ARDUINO TUTORIALS

 ARDUINO INTRODUCTION
TUTORIAL-1




I have been working with Arduino's for some two years now and have completed many interesting projects using this simple micro-controller Board ,so before i start posting my projects here i would like to post a series of arduino tutorials for those new to the world of this magical device.


"ARDUINO-FAQ'S"

So the first question that many people ask me when they hear about arduino.

 1) What is this ARDUINO????

so the answer is simple---wikipedia says this.
  1. "Arduino is a family of single-board micro controllers, intended to make it easier to build interactive objects or environments. The hardware consists of an open-source hardware board designed around an 8-bit Atmel AVR micro controller or a 32-bit Atmel ARM".
so putting this in simple words,Arduino is a "MICRO-CONTROLLER" that has a Programming Environment (IDE)  provided by the arduino people which is so simple to use that you will never forget it.


So now lets get started!!!

2) What do you require to begin learning arduino?????

  • ARDUINO software ----->get it on the following link                                       http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Software
  • A ARDUINO BOARD-----> you can search for store nearby or even order it online arduino is easily available,because it is very much popular and used among developers because of its simplicity.
  • A COMPUTER

  • Very important---"Some innovative ideas in your mind"
That is it,this is all that you need for learning arduino

3) Which Arduino to select??????

      If you are Beginner than the best to start up with is arduino "UNO" it is sufficient for beginners and can be used for complex task as well because this is what i used for most of my project's and the second reason it is "CHEAP" as compared to other arduino boards so not a big issue if yu fry up your new arduino "UNO" 

4) What is the Difference between a Micro controller and a Micro processor?????

BRAIN POWER:

    So putting it in simple word's for beginners, A micro controller has low processing power which means it cant process large and complex tasks e.g processing a image, but a micro processor can do very much complex task with ease.

MUSCLE POWER:

      BUT the micro processor  does not sufficient power to drive external devices that is it cant control external devices easily but the micro-controller can do so and thus is named a controller while a processor is called so because of its high processing power.

So your Arduino is a  Micro controller and can drive external devices like a LED,Transistor,MOSFET, and even servo motor but a processor cant.

So in simple words a micro controller has muscle power but has low brain power while a processor is sharp at brain but has low muscle power 
the following video may clear it furthur.


Hope that most of your questions as regards to arduino are solved now and in the next post we will go through the arduino IDE and learn the simple arduino programming SYNTAX.




TUTORIAL-2

  Hello,
            
              In the last post we have answered some of the most common Frequently asked Questions(FAQ's) about Arduino's.Hope that now you are ready with the basic setup for starting arduino,lets have a quick look at the requirements
  1. ARDUINO SOFTWARE IDE
  2. ARDUINO BOARD
  3. MOST IMP "SOME INNOVATIVE IDEAS IN YOUR MIND"
   Now that you are ready,Lets get started.

  1.  Open the Arduino IDE on the desktop 
Now lets get into the command icons that you can see on the top left corner of the desktop

      
     COMPILE :If you have done some kind of programming ever than you must have heard this word some where ,a compiler converts the HIGH LEVEL language code into the MACHINE LANGUAGE(HEX file)  which the arduino can understand

You can have a more knowledge on compiler and interpreter from the following link

     UPLOAD :This is used to transfer the code from the PC to the Arduino Board.So the upload is actually two step process in which the code is COMPILED first into the machine language and then BURNED onto the Arduino MCU(by the way arduino UNO uses the ATMEL AVR 328P-PU Micro controller )

rest of the command are self explanatory.




     2.   Now lets Start learning the Arduino "SYNTAX"

Open the "BLINK" example in Arduino the best one to start with!!!!



Lets see what the code has?????



The definition and significance of each line has been explained in the figure above

     3.  Let us list down the important Functions and Key words used in the above code:

  1. "int" :It is a type of variable 
  2. "void" : It is the type of function return,when ever we define a function in any language we need to define the type of value it gives to the output.if the function does give any value in return we name the return type as "VOID" 
  3. "setup":It is the function of Non-return type which runs for one time whenever the arduino is reset or powered.Thus it contains the intinitialization of all the things used in the code.
  4. "pinMode":This is a function which is used to define the behavior of a pin ,the pin can act as either INPUT or OUTPUT.
  5. "loop":This function is operated after the setup function has been run once and then continues to run for infinite time or until the arduino is reset or switched off. Thus it is similar to a while loop in "C"
  6. "digitalWrite":This is a function used to write a digital value (HIGH or LOW and 0 or 1) to any pin initialized in the setup as OUTPUT.    
  7. "delay()": This function is used to produce a delay in the execution of code,this is required when taking input from a sensor in order to provide settling time to the sensor and give new reading.

     4.  Practice Question:

Write a code to blink the LED connected at pin number 3 of Arduino uno and with a ON time of  700 ms and OFF time of 200 ms ?



After you have all of this please watch this video to get the things much more clear.

Tutorial 01 and 02




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