Arduino Basics

PART ONE Introduction This is a four part tutorial which will take you through step-by-step on how to create Android apps on your Mobile device that will allow you to communicate with your Arduino over Bluetooth. This tutorial is based upon the Windows environment and an Android device like the Samsung Galaxy S2 Phone. I will take you through setting up your computer and phone, and will move through in stages so that you understand what each part of the bluetooth code is actually doing. Obviously you will need to ensure that you have a Bluetooth Shield on your Arduino to be able to walk through this tutorial with me. If you are not interested in the step-by-step instructions, you can jump straight to the end ( Part 4 ) which will have the complete Arduino and Android/Processing code that was used in the following video: The Goal of this project ( Video ) Setting up Processing for Android applications: For the latest and most up to date version, please follow the instructions on this we...

As seen in the previous blog postings, the LED (Light Emitting Diode) was used to DISPLAY the result of various sensors. It was also used to create a variety of Light patterns or sequences. The LED is commonly used as an OUTPUT device, however, I have since found out: there is another option. You can use the LED as an INPUT device !! I have only tried this with a Yellow LED and a Red LED, however, this should work with any colour. Some sites recommend using a clear/transparent/colourless LED for best effect, but it depends on what you are trying to achieve. The LED responds better to light of the same wavelength that it emits. So a yellow LED responds better to yellow light, and a red LED responds better to Red light. The following experiment attempts to prove this theory. A Red and Yellow LED alternate and fade in to maximum brightness using PWM (Analog Output). Meanwhile, a separate LED is used as an INPUT device to receive the light. The value obtained is plotted using a processing ...