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Arduino BLINK Blueprints
Arduino BLINK Blueprints

Arduino BLINK Blueprints: Get the most out of your Arduino to develop exciting and creative LED-based projects

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Arduino BLINK Blueprints

Chapter 2. Project 1 – LED Night Lamp

In Chapter 1, Getting Started with Arduino and LEDs, you learned about the "Hello World" of physical computing. Now, as you have basic knowledge of Arduino and its IDE, we can go ahead with some cool stuff to do with controlling LEDs. The following topics will be covered in this chapter:

  • Introduction to breadboard
  • Controlling multiple LEDs
  • LED fading
  • Creating a mood lamp
  • Developing an LED night lamp

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to control different LEDs in an artistic approach.

Introduction to breadboard

Prototyping is the process of testing out an idea by creating a preliminary model from which other products can be developed or formed. The breadboard is one of the most fundamental pieces for prototyping electronics circuits. As it does not require any soldering, it is also referred to as a "solderless board".

Structure of a breadboard

Almost all modern breadboards are made up of plastic. A modern breadboard consists of a perforated block of plastic with numerous metal clips under the perforations. The breadboard has strips of metal underneath the board and holes on top of the board. In the following image, you can see the structure of the breadboard:

Structure of a breadboard

The main structure of the breadboard is made up of a main central area, which is a block of two sets of columns, where each column is made up of many rows. All of these rows are connected on a row-by-row basis.

Using a breadboard

The breadboard has many strips of copper beneath the board that connects the...

Controlling multiple LEDs

In the embedded world, controlling a single LED is "Hello World" code, which we learned in first chapter. Now, as we are familiar with the concepts of LED, we can start to control multiple LEDs with Arduino. Here, we will start by making a simple traffic light module.

Simple traffic light controller

As we all know, a traffic light is made up of three LEDs: red, yellow, and green. To make this project, we need red, green, and yellow LEDs, strip wires, and a few 255 Ω resistors.

In the previous chapter, in our "Hello World" program, we connected an LED directly with pin 13. Here, we will connect red, yellow, and green LEDs with pins 9, 10, and 11 respectively. In the case of pin 13, it has an in-built pull up resistor. Pull up resistors are used to limit the current supplied to an LED. We can't give current of more than a few mA to LEDs. But, with pin 13, current is itself limited in Arduino by the internal pull up resistor. If we want...

LED fading

You can fade out and fade in the light of an LED using Arduino's analogWrite(pin, value) function. Before we get into using the analogWrite() function, we will understand the concept behind the analogWrite() function. To create an analog signal, Arduino uses a technique called Pulse width modulation (PWM).

Pulse width modulation (PWM)

PWM is a technique for getting an analog signal using digital means. By varying the duty cycle (duty cycle is the percentage of a period, when a signal is active.), we can mimic an "average" analog voltage. As you can see in the following image, when we want medium voltage, we will keep the duty cycle as 50%. Similarly, if we want to achieve low voltage and high voltage, we will keep the duty cycle as 10% and 90% respectively. In this application, PWM is the process to control the power sent to the LED:

Pulse width modulation (PWM)

Using PWM on Arduino

Arduino UNO has 14 digital I/O pins. As mentioned in Chapter 1, Getting Started with Arduino and LEDs, we can use...

Creating a mood lamp

Lighting is one of the biggest opportunities for homeowners to effectively influence the ambience of their home, whether for comfort and convenience or to set the mood for guests. In this section, we will make a simple yet effective mood lamp using our own Arduino. We will be using an RGB LED for creating our mood lamp. An RGB (red, green, and blue) LED has all three LEDs in one single package, so we don't need to use three different LEDs for getting different colors. Also, by mixing the values, we can simulate many colors using some sophisticated programming. It is said that, we can produce 16.7 million different colors.

Using an RGB LED

An RGB LED is simply three LEDs crammed into a single package. An RGB LED has four pins. Out of these four pins, one pin is the cathode (ground). As an RGB LED has all other three pins shorted with each other, it is also called a common anode RGB LED:

Using an RGB LED

Here, the longer head is the cathode, which is connected with ground, and the other...

Developing an LED night lamp

So now we have developed our mood lamp, but it will turn on only when we connect a power supply to Arduino. It won't turn on or off depending on the darkness of the environment. Also, to turn it off, we have to disconnect our power supply from Arduino. In this section, we will learn how to use switches with Arduino.

Introduction to switch

Switches are one of the most elementary and easy-to-overlook components. Switches do only one thing: either they open a circuit or short circuit. Mainly, there are two types of switches:

  • Momentary switches: Momentary switches are those switches which require continuous actuation—like a keyboard switch and reset button on the Arduino board
  • Maintained switches: Maintained switches are those switches which, once actuated, remain actuated—like a wall switch.

Normally, all the switches are NO (normally opened) type switches. So, when the switch is actuated, it closes the path and acts as a perfect piece of conducting...

Introduction to breadboard


Prototyping is the process of testing out an idea by creating a preliminary model from which other products can be developed or formed. The breadboard is one of the most fundamental pieces for prototyping electronics circuits. As it does not require any soldering, it is also referred to as a "solderless board".

Structure of a breadboard

Almost all modern breadboards are made up of plastic. A modern breadboard consists of a perforated block of plastic with numerous metal clips under the perforations. The breadboard has strips of metal underneath the board and holes on top of the board. In the following image, you can see the structure of the breadboard:

The main structure of the breadboard is made up of a main central area, which is a block of two sets of columns, where each column is made up of many rows. All of these rows are connected on a row-by-row basis.

Using a breadboard

The breadboard has many strips of copper beneath the board that connects the holes as shown...

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Key benefits

  • Learn to control TV backlighting using an IR remote
  • Get introduced to sound visualization so you are able to use sound-controlled LEDs
  • Build an exciting persistence of vision wand

Description

Arduino is an open-source prototyping platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. Arduino has been used in thousands of different projects and applications by a wide range of programmers and artists, and their contributions have added up to an incredible amount of accessible knowledge that can be of great help to novices and experts alike. Want to build exciting LED projects with Arduino? This book will be your companion to bring out the creative genius in you. To begin with, you will get introduced to the maker movement and the open source hardware development Arduino boards. You will then move on to develop a mood lamp and a remote-controlled TV backlight. As you progress through the book, you will develop an LED cube and will learn to use sound visualization to develop a sound-controlled LED Christmas tree. You will then move on to build a persistence of vision wand. At the end of each chapter, you’ll see some common problems, their solutions, and some workarounds.

Who is this book for?

Anyone with a basic computer knowledge should be able to get the most out of this book. Although familiarity with some of the electronics would be helpful, it is not a must.

What you will learn

  • Set up Arduino boards to run a basic ‘Hello World' program
  • Develop a mood lamp and expand it to become an LED night lamp
  • Control TV backlight color and intensity using an IR remote
  • Develop an IR-controlled 44 LED cube
  • Use sound visualization to develop a sound-controlled LED Christmas tree
  • See a fun way to create interesting long exposure photographs and light displays using persistence of vision (POV) wands

Product Details

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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : May 30, 2016
Length: 134 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785285868
Vendor :
Arduino
Category :
Tools :

What do you get with eBook?

Product feature icon Instant access to your Digital eBook purchase
Product feature icon Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want

Product Details

Publication date : May 30, 2016
Length: 134 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785285868
Vendor :
Arduino
Category :
Tools :

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Table of Contents

8 Chapters
1. Getting Started with Arduino and LEDs Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Project 1 – LED Night Lamp Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Project 2 – Remote Controlled TV Backlight Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Project 3 – LED Cube Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Sound Visualization and LED Christmas Tree Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Persistence of Vision Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Troubleshooting and Advanced Resources Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
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