Playing with my Arduino (Board)

The Code: const int SWITCH = 9; //pin for the MOSFET

const int BUTTON = 7; //pin for the Button

const int LED = 13; //pin for the LED

int val = 0; //used to store state of input pin

int old_val = 0; //used to store previous value of val

int state = 0; //1 = LED off and 0 = LED on void setup()

{

pinMode(SWITCH, OUTPUT); //Map output to MOSFET

pinMode(BUTTON, INPUT); //Map input to Button

pinMode(LED, OUTPUT); //Map output to LED

Serial.begin(300); //Initiate a data connection between the board and a computer

} void loop()

{

val = digitalRead(BUTTON); //Read input value of Button and store it //check for change in value

if ((val == HIGH) && (old_val == LOW)) {

state = 1 - state;

delay(10);

} old_val = val; //store the old value

if (state == 1) {

Serial.println("OFF"); //send off message back to the computer

digitalWrite(SWITCH, LOW); //turn off flow of electricity to magnet

digitalWrite(LED, LOW); //turn off LED

} else {

Serial.println("ON"); //send on message back to the computer

digitalWrite(SWITCH, HIGH); //turn on flow of electricity to magnet

digitalWrite(LED, HIGH); //turn on LED

}

}



Wait! Although Arduino may sound like Italian slang for a part of the human body I assure you I’ve been occupying myself in other ways.

You may have heard of the Maker Movement and the wonderful interactive projects prototyped using these versatile little boards. Well, I finally jumped on board myself. If you look at the schematics to the right you will see the layout of my very first original project. About a month ago I was experimenting with home-made electromagnets and posted this video on Youtube. This weekend I integrated the electromagnet with Arduino controller. I’ve put together a video demonstration below showing it in action.

If I haven’t plugged it enough in the video, I really got a lot out of Massimo Banzi’s “Getting Started with Arduino ” book. I believe it to be a must-read for any noob using these controller boards. The illustrations and examples are very simple to follow. I also referenced the Arduino web site: arduino.cc in the video.



