress slide]
  • In a wiring diagram, the positive side of the LED is denoted with a bent lead.

• Breadboard
  • [Progress slide]
  • The breadboard is simply an easy way to connect a bunch of components together. The holes are connected in the back by rows of metal. If you were to remove the protective paper from the back, you would see the image on the left, how the rows are connected and the two columns on either side are connected.
  • [Progress slide]
  • For instance, the holes a, b, c, d, e in row 1 are all connected to each other, but nothing else.

• Arduino
  • [Progress slide]
  • Arduinos are small mico-controllers that allow you to gather input from sensors (like sound, motion, temperature, humidity, light, etc), through code impart some logic based on that input, and then generate some kind of output (like sound, motion, light, etc).
  • For example, you can have a sensor that detects light, then your code can determine to turn on or off an LED based on how much light was detected. That’s the basics of a nightlight, which we will construct at the end of this workshop.

Get out arduino kits and look at all the components as they are discussed.

Assessment

Pause for questions and assessment of knowledge and understanding. Ask questions like:

• Is there any confusion about any of the components talked about so far?
• What’s the difference between a resistor and a diode?
  • Resistor = restricts flow of electrons
  • Diode = only allows electrons to flow in one direction
• How does a photoresistor affect a circuit?
  • It changes resistance based on the amount of light.
• How would you use the breadboard to connect an LED to a resistor?
  • One lead of the LED should be in the same row as a lead of the resistor. For example, one lead from the LED in hole 1A, and one lead from the resistor in hole 1D.
• What do you think would happen to the brightness of an LED if you changed a small resistor for a larger resistor?
  • The brightness would decrease.

Ask questions or answer questions

The Arduino IDE

[Show slide 7]

• The Arduino IDE is the interface we use to write the code, or the logic, that we will then send to the Arduino board.

[Show slide 8]

• The software is free and available at https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software
• There is a download version (for any operating system), or a web version.
• While you install the IDE, we’ll go over some of the basics of the interface.

[Show slide 9]

• The two most important things to check after opening the Arduino software are 1) the board, and 2) the port.
• If you go to the Tools menu, you’ll see a submenu for Board: and a submenu for Port.

Check The Board

• Click on the Board submenu to see the various types of Arduino boards you can connect to. For this workshop, you’ll either use the Arduino Uno or the Arduino 101.
• [Progress slide]
• You may need to look down at the very bottom of the list to find your board.

[Show slide 10]

• If your specific Arduino board is not present, click on the Board Manager… menu to bring up the board manager.
• [Progress slide]
• Search for your board and click the Install button.

Check The Port

[Show slide 11]

• Next, make sure the Arduino is plugged into the computer with the USB port. There is only one way the cable can go.
• Select the Tools menu, then the Port submenu. There should be an option there that has the name of the Arduino board. Select that port.

Check Code and Upload

[Show slide 12]

• Next we’ll look at two buttons in the IDE that are useful.
• [Progress slide] Zoom in to the buttons..
• First is the code check button. This checks your code for errors, and if there are any errors, it will let you know.
• [Progress slide]
• The second button checks your code, and then sends it to the Arduino if there are no errors.
• You usually just need the second button.

Writing Your Code

[Show slide 13]

• Each new document you start is pre-filled with a couple of pieces of code. In Arduino language, these documents are called sketches. They can also be called scripts, or code files.
• [Progress slide] 
• The first piece of code is called the setup function. A function is like a bunch of code you write that can be used again later, just by using the function’s name.
• Line 1 starts our function. Here we use the word ‘void’ to tell Arduino what kind of function it is. It is a function that doesn’t return any information, it just does something, so it is a ‘void’ function. The name of the function is ‘setup’. The parentheses designate if we can pass information to the function when it is called/run/used. In this case there is nothing. Then finally, we have an open curly brace to say, this is where the function’s code starts, and a closing curly brace on line 4 to say, this is where the setup function’s code ends.
• Line 2 is just a comment. The Arduino just ignores this line. It’s just there for us humans.
• Line 3 is left blank.
• Line 5 is just an empty line.
• We would use the setup function to tell the Arduino to do stuff as soon as it loads the code. It does all of the stuff in the function once, then moves on to the next function.
• [Progress slide]
• The second piece of code is another ‘void’ function called loop.
• Line 6 starts the function, it’s type is void, there are no parameters passed into the function (nothing between the parentheses).
• Line 7 is another comment.
• Line 8 is blank.
• And line 9 is the closing curly brace.
• When the Arduino gets to this function, it runs the code inside over and over again as fast as it can. It loops over the code continuously until the Arduino loses power or you send it new code.

Download the Arduino IDE for your operating system and install.

Select the correct board from the Board submenu.

Connect the Arduino to the computer.

Select the correct port from the Port submenu.

Make a Circuit!

[Show slide 14]

Finally, we get to do what we came here to do. Make a circuit!

[Show slide 15]

Put together a circuit like this. An LED connected to a 100Ohm resistor connected to pin 12, and one lead connected to GND on the Arduino.

• Reminder: the LED might start blinking, depending on what code already is on the Arduino.

[Show slide 16]

Next, write the code needed to turn on the LED.

• [Progress slide] 
• In the setup function, you’ll tell the Arduino to send out a current on pin 12 using a new function called pinMode. This tells the Arduino that a specific pin is either sending out current (OUTPUT) or receiving current (INPUT).
• [Progress slide] 
• In the loop function, you’ll use a new function to tell the Arduino to actually send current to the specified pin using the digitalWrite function. This function needs a pin number and a value of HIGH or LOW. (See the Deeper Understanding section for more on why HIGH or LOW instead of ON or OFF.)
• [Progress slide] 
• And this is how you could write those two functions inside the setup and loop functions.

Allow time for participants to put together the circuit, write the code, and troubleshoot any issues.

Check in with each participant to make sure the LED turns on.

Troubleshooting:

• Check Board and Port settings
• Check that wires are plugged in firmly
• Make sure all connections are made
• Check that the correct pin # is used in the code

Connect the circuit.

Write the code.

Ask questions if it doesn’t work.

Blinking Light!

[Show slide 17]

Next, we’ll make the light blink. With just one more function and a few lines of code we can turn the LED into a blinking light.

• The delay function allows us to pause the script for a set number of milliseconds. 1000 seconds = 1 second.
• See if you can write the code that will allow the LED to blink. That means it will turn on for 1 second, then turn off for 1 second, then turn on for 1 second, then turn off for 1 second, etc.

After sufficient time for participants to try to write the code, and after working with participants individually to get their code working, you can progress the slide to show the solution.

• [Progress slide] 
• Here is one way to write the code.

Offer a challenge or exercise for further study:

• Play around with the number in the delay function to see what that does to the blinking light.

Write code to make the LED blink.

Assessment

• What is the least number of lines of code needed to blink the LED?
• Is the order of the delay and digitalWrite arbitrary? How can you reorder the code and still get the LED to blink?
• What happens if the LED is flipped in the circuit?
• Why can you put the resistor on the negative or positive side of the LED?

Answer assessment questions.

Night Light Circuit!

Now we move on to the next component needed for making our nightlight, the photoresistor. Remember the photoresistor changes its resistance based on the amount of light it senses. We’ll use this ability to determine when to turn the LED on or off.

[Show slide 18]

First, you’ll need to add the photoresistor to your circuit. This will need to be connected to a voltage output, the 5v pin, and to ground, the GND pin, with a 10K Ohm resistor. A third wire will connect to the photoresistor at the point where the resistor connects and then connect to analog pin zero on the Arduino, marked as A0.

The Arduino can’t actually detect the amount of resistance a component is contributing to the circuit, but it can detect the difference in current or voltage. The photoresistor and the 10K Ohm resistor create a circuit called a voltage divider. Think of it as two sponges in a water pipe. If you know the flow of water going into the pipe and the “resistance” of one spong, then as the other sponge changes and you observe the new flow rate, you can calculate the resistance of the second sponge. In any case, we are able to use the change in potential current (the voltage) using the photoresistor and a second resistor, which allows us to calculate the change in resistance.

We then use that number in the logic of our software to determine when to turn on the LED.

Connect the photoresistor and 10K Ohm resistor to the Arduino following the diagram given.

Night Light Code!

[Show slide 19]

Now we can update our code in the Arduino IDE program. This sketch introduces two new programming concepts; variables and the if...else logic structure.

The first, as seen on lines 3, 4, and 5 is that of creating a variable. A variable, in programming, is like a box that we put information in. There are four parts to making a variable in the Arduino language.

• [Progress slide]
• First, we must specify what kind of information can be stored in this variable. In this case we need a number, so we use integer, or int.
• [Progress slide]
• Some of the most used options are
  • int = numbers
  • float = numbers with a decimal point
  • char =  all characters
• [Progress slide]
• Second, the label, or name, of the variable.
• [Progress slide]
• Third, we use the single equal sign to assign a value to the variable. This is what puts the information into the box.
• [Progress slide]
• Fourth, the value that we want to store in the variable.

On line 3, we create a variable to hold the sensitivity value. The higher the number the more sensitive the nightlight is. The photoresistor will send a value from 0 to 1023. Let’s say that the amount of light in the room means the photoresistor gives us a value of 500. A value of 100 for the threshold means that when the value of the sensor drops below 400, then the LED will turn on. If we set the threshold to 20, then the LED would turn on when the photoresistor sends a value of 480.

On lines 4 and 5, we create two variables that have no value. We create, or ‘instantiate’, the variables here so that we can use them later. This has to do with the scope of the variable, or which parts of the code can ‘see’ or recognize the variable and its value or not. The ‘resistance’ variable will eventually hold the value of the photoresistor everytime the code checks for it. The ‘initialPhotoValue’ will hold the value of the photoresistor when the code runs for the first time.

On line 7, we start the setup function.

On line 8, we set the mode for pin 12 to be output, we’ll be sending current to the LED on pin 12.

On line 9, we grab the value of the photoresistor and assign the value to the variable ‘initialPhotoValue’ that we created on line 5. We want to grab the value of the photoristor here because this value totally depends on how much light there is in the room. This value is dependent upon the amount of light in the room each time the Arduino is turned on and the code is run.

We use the analogRead() function, and pass zero as the parameter. This means we will read in the value of the photoresistor that is plugged into pin A0 on the Arduino. The A stands for Analog.

On line 12, we start the loop function.

On line 15, we read the current value of the photoresistor. This value possibly changes each time the code loops through.

On line 19, we start the other new programming concept, the if...else statement. This is a logic statement that allows us to make a test of some values, and then based on the result the Arduino will run certain code. This line starts the if statement with the word ‘if’. Then in parenthesis we put the condition that is tested. In this case, we want to see if the current value of the photoresistor is less than the initial value minus the threshold. Let’s say that the current value of the photoresistor is 400, and the initial value was 645, and our threshold is 100. We can substitute those values in for the variables to test whether the equation is true or not. Is 400 less than 645 - 100?

If that is true, the code on line 20 is run, or executed, and lines 21-23 are ignored. If that is false, then line 20 is ignored, and line 22 is executed.

Notice the curly braces on lines 19, 21 and 23. Their purpose is similar to the curly braces used by the functions setup and loop. They let the program know what code is encapsulated, or enclosed, or belongs, to the ‘if’ or the ‘else’ part of the statement.

So, if the current value of the photoresistor is less than the initial value minus the threshold, then line 20 is executed. The digitalWrite function, or method, is used to send current to pin 12 which is connected to the LED.

Else/otherwise, line 22 is executed, and the digitalWrite method is used to stop current to pin 12.

Troubleshooting Tips:

• Check that the circuit is correct. Plug each wire and component in exactly as shown on the diagram if necessary.
• Check that there are no missing semicolons. The Arduino IDE will give visual clues in the code (squiggle underlines, etc).
• Check for errors in the output section of the IDE.
• Double check that the Board and Port are correct.

Type code into the Arduino IDE and send it to the Arduino.

Cover the photoresistor with your hand, and the LED should light up.

Assessment

• What happens when you change the sensitivity of the circuit by changing the value of the ‘threshold’ variable in the code, line 3?
• Can you make it so the LED turns on when a shadow passes over the photoresistor?

Change the sensitivity of the circuit by changing the value of the ‘threshold’ variable in the code, line 3.

Proclamation

[Show slide 20]

Proclaim that the participants are not bonafide electrical engineers and coders!

Thank each participant for coming. Answer any questions.

Pack up and fill out survey.