Arduino 101: Tutorial #5 |Our First Circuit|

By


Hello people!

In this tutorial we will be making our first circuit with the arduino(Yayyy!). We will learn how to connect an external LED with the arduino and make it blink, just like we did in our first tutorial with the inbuilt LED. So let's get started.!

Suggested Reading

If you aren’t familiar with the following concepts, I recommend checking out these tutorials before continuing.

  1. Electrical Engineering Basics: Ohm's law, voltage, current, resistance.
  2. Working With Breadboards

Theory

  1. Diode: A diode is a component that allows current to flow only in one direction. Hence, in electric circuits, a diode can be thought of as a one way check valve, that permits the flow of current only in one direction. There are other types of diodes too, performing different functions, but these are the ones that we'll be using most commonly in our arduino circuits.
  2. LED: LED stands for light emitting diode. The two terminals of an LED are called anode and cathode. The longer terminal of an LED is usually an anode. As we discussed, that a diode allows current to flow only in one direction, hence if you plug an LED backwards, it won't work, but it won't destroy the LED either. But the one thing that will surely destroy the LED, is by plugging it directly to positive and ground. This will make too much current to pass through the diode and destroy it.Therefore, an LED is almost always used in series with a resistor to limit the current in the circuit and prevent the diode from burning.
  3. Breadboard: A breadboard, also known as a prototyping board, is used as a construction base for electronic circuits. To learn more about breadboards, you can check my tutorial on breadboards here.

Making the Circuit

  • Consider the image below and follow the steps as described.


  1. Take a wire and connect the pin 13 of the arduino to the bottom most row of the breadboard.
  2. Take another wire and connect the ground pin(GND) of the arduino to the row above the bottom most row of the breadboard. Lets call this row the "ground row" for the rest of the tutorial.
  3. Connect a 330 ohm resistance to the ground row and terminal b1 in the breadboard.
  4. Connect the cathode(shorter leg) of the LED at c1 and anode(longer leg) at c2.
  5. Now, take another wire and connect b2 to the bottom most row of the breadboard.
  6. Now, let us upload the same code that we discussed in tutorial #1 to the arduino.
If you did all the steps exactly as described in this tutorial, you will see the LED blink with a delay of 1 second. Watch the video below. If the LED does not blinks, check all your electrical connections and make sure you've not plugged the LED backwards.


And with this, we end our tutorial here.

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial. If you have any suggestions/complaints or questions feel free to comment below. :)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Project: FSAE Variable length Intake Manifold(VLIM)

By
Image
What is an Intake manifold? An intake manifold is simply a mechanical component attached to the engines cylinder head that allows the air/fuel mixture to enter the combustion chamber of the engine. The intake manifold consists of following parts: What is Variable geometry intake manifold? A variable geometry intake manifold, as the name suggests, is an intake manifold that changes its geometry. The change in geometry is required to optimize the engines performance at different RPM. This is usually achieved by varying the runner length of the intake manifold. What are the benefits of a Variable geometry intake manifold ? Short answer, to achieve greater Volumetric efficiency. As a consequence of greater volumetric efficiency, we can achieve greater torque, power and thermal efficiency from the same size of the engine at the same RPM. What is Volumetric efficiency? Volumetric efficiency  in an  internal combustion engine,  is defined as the  ratio  of
Read more

Tutorial: Data Acquisition System

By
Image
  Data Acquisition System What is Data acquisition? Data acquisition is the process of measuring physical quantities such as voltage, current, temperature, pressure, or sound with the help of electronic and mechanical devices. The process is usually carried out by using an array of sensors connected with a computer. Why is Data Acquisition necessary? The first requirement for any scientific claim to be acceptable is to be backed by some physical observations and measured data. This is where data acquisition techniques come into play. What is data acquisition system? A data acquisition system is a combination of hardware and software components that enable a computer to receive and interpret some physical form of signal. What are the basic components of a Data acquisition system? In short, a data acquisition system can be divided into three parts: Sensors: Sometimes also called transducers, convert some physical quantity, such as press
Read more

Project: Electronic Steering Wheel

By
Image
Hello everyone! In the blogpost below, I share one of my favourite projects, and that is the electronic steering wheel. I designed and developed the steering wheel for a formula student car. The function of the electronics on the wheel are to basically control several systems of the car like settings for radiator fan, drag reduction system and variable length intake manifold. To get a brief idea, first watch the video below and then continue with the post. The Setup The setup can be divided into 4 levels of hierarchy. Consider the diagram below: Arduino: The role of arduino in my setup is to receive input from the touch screen and gear shift buttons and accordingly deliver an output signal to control all the relays and servo. Steering wheel and actuators: Quick release electrical coupling: As far as the production of the steering wheel is concerned, this was undoubtedly the most difficult part of the entire setup. The male side of a round electrica
Read more