Blog
Build logs, project notes, and write-ups from the workshop.
- 3 Ways to Install Arduino Libraries into the Arduino IDE When a sensor or display needs a library, you have three routes: the built-in Library Manager, ZIP file import, and dropping files directly into the Arduino libraries folder. Here's how each one works.
- How to Use RGB LEDs with Arduino RGB LEDs pack three LEDs into one package and unlock the full color spectrum with PWM. This post covers the hardware, wiring, and three progressively interesting sketches to get you mixing colors.
- Build a Breadboard Music Keyboard with Arduino and the switch/case Statement Eight pushbuttons, eight musical notes, one piezo speaker, and one new statement: switch/case. A fun one-hour project that introduces tone(), note frequency lookup, the D0/D1 pin gotcha, and why you need to reset currentTone to zero at the top of every loop.
- How to Use a Button with Arduino — digitalRead() and the Pull-Down Resistor Reading a button with Arduino requires more than just wiring it to a pin. This post covers the floating-pin problem, why a 10kΩ pull-down resistor fixes it, and the complete wiring and code for a button-controlled LED.
- Arduino: Play the Super Mario Bros Theme with tone() Arduino's built-in tone() function is all you need to play melodies — no libraries, no shield, just a speaker and a few lines of code. This post covers the basics and gets the Mario Bros theme running on your board.
- How to Use PWM on the Arduino — analogWrite() with Two Practical Examples PWM lets the Arduino fake analog output using a fast digital square wave. This post covers how it works, which pins support it, and two hands-on examples: a fading LED and a potentiometer-controlled dimmer.
- Arduino Potentiometer Tutorial — Build an LED Volume Bar with analogRead + map() Turn a potentiometer into a 19-LED volume bar indicator — a hands-on intro to analogRead, the map() function, and the for-loop pattern every analog Arduino project needs.
- Control a Servo Motor with a Potentiometer Using Arduino map() Wire a 10K potentiometer and an SG90 servo to an Arduino and write a single line of code that maps knob position to servo angle. A clean demonstration of analogRead, map(), and the Servo library working together.
- Arduino digitalWrite on All 20 Pins — Including the Analog Ones Every I/O pin on an Arduino Uno can be used as a digital output, including the six analog pins. Here is how to address all 20 at once with a for loop, why analogRead pins double as digital pins, and a chasing-LED demo that uses every pin on the board.
- How to Find the I2C Address of Any Device Using an Arduino Before you can talk to an I2C device, you need its address. An I2C scanner sketch brute-forces all 127 possible addresses and reports what it finds in the serial monitor — two minutes of setup and you have the number you need.