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Arduino Development Cookbook

You're reading from   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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Product type Paperback
Published in Apr 2015
Publisher
ISBN-13 9781783982943
Length 246 pages
Edition 1st Edition
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Author (1):
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Cornel M Amariei Cornel M Amariei
Author Profile Icon Cornel M Amariei
Cornel M Amariei
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Toc

Table of Contents (11) Chapters Close

Preface 1. Power on – Arduino Basics FREE CHAPTER 2. Blinking LEDs 3. Working with Buttons 4. Sensors 5. Motor Control 6. More Output Devices 7. Digital Communication with Arduino 8. Hacking A. Electronics – the Basics Index

Transistor driver


Each Arduino digital pin can output a limited amount of current, an absolute maximum of 40 mA. This is enough to power an LED, a small buzzer speaker, or maybe a small vibrating motor. However, we need more current for our applications most of the time.

Using a transistor driver, we can easily power up more demanding loads. Here, we will quickly explore how to build a general transistor driver.

Getting ready

Following are the ingredients for this recipe:

  • An Arduino board connected to a computer via USB

  • A resistor between 220 and 4,700 ohm

  • A standard NPN transistor (BC547, 2N3904, N2222A, TIP120)

  • A standard diode (1N4148, 1N4001, 1N4007)

How to do it…

Follow these steps to connect an external load to the Arduino using an NPN transistor:

  1. Connect one of the terminals of the load to 5V or VIN. If we are using a load that requires a voltage higher than 5 V or higher current than the Arduino 5V can provide (around 500 mA), we can use the VIN pin and connect an external power supply or...

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