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Arduino contents

Basics

Stage 1 of Arduino14 lessons

The fourteen lessons of the first stage, in order. Each one builds something that works, and some parts come back later: the display from 1.11 is the thermometer's in 1.12, and the remote from 1.7 drives the motor in 1.9.

Start with 1.1

  1. Lesson 1.1: Getting started

    Before building circuits you need to be able to do three things: upload a program, read what the board reports on the serial monitor, and install libraries. Every lesson takes them for granted.

  2. Lesson 1.2: Tilt sensor

    A tilt sensor is a switch operated by gravity. It's the simplest way for a project to know whether it's upright, lying down or moving.

  3. Lesson 1.3: Ultrasonic sensor

    The HC-SR04 measures the distance to an obstacle the way a bat does: it makes a sound we can't hear and listens for how long it takes to come back. It's the basis of obstacle-avoiding robots, parking sensors and level gauges.

  4. Lesson 1.4: Analog joystick

    A thumb joystick turns a gesture into two numbers. Use it to move a servo, steer a robot or navigate a menu.

  5. Lesson 1.5: Matrix keypad

    A membrane keypad lets you enter numbers and commands: the code for a lock, a set point or a menu choice.

  6. Lesson 1.6: Temperature and humidity

    The DHT11 is the simplest sensor to start measuring your surroundings: a single data wire and a library that does all the work.

  7. Lesson 1.7: Infrared receiver

    A remote control is a cheap wireless controller. With an infrared receiver, any project can take orders from it.

  8. Lesson 1.8: Servo motor

    A servo doesn't spin endlessly: it goes to an angle and stays there, pushing to hold it. It's the actuator in barriers, robot arms and the rudders of model aircraft.

  9. Lesson 1.9: Stepper motor with a remote

    This lesson brings two parts together: the infrared receiver from lesson 1.7 and a stepper motor. Press a key on the remote and the motor makes exactly one turn one way or the other.

  10. Lesson 1.10: 7-segment display

    Four digits add up to 32 segments, and the Uno doesn't have that many pins. This lesson solves it with two techniques you'll find in many devices: the shift register and multiplexing.

  11. Lesson 1.11: LCD display

    A text display makes a project self-contained: you no longer need the computer and the serial monitor to know what's going on.

  12. Lesson 1.12: Thermometer

    This lesson puts together what you've seen so far —an analog input, a voltage divider and the display from the previous lesson— to build a thermometer that doesn't need a computer.

  13. Lesson 1.13: DC motor

    The DC motor is the most common actuator: fans, wheels, pumps. Driving one from the Arduino takes two things a pin doesn't have: current, and the ability to reverse polarity.

  14. Lesson 1.14: Relay

    A relay lets a 5 V signal control a completely separate circuit: another supply, another voltage, another current. It's the bridge between the Arduino and loads it can't handle by itself.