Sheilds

Hello! Today I am going to tell you a little bit about shields. First of all ,what is a shield anyway? Well, a shield is a board that has another purpose, but can be inserted into the Arduino's pins so the Arduino can then control it, which is a standard connection which means that no matter what shield you have it can still plug into the arduino. Here are some examples of shields and what they do:

Weather Shield: The Weather Shield is an easy to use Arduino shield that lets you see the  barometric pressure, relative humidity, luminosity (amount of light) and temperature in the area. There are also connections on this shield to optional sensors that can track things such as wind speed, direction, rain gauge and GPS for location and super accurate timing.

WiFi Shield: The WiFi shield  allows an Arduino board to connect to the internet using WiFi. It connects to an Arduino board using long wire-wrap headers which extend through the shield. This keeps the pin layout intact and allows another shield to be stacked on top.

Motor Driver Shield:  This is a motor shield for Arduino that will control two DC motors. It can drive up to 2 amps per channel. The board takes its power from the same Vin line as the Arduino board.

Ethernet Shield: My personal favorite, the Ethernet shield   allows an Arduino board to connect to the internet. he Arduino Ethernet Shield supports up to four simultaneous socket connections. Use the Ethernet library to write sketches which connect to the internet.


Although there are many other types of Shields compatible with the Arduino, these are some of my personal favorites.

Over & Out
Elise

Status

Hello!
I am just going to inform you what progress I have made so far and my plans to complete my project.
When I started, I had several thing to do. They are:

1. Parts & Pieces
2. History
3. Binary
4. I/O
5. Sketches
6. Functions & Loops
7. Sensors
8. Shields & Other boards

Now take a look at that same list, but revised with what I have already done. Here:

1. Parts & Pieces
2. History
3. Binary
4. I/O
5. Sketches
6. Functions & Loops
7. Sensors
8. Shields & Other boards

So basicly, all I have left to research is Input/Output, Functions, Shields and Other Boards.

Once I have finished those, I plan to spend lots of time over spring break working on writing the program and building the alarm system. Almost Done!

Over & Out

Elise

Sub-Systems of the MAin Alarm System

Here are the descriptions of the jobs that will be in the Arduino Alarm system.

Door Alarm- This sensor will check if the door that it is hooked on to is open or closed. This piece will need 1 pin, a digital, which can turn something on or something off.

Dust/Smoke Sensor- This sensor will check how much smoke or dust, if there even is any,  is in the air around the sensor. It will require 2 pins, AnalogIn, which can hold different numbers or readings/levels, and a Digital On/Off pin.

Arm/Disarm-  This will be in the program, it is not an actual component, but it will arm the alarm if the A button has been pushed.  It will DisArm if the correct code has been typed on the keypad. It is to change the state of the armed variable. It needs 0 pins.

Panic- This will be a button that automatically sets off the alarm. The function is to check if the button has been pushed or not. It will need 1 pin. Digital On/Off. The program is supposed to set the state of the panic variable.

Motion- This sensor will check for motion in the area. It requires 1 pin. Digital On/Off INput. It's job is to set the motion variable.

Alarm Indicator- This is to activate the indicator, (light Sound etc.) that a sensor has been activated, but it will only go off if the alarm is Armed.  It will  about 4 pins.

Display- The displays job is to produce text and format it  based on the state of the alarm. (Armed DisArmed) . It need 6 pins that are Digital ON/OFF.

Keypad- This is to keep track of the key presses. It is keeping track of the button that has been pushed if a button is pushed. It needs 8 pins, 4 digital input and 4 digital output.


That's all for now!

Over & Out
Elise

Keypad Program

Hello!
On Sunday I wrote a program for the display and keypad. We had to try several times to get the program right, and on one try, we installed pulldown resistors, which if a button is not pushed then it sets it to a known state. First we had to write out simple instructions on paper, then we had to translate it into code that the Arduino could understand. Here is a picture of the paper code:

Here is a picture of the wiring up process, well, really two:

                                                                         (Close up)

Here is the code:


// initialize the library with the numbers of the interface pins
LiquidCrystal lcd(12, 11, 5, 4, 3, 2);
const int keypad_columns[]={0,A0,A1,6,7};
const int keypad_rows[]={8,9,10,13};
 //arrays start with zero
 int col;
 int row;
void setup() {
  // set up the LCD's number of columns and rows:
  lcd.begin(16, 4);
  Serial.begin(9600);
  // Print a message to the LCD.


  //set columns to output
  pinMode(keypad_columns[1], OUTPUT);
  pinMode(keypad_columns[2], OUTPUT);
  pinMode(keypad_columns[3], OUTPUT);
  pinMode(keypad_columns[4], OUTPUT);
 
//set columns to low so in a know state
  digitalWrite(keypad_columns[1], LOW);
  digitalWrite(keypad_columns[2], LOW);
  digitalWrite(keypad_columns[3], LOW);
  digitalWrite(keypad_columns[4], LOW);

  //set rows to inout
  pinMode(keypad_rows[0], INPUT);
  pinMode(keypad_rows[1], INPUT);
  pinMode(keypad_rows[2], INPUT);
  pinMode(keypad_rows[3], INPUT);


}

void loop() {
  //loop through # of colunms.
  for(col=1; col <= 4; col++) {
    digitalWrite(keypad_columns[col], HIGH);
    for(row=0; row <= 3; row++){
    if (digitalRead(keypad_rows[row])==HIGH){
      lcd.clear();
      lcd.setCursor(0, 0);
      lcd.print("button  ");
      lcd.print((4*row)+col);
      }
    }// end of row
    digitalWrite(keypad_columns[col], LOW);
  }//end of col

}//end of void loop





Over & Out!
Elise

Sketches

Sketches are the programming, or code, that tells the Arduino brain what to do and when to do itt. The most important parts of the window are:

1. Workspace: The workspace is where you physicaly type, write or open a sketch.
2. Upload: The button that sends the sketch to the Arduino brain.
3. Save: This is SOO important! It is vital to save your progress every couple of minutes so that if your computer shuts down, you are just a click away to finishing, or uploading you sketch. 

Here is a picture!!!

Over and Out!!!

Elise

Parts and Pieces

Hi!

Today I am going to tell you a little bit about other parts and pieces that can be added on to an Arduino board. There are things like sensors, LED’s, buttons, switches, and even different boards that can be attached so the board can do many more things! Let me tell you more about them.

Sensors

Sensors have many cool uses, like burglar alarms, and even light shows! Here are some examples of sensors, what they do/are, and pictures!

Temperature Sensor- A temperature sensor can tell what temperature it is in the area or room around them,  and if a room gets too hot or too cold, you can program it to make a noise if you hook a noise maker up to it. Here is a picture:                              

Flex Sensor- A flex sensor tells the board if it should send a lot of power of energy to a LED or display, or just a little bit. It tells the Arduino how much power to send by how much it is being bended or pushed. It looks like this:

Light Sensor- A light sensor is used to tell how much light is in the area or room that is in, and it will tell the Arduino brain to turn on a light, make a noise, turn off a light, etc. Light sensors are often used on the little lamps that people sometimes line their walkways with and when it starts to get dark, it will turn the light on! Here is a picture of a light sensor:

Motion Sensor- Motion sensors are my favorite sensor of all. They are typically used in burglar alarms, and can also be called PIR sensors. They have a range of sight, which can be very small or very large, and this often contributes to the size. A fun way that motion sensors are used is for light shows. Around the holidays, people sometimes program light shows that are activated when cars or people go by.  They tend to look like this:

There are also buttons, switches, and potentiometers that can turn up a volume, make something on a display go faster, or turn on, off, or even dim lights or LED’s.

Buttons- Buttons are very common in everyday life. They can be seen in elevators, cash registers, doorbells, and lots of other places! When a button is pushed, it sends a signal to the Arduino to turn on a light, make a noise, etc. They look like this:

Switches- Switches are seen everywhere, and in almost every building too! They can turn on a light, which completes a circuit, turn off lights, and not just lights, switches can turn on or off just about anything! When a switch is flipped up or down, it sends a signal to the board to do something, like turn something on or off. This is what it looks like:

Potentiometers- Potentiometers are small, stick like things that can turn left or right, which dims lights displays, and other things that brightness can be changed.  They also can turn up or down volume, and even temperature. It can rise or lower anything that can be risen or lowered. It looks like this:

That’s all for now! I hope you learned more about other parts and pieces that can be added onto the Arduino microcontroller!

Over & Out!

Elise

History

In 2005,   Massimo Banzi, a teacher at the Interaction Design Institute, wanted to make an affordable way for his students to create their own electronic projects.  He wanted them to be able to program the board fast and easy. Along with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massimo Banzi and his colleagues worked together to create a easy to use programming language that was free and everybody could use it. 

The team wanted the Arduino to be unique, so they made the color blue, not green like the other circuit boards, and personalized it with a picture of Italy, where the IDII is located. Also, they made it so that it would have more Input / Output slots, so it was easy and simple to add things onto the Arduino microcontroller. When it was ready, the team gave the prototype to 300 students and told them how to build it and that they had to build and program a project.

Since 2005, Massimo and his team have sold hundreds and thousands of not only Arduino UNO boards, but Arduino Due, Mega, Nano, Lilypad, and many others. Other universities have admired the easy programming language and simple, fast way to build useful things.

That's all for now!

Over & Out
Elise