Awesome Arduino Projects

Getting Started

Software

Download the Arduino Software. Chromebooks can use Codebender to write and load Arduino sketches, but they may not work with our cheap Nanos.

The Arduino Nano we're using for this workshop needs a special driver. Please download, install it, and restart your computer.

• Windows
• Mac
• Linux

The Arduino Nano (clone)

Here is a diagram of the device we're using in this workshop, a cheap clone of the Arduino Nano. They are small and great for permanent projects, but require a breadboard for prototyping. The Arduino Uno is probably the best device to learn on.

Exercise 1: Blink

Within the Arduino software, follow the path below to open up blink.

Plug in your Arduino Nano. A red light should turn on. Set the board, processor, and port as shown below. These will be different depending on the specific Arduino you purchase.

Click the upload button to send the code to the Arduino.

That's it! If the little green light is blinking, you just programmed an Arduino! If you're having trouble connecting to the Arduino or didn't bring a compatible computer, you can try the virtual electronics lab at 123D Circuits.

Exercise 2: More Blink!

The next step is to wire up an LED to pin 13 and blink that. Keep it wired an use it with the fade exercise!

Breadboarding

The breadboard is an important tool in electronics. It's how everything gets connected without twisting wires or soldiering! Here's how breadboards work:

Click here for a more detailed explanation of breadboards

Exercises

The exercises below make use of Arduino's built-in examples and tutorials on Arduino.cc. I've chosen them out of a few dozen options as the most useful for illustrating key concepts.

Exercise 3: Fade

Open the Fade example by going to File --> Examples --> Basics --> Fade. The tutorial is located at https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Fading

Exercise 4: Button

This is our first example of using an input. Open the button example by going to File --> Examples --> Digital --> Button. There's a link right in the sketch to https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Button.

Exercise 5: Tone Melody

Super easy to wire but fun for students, this program plays a little tune. Great for getting kids into the spirit of messing with code to make different melodies.

Exercise 6: Servo

A servo is a special type of motor. They can be used to move all kinds of things in a robotics project. Open the servo example by going to File --> Examples --> Servo --> Sweep. Use the link in the sketch to the tutorial. Hint: on our servos, brown is ground, red is power, and orange is control.

Exercise 6: Switch Case

This is good for learning how the Serial Monitor can interact between your computer and Arduino. Try it out by opening File --> Examples --> Control --> switchCase and using the tutorial link in the sketch.

Exercise 7: RGB LED

There's a whole world of Arduino tutorials outside of Arduino.cc! This tutorial from Sparkfun shows you how to make a multi-color (red, green, blue) LED dance. It will walk you through the setup, provide the code, and explain a little bit, too.

Robot Petting Zoo: your first "engineering" project

The folks behind the Hummingbird Robotics kit came up with an amazing, scaffoldable first robotics project. By combining some very simple arduino skills with cardboard, glue, and color, you can build simple robots that light up, move, make noise, and respond to their environment.

This is a great way to get students going beyond copying someone else's project. As you can see, just building examples is a great learning experience, but it doesn't take a lot of creative thinking. Constructing a simple robot lets students use bits and pieces from examples to create something new, and totally theirs!

Scaffolding

When building these robots, it's best to use an order that lets students add components as they go. That way, every robot is finished, some just have more features than others.

1. Get students to start by thinking about the movement. Setting up the servo is the hardest part, and will inform the shape the most.
2. Construct the body using cardboard, markers, construction paper, and hot glue. Teach kids to use the glue gun safely! Hot glue is best because nothing else dries as quickly with enough structural strength.
3. Add lights: Lights are easy to place anywhere as eyes, flames, sparkles, etc.
4. Add sound: The Hummingbird can play WAV files, but any Arduino can play tones to make noise.
5. Add inputs: add a photocell, rangefinder, Passive Infrared Sensor (PIR), or button to activate your outputs.