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Arduino Development Cookbook
Arduino Development Cookbook

Arduino Development Cookbook: Over 50 hands-on recipes to quickly build and understand Arduino projects, from the simplest to the most extraordinary

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Profile Icon Cornel M Amariei
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Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.5 (10 Ratings)
Paperback Apr 2015 246 pages 1st Edition
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Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Cornel M Amariei
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Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.5 (10 Ratings)
Paperback Apr 2015 246 pages 1st Edition
eBook
Can$34.98 Can$49.99
Paperback
Can$61.99
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eBook
Can$34.98 Can$49.99
Paperback
Can$61.99
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Arduino Development Cookbook

Chapter 2. Blinking LEDs

In this chapter, we will cover the following recipes:

  • Blinking LED without delay()
  • Connecting an external LED
  • Fading the external LED
  • RGB LED
  • LED bar graph
  • The 7-segment display

Introduction

In this chapter, we will explore LEDs with the Arduino. The fastest way to get some feedback from a system or from the Arduino is via an LED. They are simple devices which are either on or off. However, they form the basis for advanced technologies such as LED TVs, projectors, or lasers. In this chapter, we will also see how to use them efficiently and explore some interesting applications for them.

LED stands for Light Emitting Diode and, in its core, it's just a diode that emits light. LEDs are incredibly common these days and can be found at any common electronics shop. Radioshack, Digikey, Farnell, Sparkfun, Adafruit, or Pololu are just a few places we can buy LEDs from, online.

Blinking LED without delay()

It is easy to make the LED blink on an Arduino. We turn it on, wait, turn it off, wait again, and then we repeat the cycle. However, this wait state will completely halt the Arduino execution. We want to make the LED blink while the Arduino is performing other actions.

Getting ready

For this recipe all you need is an Arduino board connected to the computer via USB.

How to do it…

The following code will make the internal LED blink on the Arduino without ever using the delay() function:

// Variable for keeping the previous LED state
int previousLEDstate = LOW;

unsigned long lastTime = 0; // Last time the LED changed state
int interval = 200; // interval between the blinks in milliseconds

void setup() {
  // Declare the pin for the LED as Output
  pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);
}

void loop(){
  
  // Here we can write any code we want to execute continuously
  // Read the current time
  unsigned long currentTime = millis();
  
  // Compare the current time...

Connecting an external LED

Luckily, the Arduino boards come with an internal LED connected to pin 13. It is simple to use and always there. But most times we want our own LEDs in different places of our system. We might connect something on top of the Arduino board and can no longer see the internal LED. Here, we will explore how to connect an external LED.

Getting ready

For this recipe, we need the following ingredients:

  • An Arduino board connected to the computer via USB
  • A breadboard and jumper wires
  • A regular LED (the typical LED size is 3 mm)
  • A resistor between 220–1,000 ohm

How to do it…

Follow these steps to connect an external LED to an Arduino board:

  1. Mount the resistor on the breadboard. Connect one end of the resistor to a digital pin on the Arduino board using a jumper wire.
  2. Mount the LED on the breadboard. Connect the anode (+) pin of the LED to the available pin on the resistor. We can determine the anode on the LED in two ways. Usually, the longer pin is the anode. Another...

Fading the external LED

The LED has two states: ON and OFF. But what if we want to adjust the brightness? How can we do that if we can only turn it ON or OFF? By turning it ON and OFF quickly.

We will use a technique called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM), which is built into the Arduino. It allows us to dim the LED with up to 256 settings.

Getting ready

We require the following ingredients for this recipe:

  • An Arduino board connected to the computer via USB
  • A breadboard and jumper wires
  • A regular LED
  • A resistor between 220–1,000 ohm

How to do it…

This recipe uses the same circuit as the Connecting an external LED recipe with a single difference, the pin used to connect the LED is not digital pin 2 but PWM pin 3.

Schematic

This is one possible implementation on the third digital pin. Other digital pins with PWM can be used. On the typical Arduino, such as UNO, there are six pins that also have PWM functionality. These pins are 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 11.

Schematic

Here is a simple way of wiring the LED...

RGB LED

We can get LEDs in a variety of colors these days, but what about an LED that can change color? We all know that a combination of Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) can give us any color. Using the Arduino PWM functionality, we will see how we can obtain 16 million color combinations with an RGB LED.

RGB LED stands for Red Green Blue LED. Inside such an LED we can find one red, one green, and one blue LED, mounted together.

Getting ready

The following are the ingredients needed for this recipe:

  • An Arduino board connected to the computer via USB
  • A breadboard and jumper wires
  • An RGB LED
  • Three equal resistors between 220–1,000 ohm

How to do it…

Follow these steps in order to connect an RGB LED to an Arduino board:

  1. Mount the RGB LED on the breadboard.
  2. We need to identify which pin represents which color and which pin is the common one. The following graphic explains just that:
    How to do it…
  3. Connect 5V to the common anode (+) of the RGB LED. This is the longest of the four pins.
  4. Connect each smaller cathode...

LED bar graph

We all hate progress bars! They are always delaying us from doing something. But in the Arduino world they can be very handy. Here, we will see how to build one with LEDs. An LED bar graph is just a bunch of LEDs put together in a fancy case, but there are many uses for it. We can display the date from a sensor, show a critical condition, or make a funny light show with it.

Getting ready

We will need the following ingredients to execute this recipe:

  • An Arduino board connected to the computer via USB
  • A breadboard and jumper wires
  • An LED bar graph
  • Resistors between 220–1,000 ohm

How to do it…

Following are the steps to connect a 10-segment bar graph to the Arduino:

  1. Mount the LED bar graph onto the breadboard.
  2. If the bar graph is a common anode (+) configuration, connect the common anode (+) pin to the 5V port on the Arduino. If the bar graph is a common cathode (-), connect the pin to the GND port on the Arduino.
  3. Connect each individual segment pin to one individual Arduino...

Introduction


In this chapter, we will explore LEDs with the Arduino. The fastest way to get some feedback from a system or from the Arduino is via an LED. They are simple devices which are either on or off. However, they form the basis for advanced technologies such as LED TVs, projectors, or lasers. In this chapter, we will also see how to use them efficiently and explore some interesting applications for them.

LED stands for Light Emitting Diode and, in its core, it's just a diode that emits light. LEDs are incredibly common these days and can be found at any common electronics shop. Radioshack, Digikey, Farnell, Sparkfun, Adafruit, or Pololu are just a few places we can buy LEDs from, online.

Left arrow icon Right arrow icon

Description

If you want to build programming and electronics projects that interact with the environment, this book will offer you dozens of recipes to guide you through all the major applications of the Arduino platform. It is intended for programming or electronics enthusiasts who want to combine the best of both worlds to build interactive projects.

Who is this book for?

If you want to build programming and electronics projects that interact with the environment, this book will offer you dozens of recipes to guide you through all the major applications of the Arduino platform. It is intended for programming or electronics enthusiasts who want to combine the best of both worlds to build interactive projects.

What you will learn

  • Read data from sensors and take action based on the environment
  • Use the Arduino to turn on lights, write to screens, or play light shows
  • Manipulate motors and other actuators to control the movement of different objects
  • Set up electronic circuits on a breadboard to interact with the Arduino
  • Explore hacks to push your project to the next level
  • Make your projects wireless and make them communicate with the computer

Product Details

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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Apr 23, 2015
Length: 246 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781783982943
Vendor :
Arduino
Category :
Concepts :
Tools :

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Product Details

Publication date : Apr 23, 2015
Length: 246 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781783982943
Vendor :
Arduino
Category :
Concepts :
Tools :

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Table of Contents

10 Chapters
1. Power on – Arduino Basics Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Blinking LEDs Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Working with Buttons Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Sensors Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Motor Control Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. More Output Devices Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Digital Communication with Arduino Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Hacking Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
A. Electronics – the Basics Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

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Requin Jun 08, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Starts off with the basics (LED`s, buttons, simple sensors) and then goes into advanced topics, which are very useful, but not hard to follow. Every wondered how to do noise reduction on a measurement, Localization through GPS or using brushless motors? As well practical things like using SD Cards for saving files and interrupts for handling external events.I already had some experience with Arduino and read a couple of introduction books.This one is so far the best for me. Providing all the basics the others offer as well and then showing some immensely useful things to build really cool applications.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
rmezei Jun 24, 2015
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The book contains all the information you need to start playing with your Arduino kit. In Chapter 1 it starts with information regarding the Arduino IDE and it contains (among other things) information on how to install it on a Mac OS X, Windows, or Linux machine. Personally I think however that the reader may want to start reading the Appendix first (unless you already have enough electronics background). In the Appendix one can find information regarding schematics, Ohm's Law, Resistor configurations, LEDs, breadboards, etc.In my opinion the book seems to be written with a focus on the programming rather than electronics side. As such, many of the unnecessary electronics details are omitted, and you get just enough electronics-related information to make your Arduino projects run smoothly. There is however a lot of focus on the software concepts and as such the code is written very clearly and it’s pretty easy to follow.Some great topics that are included in this book are: button debouncing, button multiplexing, detecting motion, noise reduction (using mean and median filter), measuring distance, 1000 buttons to 1 pin, motor control, shift registers , and very many others. These are great-to-master topics that are useful for many embedded projects not only for Arduinos.One of the great features of the book is that for each project one can find a schematic as well as a realistic breadboard implementation. Throughout the book one will learn how to use buttons, toggle switches, LEDs, potentiometers, temperature sensors, etc.Each project starts with the complete code and then it contains a code breakdown, where each part of the code is explained with more details. I wish the internal references to previous sections would also contain page numbers (for a quicker retrieve).Overall I think this is a pretty good introductory Arduino book which is very easy to follow, and it’s very clear to read. If you are quite advanced in Arduino project then you may want to skip this book, although given the price of it you may want to use it as a quick reference.
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Derek Jan 08, 2016
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Very Helpful
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CWJ Koster Jul 08, 2015
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It's a great book to learn all kinds of Arduino projects. From simple things to more advanced projects, a great way to get into Arduino development. The projects in this book helped me a lot as a start to build my own things. All the components needed to make the projects are listed and are found in most Arduino starter kits. Some components need to be bought separately but they are easy to find.I can recommend this book if you would like to be introduced to a wide variety of Arduino projects!
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Ted F Jun 03, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This book starts out stressing the use of an Arduino for robotic control, but it's so much more than that. I have a project to build some gear for scoring bicycle races, mostly time trials. My requirements are to get accurate start times of individual racers and obviously finish times.I figured using Arduino or Pi based controllers would be the way to go. The start line for these races is generally separated form the finish line by a couple of hundred feet and on the opposite side of the race course. This makes hard-wired connections a problem. Searching around for books that could help me, I found the Arduino Development Cookbooik. This book looks like it will solve several of the problems I'm facing. I like the fact that the `recipes' provide a basic discussion of the problem, then give a wiring diagram in the form of a schematic and then the breadboard diagram. This makes if really easy to set up the circuit using a breadboard, obviously. Then the code is presented to perform the function but more importantly, then goes into extensive detail about what the steps of the code are performing. If the `recipe' isn't exactly what my project needs, I can see what I would need to do to adapt it to my needs. This book is going to form the basis for my project to be able to read switch closures and the start and finish lines as the bike wheels cross an air line, radio the starting info to the finish line. In addition I'll be able to experiment with the best way of getting that information over a wireless connection, where near field or bluetooth wouldn't be capable of the transmitting over the distances required. In all this is a great book for the Arduino beginner or someone that wants to expand their experience with the Arduino platform.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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