Project #1: Blinking LEDs

Arduino is a prototype platform (open-source) based on an easy-to-use hardware and software. It consists of a circuit board, which can be programed (referred to as a microcontroller) and a ready-made software called Arduino IDE (Integrated Development Environment), which is used to write and upload the computer code to the physical board.
The Arduino language is merely a set of C/C++ functions that can be called from your code. Your sketch undergoes minor changes (e.g. automatic generation of function prototypes) and then is passed directly to a C/C++ compiler (avr-g++). All standard C and C++ constructs supported by avr-g++ should work in Arduino.
Follow the circuit diagram above and hook up the components on the breadboard as shown in the image above.
Note: To find out the polarity of an LED, look at it closely. The shorter of the two legs, towards the flat edge of the bulb indicates the negative terminal. Open the Arduino IDE software on your computer. Coding in the Arduino language will control your circuit. Open the new sketch File by clicking New. pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT) − Before you can use one of Arduino’s pins, you need to tell Arduino Uno R3 whether it is an INPUT or OUTPUT. We use a built-in “function” called pinMode() to do this. |
digitalWrite(2, HIGH) − When you are using a pin as an OUTPUT, you can command it to be HIGH (output 5 volts), or LOW (output 0 volts).
RESULT: You should see your LED turn on and off. If the required output is not seen, make sure you have assembled the circuit correctly, and verified and uploaded the code to your board. |