Arduino Hacking!!

Today was our last class of Arduino hacking!  Monday and Friday mornings with Mikeal can be stressful and terrifying trying to keep up but always very rewarding when those lil LED's start flicker!

We really have learnt a lot in just a few weeks.  Programs we learnt to use were Fritzing, which is an open source software that allows us, the designer, to create a virtual prototype of what we are going to do with our arduinos, where we place our LEDs, resistors etc. 

We've been using fritzings schematic view which allows to look at and design the Arduinos electrical circuit;

Fritzing also has a breadboard view which allows us to look at and interperet the physical layout of what we plan to do with our Arduinos;

Once we have figured out what the physical layout of arduinos and breadboards should look like, and all our elements are placed correctly,  we then move on to coding, this where the magic happens!! (ya I said it,  I'm officially a nerd now)  Coding software is available on the Arduino website, and is very similar to the language used in Processing. This is where we instruct the function of all the elements attached to our arduino and control how they behave.

But wait there's more! We also added an element of Pure Data, which is an Open Source software similar to Max Msp.  It is a visual programming language used for creating interactive computer music and sound, and multimedia.  

Some of the areas we covered were;

Pulse Modulation; This allowed us to control the sequence and speed in witch the LEDs flickered.

Sensor Light Readings; To do this we used a small sensor that was able to take readings of the intensity of light in it's environment for example when the sensors light was blocked the number was lower, and when it was exposed to intense light it was higher, my readings ranged from 300 - 700.

Using the sensor we also implemented code so when the readings from the sensor were low ie if the light to the sensor was being blocked the LEDs would be brighter and if the light in the environment was stronger the LED would be dimmer.

Rotary Potentiometer; Using an RP we were able to change the direction and speed of the LEDs

Piezo Speaker; After adding elements of code the PS played musical notes in sequence with the LED's.  Later we combined the speaker and the sensor and made our very own Theremins! This was  definitely the most fun element,  there isn't a more beautiful sound than a classroom chorus of homemade theremins...ahem.