Speaker 1: Welcome back to the deep dive, the place where we
Speaker 1: take your source material and uh really turn it into
Speaker 1: actionable insight tailored just for you.
Speaker 2: That's right.
Speaker 1: Today we're plunging into well, the fascinating world of micro.
Speaker 2: Controllers, specifically using a source called arduinoworkshop dot pdf. Yeah exactly,
Speaker 2: And our mission here really is to unpack the Orduno platform.
Speaker 2: You know, understand what it is, how you work with it.
Speaker 1: And see what you can actually build with it, right.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, turn that technical info into hopefully some real inspiration
Speaker 2: for your projects.
Speaker 1: Think of this as you're like fast track to grasping
Speaker 1: the basics and seeing the cool electronic possibilities that are
Speaker 1: suddenly well possible. Okay, so first things first, the source
Speaker 1: dives straight into Urdueno. Let's unpack that. What is an
Speaker 1: Arduino fundamentally?
Speaker 2: Right, The source defines it as a cheap, flexible, open
Speaker 2: source microcontroller platform.
Speaker 1: Okay, open source micro controller platform. That sounds important.
Speaker 2: It is. It's not just one chip, it's a whole
Speaker 2: sort of ecosystem really designed to make electronics.
Speaker 1: Accessible accessible seems key, doesn't it? Making it easy for
Speaker 1: well anyone hobbyists, artists.
Speaker 2: Designers, Yeah, people who want to use electronics in homemade
Speaker 2: projects without needing you know, an engineering degree.
Speaker 1: Taking the scary complex stuff and making it friendly exactly.
Speaker 2: And the platform bid is crucial too. It's about connecting
Speaker 2: to the real world. How so, the source says, an
Speaker 2: almost unlimited range of input and output add ons, sensors, indicators, displays, motors,
Speaker 2: and more.
Speaker 1: So it bridges your code to like physical things happening.
Speaker 2: Precisely, sensing things, making things move.
Speaker 1: Okay, so you've got the Arduino board the hardware, but
Speaker 1: hardware needs instructions. Yeah, how do you tell it what
Speaker 1: to do?
Speaker 2: That's where the software comes in, the Ardueno Integrated Development Environment.
Speaker 1: Or id IDA.
Speaker 2: Install that on your computer, and that's where you write
Speaker 2: what they call.
Speaker 1: Sketches sketches like drawings.
Speaker 2: Huh No, not quite, it's just their term for the programs.
Speaker 2: Right for the Ardueno, you ride the sketch, then.
Speaker 1: Send it to the board and the ide itself. It
Speaker 1: looks pretty straightforward. The source compared it to a simple
Speaker 1: word processor.
Speaker 2: It really does, very deliberately simple. You've got your main
Speaker 2: space for.
Speaker 1: Typing code, and then men use and buttons.
Speaker 2: Yeah, standard men use file edit, that kind of thing,
Speaker 2: But the key icons are Verify and upload.
Speaker 1: Verify checks for mistakes.
Speaker 2: Yeap catches errors before you send the code saves a
Speaker 2: lot of headache. And upload well, that sends the compiled
Speaker 2: sketch over the USB cable to the Arduino board.
Speaker 1: Those sound like the main buttons you'd hit.
Speaker 2: Definitely you get very familiar with Verify and upload, Oh
Speaker 2: and new open save the usuals, and the.
Speaker 1: Source mentions something about comments in the code little notes.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, super important. Adding comments notes for yourself or
Speaker 2: others makes your code way easier to understand when you
Speaker 2: come back to it later, like leaving little sign posts.
Speaker 1: Okay, makes sense, but you can't build much with just
Speaker 1: the board and code, right. You need stuff component.
Speaker 2: Exactly and the source covers the essentials. Resistors are usually
Speaker 2: the first things you encounter.
Speaker 1: The little components with the colored stripes.
Speaker 2: Those are the ones they resist the flow of electricity
Speaker 2: measured in omes.
Speaker 1: And the stripes are a code for the value like
Speaker 1: yellow violet orange.
Speaker 2: Forty seven thousand ohms or forty seven k. Yeah, it's
Speaker 2: a bit like learning a secret code. But essential and.
Speaker 1: The tiny flat ones chip resistors.
Speaker 2: They use number codes instead, like one O three means
Speaker 2: ten followed by three zeros, so ten thousand oms or
Speaker 2: ten k.
Speaker 1: But the source says you can just measure.
Speaker 2: Them best way. Honestly, a multimeter is your best friend
Speaker 2: for checking resistance, especially if the stripes are hard to
Speaker 2: read or.
Speaker 1: You're just not sure okay resistors. What about actually connecting
Speaker 1: things together before you solder.
Speaker 2: Ah, The solderless breadboard a total game changer for prototyping.
Speaker 1: Right the plastic block with all the holes.
Speaker 2: You just push component legs and wires into the sockets.
Speaker 2: The source shows how they're connected internally, columns in the middle,
Speaker 2: rowse on the side typically, so.
Speaker 1: You can wire things up, test them, change them.
Speaker 2: All without any permanent soldering. Yeah. Perfect for trying ideas out.
Speaker 1: What about components that control the flow? Not just resistant
Speaker 1: diodes are key there.
Speaker 2: The basic rectifier diode acts like a one way street.
Speaker 1: For current, a node to cathode blocks the other way. Simple.
Speaker 2: Then you have transistors. The source mentions the BC five
Speaker 2: forty eight.
Speaker 1: I always think of them as tiny electronic switches or amplifiers.
Speaker 2: That's a great way to think about it. The arduino
Speaker 2: pins themselves can't handle much power. Maybe twenty forty milliamps.
Speaker 1: Not enough for a motor or bright lights.
Speaker 2: Exactly, so you use a transistor. The arduino sends a
Speaker 2: small signal to the transistor's base pin.
Speaker 1: And that controls a bigger current flowing through the transistor's
Speaker 1: other pins.
Speaker 2: Precisely the BC five forty eight, the source says, can
Speaker 2: switch up to one hundred million amps at thirty volts,
Speaker 2: way more than the arduino pin alone.
Speaker 1: And relays do something similar but differently.
Speaker 2: Yeah, relays use an electromagnet to flick a physical switch inside.
Speaker 2: The big advantage, the source points out is electrical isolation,
Speaker 2: meaning the circuit controlling the relay coil is completely separate
Speaker 2: from the circuit being switched. Safer for controlling say mains
Speaker 2: voltage or high current.
Speaker 1: DC loads, protects the arden know right.
Speaker 2: The example circuit shows using a transistor to drive the
Speaker 2: relay coil and importantly a diode across the coil to
Speaker 2: handle voltage spikes when it switches off.
Speaker 1: Okay. One more basic component capacitors, especially the electrolytic ones.
Speaker 2: The source mentions these for storing large amounts of electrical charge.
Speaker 2: Electrolytics are polarized. They have a plus and minus side
Speaker 2: you must get right?
Speaker 1: And what are they used for?
Speaker 2: Often for smoothing out fluctuations in power supply voltage or
Speaker 2: providing a quick burst of energy like when a motor
Speaker 2: starts up. They add stability.
Speaker 1: Okay, components breadboard, But if you have a complex circuit,
Speaker 1: just looking at the physical layout can be confusing. How
Speaker 1: do people share circuit designs cleanly?
Speaker 2: That's where schematic diagrams or circuit diagrams come in essential.
Speaker 2: The Source calls them a visual language.
Speaker 1: Instead of wires. Everywhere you use symbols exactly.
Speaker 2: Once you learn the symbols, you can understand the logic
Speaker 2: of the circuit no matter how it's.
Speaker 1: Physically built, like the zigzag line for a resistor.
Speaker 2: Or the triangle and bar for a diode. The triangle
Speaker 2: points the way current flows.
Speaker 1: Easily, and an led is that diode symbol with little
Speaker 1: arrows pointing.
Speaker 2: Out showing it gives off light. Yeah, transistors have their
Speaker 2: own symbols showing collector base, emmetter, the aero direction tells
Speaker 2: you if it's NPN or P and.
Speaker 1: P type capacitors.
Speaker 2: Other chips, they all have standard symbols. Learning them is
Speaker 2: like learning the alphabet of electronics. It lets you read
Speaker 2: and share ideas clearly.
Speaker 1: All right, hardware diagrams. Let's get into the code side
Speaker 1: the sketches. How are they structured?
Speaker 2: Super simple? Actually, every Ardueno sketch must have two main parts,
Speaker 2: two functions, void setup and void loop.
Speaker 1: Set up and loop. What do they do?
Speaker 2: Set up runs only once right when the Arduino starts
Speaker 2: out for your press reset. It's for initialization, setting up pins,
Speaker 2: starting communications, that sort of thing, and runs over and
Speaker 2: over and over again continuously after setup finishes. This is
Speaker 2: where the main logic of your program lives. The repeating
Speaker 2: actions makes sense.
Speaker 1: Set up once, then loop forever. How do you actually
Speaker 1: control the Arduino's pins from the code.
Speaker 2: There are a few core functions. First, in set up,
Speaker 2: use the pin mode pin number in PP two output.
Speaker 1: Tells the pin whether it's listening or talking.
Speaker 2: Basically yeah on input TT for reading sensors or buttons
Speaker 2: outpu'd for controlling LEDs or motors. And then in the
Speaker 2: loop you use digital right pin number AGH or digital
Speaker 2: right pin number l LOW to turn it OUTPTPN on
Speaker 2: that's five volts or off a zoo volts okay soup
Speaker 2: on and to read an n NPT pin you use
Speaker 2: digital read pin number. It tells you if the pin
Speaker 2: is currently high GH or LOA W.
Speaker 1: What if you want something in between, like dimming an led,
Speaker 1: not just on off?
Speaker 2: Ah? Good question, that's analog right now, The source explains
Speaker 2: it's not true analog voltage.
Speaker 1: Now what is it? Then?
Speaker 2: It's called pulse width modulation or EM. On special pins
Speaker 2: often marked with a little squiggle, the RDWINO turns the
Speaker 2: pin on and off really really fast, okay, By changing
Speaker 2: the percentage of time the pin is on versus off
Speaker 2: the duty cycle, it fakes an average voltage level.
Speaker 1: Clever, so you can control brightness that way exactly, or
Speaker 1: even make tones on a piezo buzzer by varying the
Speaker 1: PWM signal rapidly. And can you read analog values too,
Speaker 1: not just high low?
Speaker 2: Yes? With analog read pin number, you use the dedicated
Speaker 2: analog input pins like a zero to.
Speaker 1: A five on an unoboard, and it gives you.
Speaker 2: A number between zero and twenty three three. That number
Speaker 2: represents the voltage measured on the pin from zero V
Speaker 2: up to the ardueno's reference voltage usually five VE. Perfect
Speaker 2: for reading.
Speaker 1: Sensors timing seems important. How do you make the Arduino
Speaker 1: weight or measure time?
Speaker 2: The simplest way is delay milliseconds just pauses everything for
Speaker 2: that amount.
Speaker 1: Of time, stops the whole program.
Speaker 2: Yeah, which can be a problem sometimes. So the source
Speaker 2: introduces milli and micros.
Speaker 1: What did he do?
Speaker 2: They return the number of milliseconds millis or microseconds micros
Speaker 2: that have passed since the Arduena boards started running.
Speaker 1: How's that different from delay?
Speaker 2: Crucially, they don't stop your code. You can check Millie's
Speaker 2: see how much time has passed and decide if it's
Speaker 2: time to do something without halting everything else. Great for multitasking.
Speaker 1: Okay. To handle data, you need variables. The source mentions
Speaker 1: the basics.
Speaker 2: Right, you've got info integers, whole numbers, float for numbers
Speaker 2: with decimal points, really useful for sensor math.
Speaker 1: Like converting a sensor reading to degrees celsius exactly.
Speaker 2: Then booleon for simple tru or false values. And byte
Speaker 2: which holds a small number from zero to two fifty five,
Speaker 2: often used for binary data.
Speaker 1: And you can mix types like int and float yep.
Speaker 2: The source nodes you can do calculations mixing them. Ardueno
Speaker 2: handles the conversion.
Speaker 1: Standard mass is there plus minus multiplied divide.
Speaker 2: For basic arithmetic operators, but you also need way to
Speaker 2: compare values, like.
Speaker 1: Checking if a sensor reading is above a threshold exactly.
Speaker 2: You use comparison operators here for equals for not, equals
Speaker 2: great than, less than and so on.
Speaker 1: And combining conditions like is this nd.
Speaker 2: That logical operators do that for not and for and
Speaker 2: d for r lets you build complex decision logic, which.
Speaker 1: Brings us to control flow, making the program make decisions
Speaker 1: or repeat things.
Speaker 2: The is statement is the cornerstone. If this condition is true,
Speaker 2: then run this block of code simpler. Then if LS
Speaker 2: adds an alternative if the condition is true, do this.
Speaker 2: Otherwise do that class example, checking if a button digital
Speaker 2: read is AGH.
Speaker 1: And for repeating stuff loops.
Speaker 2: For loops are great when you know how many times
Speaker 2: you need to repeat, like flashing in LED five times.
Speaker 2: The LED wave project uses this. Okay, wile and do
Speaker 2: wile loops keep repeating as long as a certain condition
Speaker 2: remains true. The source mentions do wile for the Electronic
Speaker 2: Dye project because it guarantees the code inside runs at
Speaker 2: least once before.
Speaker 1: Checking useful sometimes and switch case it's a.
Speaker 2: Neat way to handle multiple specific possibilities for a variable's value,
Speaker 2: cleaner than a bunch of nested IFL statements. Sometimes good
Speaker 2: for reacting to different button presses or commands.
Speaker 1: Lastly, functions grouping code.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Functions let you bundle up a piece of code
Speaker 2: that does a specific task, give it a name, and
Speaker 2: then just call that name whenever you need it.
Speaker 1: Avoids repeating code.
Speaker 2: Exactly makes code cleaner easier to manage. You can even
Speaker 2: create your own functions that take inputs and return a result,
Speaker 2: like the sources example of converting temperature scales. Like building
Speaker 2: your own custom Arduino commands.
Speaker 1: Okay, so you're writing code testing things. How do you
Speaker 1: actually see what the ardweno's thinking or send it commands
Speaker 1: while it's running.
Speaker 2: Ah, this serial monitor it's built right into the ardweno ID.
Speaker 2: It's your communication channel over the USB.
Speaker 1: Cable, so data goes both ways.
Speaker 2: Yep. The arduino can send text or numbers to the
Speaker 2: serial monitor window on your computer.
Speaker 1: And you can type stuff into the monitor to send
Speaker 1: it to the arduino exactly.
Speaker 2: Super useful for debugging or simple interaction.
Speaker 1: How do you set it up in the code in.
Speaker 2: Your setup function. You start it with serial begin and
Speaker 2: bod rate. The bod rate is the communication speed like
Speaker 2: ninety six hundred bits per second.
Speaker 1: And that speed has to match the setting in the
Speaker 1: serial monitor window.
Speaker 2: Itself critically important. Yes, they have to agree.
Speaker 1: On the speed, and to send data from the ARDUINO.
Speaker 2: You use cerial dot print for cereal dot print LN.
Speaker 2: The only difference is print LIN adds a character, return
Speaker 2: moves to the next line in the monitor.
Speaker 1: So you can print messages, variable.
Speaker 2: Values, anything. It's invaluable for seeing what's going on inside
Speaker 2: your sketch. The source even shows formatting like serial dot
Speaker 2: print number bi in to see the binary value.
Speaker 1: And how does the ARDWENO know If you type something
Speaker 1: into the monitor, it.
Speaker 2: Checks using serial dot available. If that returns a value
Speaker 2: greater than zero, it means there's data waiting to.
Speaker 1: Be read, and you read it with cereal dot read.
Speaker 2: It usually reads one character or bite at a time
Speaker 2: from the incoming buffer. Project seventeen uses this for a
Speaker 2: binary guessing game. Okay, the real magic happens when you
Speaker 2: apply all this stuff in projects. The source walks through
Speaker 2: a lot of examples that build skills progressively.
Speaker 1: Like the classic blinking led.
Speaker 2: Project hashtag one, Yeah, your basic digital right high gh
Speaker 2: delay digital right LW delay the Hello world of hardware.
Speaker 1: But then project hashtag two immediately improves it using a
Speaker 1: for loop.
Speaker 2: Shows how programming structures make code more elegant and efficient
Speaker 2: for repetitive tasks like that LED wave effect.
Speaker 1: Right, what about something using sensors?
Speaker 2: Project hashtag eight the quick read thermometer that's the great
Speaker 2: one uses analogreed to get data from a TMP thirty
Speaker 2: six temperature sensor.
Speaker 1: Doesn't just read it though, right.
Speaker 2: No, it shows the whole process. Read the raw analog
Speaker 2: value converted to voltage, then convert the voltage to degrees
Speaker 2: celsius using a.
Speaker 1: Formula, and then use that temperature value exactly.
Speaker 2: Uses if all statements to light up different LEDs. Maybe
Speaker 2: red for hot, green for normal, blue for cold. It's sensing,
Speaker 2: processing and acting based on the environment.
Speaker 1: Cool The electronic dye project sounds fun too.
Speaker 2: Project hashtag fifteen Yeah uses the random function to pick
Speaker 2: a number, lights up the corresponding LEDs, and it uses
Speaker 2: that do t while one loop to keep the results
Speaker 2: showing until you reset it. Neat demo of do while
Speaker 2: The source also makes a point about binary base two numbers.
Speaker 2: Why is that.
Speaker 1: Important because computers, including the Arduino think in ones and zos. Fundamentally.
Speaker 1: Understanding binary helps when you work with data at a
Speaker 1: lower level, like.
Speaker 2: The byte variable type zero to two fifty five.
Speaker 1: Exactly, that's eight bits. The source shows how to print
Speaker 1: values in binary using serial dot print value BIM, and
Speaker 1: introduces bitwise operators.
Speaker 2: Bit wise like A and D or x or xo,
Speaker 2: and also bit shifting. These let you manipulate individual bits
Speaker 2: within a byte or integer. Sounds obscure, but it's crucial
Speaker 2: when interfacing with certain chips are packing data efficiently. Project
Speaker 2: seventeen's guessing game makes learning it fun okay.
Speaker 1: One common challenge Orduenos have a limited number of pins.
Speaker 1: What if you need to control lots of outputs like
Speaker 1: tons of LEDs AH shift registers.
Speaker 2: The source highlights the seventy four HC five ninety five.
Speaker 2: This is a classic solution.
Speaker 1: How does it work?
Speaker 2: You use just a feword winopins typically data latch and
Speaker 2: kilock to send data serially into the shift register. The
Speaker 2: register then shifts the data along internally and holds it
Speaker 2: controlling many output pins, usually eight per.
Speaker 1: Chip, so a few pins control many exactly.
Speaker 2: You can even chain multiple shift registers together. The source
Speaker 2: uses this for an eight y eight LED matrix. In
Speaker 2: Project twenty one, just two shift registers control all sixty
Speaker 2: four LEDs shows scrolling text two. It's a fundamental technique
Speaker 2: for expanding outputs.
Speaker 1: The source also mentions a arrays, what are they useful for.
Speaker 2: Storing collections of related data. Instead of having say ten
Speaker 2: separate temperature variables, you can have one array holding ten
Speaker 2: temperature readings. Cleaner code useful for lists of sensor data,
Speaker 2: RFID tags, pin numbers, et cetera. And the modulle operator
Speaker 2: percent It seems specific.
Speaker 1: It gives you the remainder after division. The source points
Speaker 1: out it's handy for tasks like separating the digits of
Speaker 1: a number like twenty three per ten. Ten gives you three.
Speaker 1: Useful if you need to display digits individually.
Speaker 2: Okay, moving beyond simil LEDs displaying actual text or numbers.
Speaker 1: Liquid crystal displays or LCDs. The source covers the common
Speaker 1: character LCDs like sixteen by two or twenty by four.
Speaker 2: Characters requires special code.
Speaker 1: Usually use a library like liquid crystal makes pretty easy.
Speaker 1: You initialize it, then use commands like LCD dot print
Speaker 1: or LCD dot set cursor column yeah row to position
Speaker 1: the text.
Speaker 2: And Project fifty eight uses this for a clock.
Speaker 1: Yeah, a digital clock displayed right on the LCD. Much
Speaker 1: more informative than just blinking lights.
Speaker 2: Now, the concept of shields seems central to our dueno's
Speaker 2: ease of use.
Speaker 1: Oh, definitely. Shields are pre built circuit boards that just
Speaker 1: plug right on top of the oduena.
Speaker 2: Instantly adding new hardware.
Speaker 1: Features exactly Ethernet shields for network connection, micro SD shields
Speaker 1: for file storage, GPS shields for location, motor driver shields,
Speaker 1: LCD shields.
Speaker 2: You name it, so someone else did the hard wiring
Speaker 2: part pretty much. You plug it in low the corresponding library,
Speaker 2: and you can start using that feature relatively easily. It
Speaker 2: massively accelerates development for us common tasks.
Speaker 1: But the source warns about stacking them.
Speaker 2: Yes, crucial point. Different shields might try to use the
Speaker 2: same arduinopins. If they conflict, stacking them won't work or worse,
Speaker 2: could damage something. Always check the pin usage.
Speaker 1: And proto shields are kind of the opposite blank shields.
Speaker 2: Right their prototyping brees laid out like an Arduino shield.
Speaker 2: You build and solder your own custom circuit onto them,
Speaker 2: making your breadburd design more permanent and stackable. Project twenty
Speaker 2: eight shows building a custom LED driver shield.
Speaker 1: Data logging is a big application micro SD cards YEP.
Speaker 2: Projects twenty nine and thirty cover using a micro SD
Speaker 2: shield and the SDH library, you could open files, write
Speaker 2: data like sensor readings with timestamps, and close.
Speaker 1: Files, creating log files you can read later exactly.
Speaker 2: The data usually gets saved as a plaintext file dot
Speaker 2: txt or dot csv. You can then pop the SD
Speaker 2: card in your computer and analyze the data and Excel
Speaker 2: or another program. Super useful for long term.
Speaker 1: Monitor interrupts sound a bit more advanced Project thirty two
Speaker 1: reacting instantly.
Speaker 2: They are powerful. Instead of your main loop constantly checking
Speaker 2: if say a button is pressed, Digital read and interrupt
Speaker 2: automatically triggers a specific function the moment a change happens
Speaker 2: on certain pins pins two.
Speaker 1: And three on the you know, like a signal edge
Speaker 1: triggers it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, modes like rising goes from low to high, falling
Speaker 2: high to low, or change use attached interrupt to set
Speaker 2: it up. Why use them for things that need immediate reaction?
Speaker 2: Catching a super fast signal you might miss in the
Speaker 2: main loop, or maybe an emergency stop button that needs
Speaker 2: to act right now, regardless of what else the code
Speaker 2: is doing.
Speaker 1: Chapter nine talks about in numeric keypads simple input.
Speaker 2: Yeah, basic grid of buttons zero two, nine maybe and hashtag.
Speaker 2: You scan the rows and columns to see which key
Speaker 2: is pressed. The source suggests using switchcase is a good
Speaker 2: way to handle the different keypresses. Good for pen entry,
Speaker 2: simple menus, and touch screens.
Speaker 1: In chapter ten, ticking it up a notch.
Speaker 2: Specifically resistive touch screens. When you press, they create a
Speaker 2: voltage divider and the arduino reads the X and Y
Speaker 2: voltages using an alogreed so you get coordinates right Then
Speaker 2: in your code you define rectangular zones on the screen.
Speaker 2: If the touch coordinates fall within a zone, you treat
Speaker 2: it as a button press for on or F or
Speaker 2: whatever function you assign to that area.
Speaker 1: Motors. Chapter twelve cover servos.
Speaker 2: First, servos are great. They don't just spin. They rotate
Speaker 2: to a specific angle you command, usually zero to one
Speaker 2: hundred and eighty degrees controlled how the servo dot library
Speaker 2: makes it easy. You create a server object, attach it
Speaker 2: to a pin, and then just use MYSERVO dot right
Speaker 2: angle simple as.
Speaker 1: That Project thirty eight uses one as a thermometer needle.
Speaker 2: Yeah, a really cool visual way to display analog data.
Speaker 2: Moves the servero arm like an old school gauge.
Speaker 1: Also in chapter twelve. Regular DC motors spin continuously right,
Speaker 1: but they.
Speaker 2: Need more current than Ardweno pins can supply directly.
Speaker 1: So you need external power and a way for.
Speaker 2: The Arduena to switch that power. Transistors or relays can work,
Speaker 2: but motor shields are very common.
Speaker 1: What a motor shields do?
Speaker 2: They handle the higher current and often include h breed
Speaker 2: circuits and h bringe lets. You control both the speed
Speaker 2: using PWM and the direction of the motor spin with
Speaker 2: simple commands from the Ardwino.
Speaker 1: Essential for robotics like the tank boton projects thirty nine
Speaker 1: and forty.
Speaker 2: Classic example a chassis with two DC motors controlled by
Speaker 2: a motor shield driven by an Arduino.
Speaker 1: For robots like that, sensing distance is key, definitely.
Speaker 2: The source mentions ultrasonic sensors but details the infrared IR
Speaker 2: distance sensor. The sharp GP two Y zero A twenty
Speaker 2: one white K zero F model.
Speaker 1: How does that work?
Speaker 2: It sends out an IR beam and measures the reflection,
Speaker 2: it outputs an analog voltage that varies with distance. Closer
Speaker 2: objects give a higher voltage usually.
Speaker 1: So you read that with an l A grade YEP,
Speaker 1: and use.
Speaker 2: The reading to make decisions like stopping the tank pot
Speaker 2: before it hits a wall.
Speaker 1: In Project forty two, Finding location GPS Chapter thirteen.
Speaker 2: Using a GPS shield and a library like tiny GPS,
Speaker 2: the shield receives signals from satellites and.
Speaker 1: The library parses that data right.
Speaker 2: It extracts things like latitude, longitude, altitude, speed, and very
Speaker 2: accurate time UTC.
Speaker 1: What kind of projects use this?
Speaker 2: Project forty four just displays the raw data. Project forty
Speaker 2: five builds a clock using the accurate GPS time, and
Speaker 2: Project forty six is a GPS logger. Combines the GPS
Speaker 2: shield with a microSD shield and battery power to record
Speaker 2: a track of where it's been.
Speaker 1: And you can visualize that track later.
Speaker 2: Yeah. The source mentioned sites like gpsvisualizer dot com where
Speaker 2: you can upload the logged coordinates and see your path
Speaker 2: on a map.
Speaker 1: Pretty cool, okay. Wireless data Chapter fourteen, Sending stuff without wires.
Speaker 2: Starts with simple, low cost RF modules, often four hundred
Speaker 2: and thirty three mil hertz. These are typically one way
Speaker 2: a transmitter sends data to a receiver, a basic text
Speaker 2: info usually.
Speaker 1: And for more complex stuff.
Speaker 2: XB modules These are more advanced transceivers. They can both
Speaker 2: send and receive, often used with specific shields or adapter boards.
Speaker 2: You can build two way communication systems like.
Speaker 1: The remote control thermometer Project forty nine.
Speaker 2: Yeah. One ard weener reads a temperature sensor and sends
Speaker 2: the data wirelessly via XP to another ARDWENO that displays it,
Speaker 2: untethering your sensors.
Speaker 1: What about using regular remote control for ATV Chapter fifteen.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Using an IR receiver module like the TSOP four
Speaker 2: one three eight mentioned and the I Remote dot H library.
Speaker 1: The rdueno listens for IR signals yep.
Speaker 2: The library decodes the signals from common remote controls. The
Speaker 2: source mentions sony codes. Your sketch gets a unique code
Speaker 2: for each button.
Speaker 1: Pressed, and you can react to those codes exactly.
Speaker 2: Use a switchcase statement to say, if I receive code X,
Speaker 2: turn on LED one. If I recees code Y, run
Speaker 2: the motor turns any old remote into a custom controller
Speaker 2: for your project.
Speaker 1: RFID comes up in chapter sixteen identifying things.
Speaker 2: Radio frequency identification. You have an RFID reader module connected
Speaker 2: to the r DWENO and passive RFID tags like cards
Speaker 2: or keyfobs.
Speaker 1: The reader detects nearby tags.
Speaker 2: And reads their UNIID number. Project fifty two shows building
Speaker 2: a system that checks the ID against a list of
Speaker 2: known tags and takes action like unlocking something only if
Speaker 2: a recognized tag is scanned.
Speaker 1: There's a note about programming with RFID readers.
Speaker 2: Yeah, practical time. Sometimes you need to disconnect the reader's
Speaker 2: RX receive pin from the r duino while uploading a
Speaker 2: new sketch because they might interfere with the USB communication,
Speaker 2: then reconnect it after uploading. Good to know.
Speaker 1: Also in chapter sixteen, ee PROM built in memory.
Speaker 2: Yes, e PROM is non volatile memory on the Arduino
Speaker 2: chip itself. Data store there stays even if the.
Speaker 1: Power is turned off, unlike regular variables which reset exactly.
Speaker 2: You use eprom dot address value to store a byte
Speaker 2: and prombout readaddressed to get it back. It's limited in size,
Speaker 2: but incredibly useful. How So, Project fifty three combines RFID
Speaker 2: and e PROM brilliantly an RFID lock system that remembers
Speaker 2: whether it's locked or unlocked even after a power outage
Speaker 2: by saving the state to the E prom adds persistence.
Speaker 1: Chapter seventeen gets into communication buses how chips talk to
Speaker 1: each other.
Speaker 2: Sounds technical it is, but I two C is surprisingly
Speaker 2: accessible stands for inter integrated circuit.
Speaker 1: What's special about it?
Speaker 2: It uses only two wires SDA A data and SEL clock,
Speaker 2: which are pins A four and A five on the
Speaker 2: UNDE to communicate with multiple devices on the same bus
Speaker 2: one are.
Speaker 1: Do we know? Talking to many sensors or chips?
Speaker 2: YEP. Each I two C device has unique address. The
Speaker 2: air do we Know acts as the master, addressing specific slaves.
Speaker 2: Thewire dot H library handles the protocol details.
Speaker 1: What kind of devices use I two C lots.
Speaker 2: External EPROM chips for more storage, Project fifty four port
Speaker 2: expanded chips like the MCP two thirty zero seventeen Project
Speaker 2: fifty five that give you sixteen extra digital pins. Using
Speaker 2: just the two I two C pins is incredibly powerful
Speaker 2: for expansion.
Speaker 1: Anything to watch out for.
Speaker 2: The source notes You usually need pull up resistors on
Speaker 2: the SDA and SEL lines, and you have to make
Speaker 2: sure all devices on the bus are voltage compatible, usually
Speaker 2: five V for standard are do we know?
Speaker 1: SPI is another bus mentioned.
Speaker 2: Serial peripheral interface uses four wires SCK MISO MOSISS and
Speaker 2: is generally faster than IT two C, often used for
Speaker 2: things like SD cards and some types of displays or sensors.
Speaker 2: The SPIH library helps here twos.
Speaker 1: Keeping accurate time is often needed Real time clocks Chapter
Speaker 1: eighteen RTC modules.
Speaker 2: Yeah, these are dedicated chips like the DS three two
Speaker 2: three two mentioned. They keep track of seconds, minutes, hours, date, month, year,
Speaker 2: usually have a small battery backup so they keep time
Speaker 2: even when they are do we knows off?
Speaker 1: How do they connect?
Speaker 2: Often using that I two C bus We just talked
Speaker 2: about anything tricky? The source mentions they often store time
Speaker 2: in BCV binary coded decimal format, so you need small
Speaker 2: helper functions at TOEBCDBCD to tach to convert between regular
Speaker 2: decimal numbers and BCD when reading or setting the time.
Speaker 1: And projects using RTCs.
Speaker 2: Project fifty seven makes a simple digital clock outputting to
Speaker 2: the serial monitor. Project fifty eight puts that clock on
Speaker 2: an LCD and Project fifty nine.
Speaker 1: Wow, what's Project fifty.
Speaker 2: Nine an employee RFID time clock. It combines an RTC,
Speaker 2: an RFID reader, a micro SD card for logging, an
Speaker 2: LTD for display and a custom shield. Employees scan their
Speaker 2: tag and it logs their ID and the exact time
Speaker 2: from the RTC onto the SD card. A really complex
Speaker 2: system built by integrating multiple modules.
Speaker 1: Connecting our dueno to the Internet Ethernet in Chapter nineteen.
Speaker 2: Using an Ethernet shield or a board with Ethernet built
Speaker 2: in like the ether. Ten needs a network cable obviously,
Speaker 2: and configuration like an IP.
Speaker 1: Address, and what can you do once it's networked?
Speaker 2: Cool stuff. Project sixty creates a webpage served by the
Speaker 2: arduino that shows live sensor readings. You can check it
Speaker 2: from any browser on your network.
Speaker 1: And Arduino webserver a simple one yeah.
Speaker 2: Project sixty one uses a Twitter library to send tweets
Speaker 2: directly from the arduino. Imagine your plant tweeting when it
Speaker 2: needs water and til adueno.
Speaker 1: Project sixty two that's.
Speaker 2: An interesting service. It lets you control Ardueno pins remotely
Speaker 2: over the web using a simple proxy sketch on the
Speaker 2: arduino and an API key without you having to write
Speaker 2: all the complex web server or networking code yourself. Kind
Speaker 2: of a shortcut for.
Speaker 1: Web control and if there's no Wi Fi or Ethernet
Speaker 1: cellular Chapter twenty yep.
Speaker 2: Using a GSM shield needs a simcard and usually a
Speaker 2: hefty external power supply.
Speaker 1: How do you talk to the cell network?
Speaker 2: Often using text based at commands or libraries like Serial
Speaker 2: GSM that wrap those commands.
Speaker 1: What can I do?
Speaker 2: Project sixty three shows dialing a phone number, Project sixty
Speaker 2: four sends an SMS text message, and Project sixty five
Speaker 2: is really need It allows you to control the Arduino
Speaker 2: by sending it specific text messages, turn things on or
Speaker 2: off remotely via SMS. Great for places without Internet access.
Speaker 2: And the source kind of wraps up by emphasizing the
Speaker 2: open source aspect again.
Speaker 1: Right, not just a soft variety E. But the hardware
Speaker 1: designs themselves are.
Speaker 2: Open yeah, which means you could, technically, as the source details,
Speaker 2: gather the core components the micro controller chip, crystal capacitors, connectors,
Speaker 2: and build your own Arduino compatible circuit right on a
Speaker 2: bread board.
Speaker 1: Why would you do that?
Speaker 2: Well, it can save money if you make many yeah,
Speaker 2: But maybe more importantly, it deeply increases your understanding. You
Speaker 2: see exactly what makes the Arduino tick. It's not a
Speaker 2: black box anymore. Demystifies the whole thing completely, reinforces that
Speaker 2: it's all understandable accessible engineering.
Speaker 1: Wow. Okay, that was quite the tour from blinking an
Speaker 1: LED to sending tweets and controlling things via text message.
Speaker 2: It really covers the spectrum, doesn't it. The source builds
Speaker 2: things up logically basic components, then programming structures.
Speaker 1: And communication protocols like serial IT two CSPI, and.
Speaker 2: Finally all those shields and modules, adding advanced capabilities like
Speaker 2: DPSSD cards, networking wireless.
Speaker 1: It really highlights how you layer these things together, like
Speaker 1: that RFID time clock project using RTC, RFID, sd card
Speaker 1: and LCD.
Speaker 2: All at once exactly, or how a simple transistor and
Speaker 2: relay setup lets the low power arduino control something much bigger.
Speaker 1: The key takeaway feels like, well, this urdunal platform isn't
Speaker 1: just one thing, It's a whole ecosystem designed to make
Speaker 1: interacting with the physical world through electronics much much easier.
Speaker 2: It lowers that barrier to entry significantly, and the source
Speaker 2: showed so many powerful techniques made accessible, logging data, using
Speaker 2: interrupts for instant reactions, making projects remember things with EPROM.
Speaker 1: It really opens up possibilities. So after hearing all this,
Speaker 1: maybe the question for you the listener is what project
Speaker 1: that seemed too complicated before now feels well, maybe doable
Speaker 1: with these tools.
Speaker 2: What idea sensing the world or reacting to it could
Speaker 2: you start piecing together now using these building blocks we've
Speaker 2: explored