Getting Started with Arduino & Lights

Introduction

Are planning to add light to your work?
Do you want the light source in your installation to be controlled by sensor data?
Are you curious about the possibilities of programming lights with Arduino?

During this station skill, you will be introduced to some standard methods of programming lights with Arduino.
Arduino is a microcontroller that makes it easy for us to work with different kinds of hardware like lights, motors and a wide array of sensors. During this station skill, we will use it to work with lights. We will do this during three sessions, each one focused on working with different kinds of lights: LEDs, LED strips and light bulbs.

Session 1

Arduino and LEDs

Arduino: how does it work

board

Connecting the LED to Arduino

breadboard

Programming the LED

blink, delay, fade

LEDs traffic light

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Resources/More

Arduino reference page more leds : series parallel circuit, calculating resistance

Session 2

Arduino and LED strips

Types of strips

addressable, rgb, one color

Connecting the LED strip to Arduino

Programming the LED strip

color, intensity, for loop

Session 3

Arduino and Relays: how to control light bulbs (and not only)

Connecting the Relay and the light bulb to Arduino

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Add a distance sensor