ACTIVITY MODULE 1 (LED)

TOPIC 1: Pushbutton- Controlled LED and

Light Dimmer
 SUBTOPIC 1
Pushbutton- Controlled LED and
Light Dimmer

At the end of the presentation, the students should be able to:

 Discuss how create a simple Arduino project using LED and other
arduino electrical components.
 Create a pushbutton-controlled LED and Ligh Dimmer arduino
project.
In this project, you’ll
add a pushbutton
switch to an LED
circuit to control
when the LED is lit.
•Arduino board
• Breadboard
• Jumper wires
• LED
• Momentary tactile
four-pin pushbutton
• 10k-ohm resistor
• 220-ohm resistor
1. Place your
pushbutton in a
breadboard, as
shown in figure.
2. Connect pin A to one leg of a
10k-ohm resistor, and connect that
same resistor leg to Arduino pin 2.
Connect the other resistor leg to
the GND rail, and connect the GND
rail to the Arduino’s GND. Connect
pin B on the switch to the +5V rail,
and connect this rail to +5V on the
Arduino.
3. Add the LED to your
breadboard, connecting the
longer, positive leg to Arduino pin
13 via a 220-ohm resistor and the
shorter leg to GND.
4. Confirm that your setup
matches the circuit diagram
shown in figure, and then upload
the code in “The Sketch” on the
next page.
In this sketch, you assign a pin
for the pushbutton and set it as
INPUT, and a pin for the LED
and set it as OUTPUT. The code
tells the Arduino to turn the LED
on as long as the button is
being pressed (completing the
circuit), and to keep the LED off
when the button is not being
pressed. When the button is
released, the circuit breaks and
the LED will turn off again.
In this project, you’ll
create a dimmer
switch by adding a
potentiometer to
control the
brightness of an LED.
•Arduino board
• Breadboard
• Jumper wires
• LED
• 50k-ohm
potentiometer
• 470-ohm resistor
1. Insert the potentiometer into
your breadboard and connect the
center pin to the Arduino’s A0 pin.
Connect one of the outer pins to
the +5V rail of the breadboard and
the other outer pin to GND on the
breadboard (it doesn’t actually
matter which way around the outer
potentiometer pins are connected;
these instructions just reflect the
diagrams in this project), as shown
in figure.
2. Insert the LED into the
breadboard. Attach the positive leg
(the longer leg) to pin 9 of the
Arduino via the 470-ohm resistor,
and the negative leg to GND, as
shown in figure.
3. Upload the code in “The Sketch” below.

4. Turn the potentiometer to control the brightness of the LED.

This project has many potential uses: you can cluster

a number of LEDs together to create an adjustable
flashlight, a night-light, a display case light, or
anything else that uses dimming lights.
This sketch works by setting pin
A0 as your potentiometer and
pin 9 as an OUTPUT to power
the LED. You then run a loop
that continually reads the value
from the potentiometer and
sends that value as voltage to
the LED. The voltage value is
between 0–5 volts, and the
brightness of the LED will vary
accordingly.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!
 References
 Fitzgerald, S., & Shiloh, M. (2013). Arduino Projects
Book. Arduino.

 Banzi, M. (2011). Getting Started with Arduino (2nd ed.).

O'Reilly.

 Monk, S. (2011). Programming Arduino: Getting Started

with Sketches (1st ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
 ACTIVITY MODULE 1 (LED)
TOPIC 2: Bar Graph and Disco Strobe Light
 SUBTOPIC 1
Bar Graph and Disco Strobe
Light

At the end of the presentation, the students should be able to:

 Discuss how create a simple Arduino project using LED and other
arduino electrical components.
 Create a Bar Graph and Disco Strobe Light arduino project.
In this project, you’ll
combine what you’ve
learned in the
previous LED
projects to create an
LED bar graph that
you can control with
a potentiometer.
•Arduino board
• Breadboard
• Jumper wires
• 9 LEDs
• 50k-ohm
potentiometer
• (9) 220-ohm resistor
1. Insert the LEDs
into the breadboard
with their shorter,
negative legs in the
GND rail. Connect
this rail to Arduino
GND using a jumper
wire.
2. Insert a 220-ohm resistor for each LED into the
breadboard, with one resistor leg connected to the positive
LED leg.
3. Connect the other
legs of the resistors to
digital pins 2–10 in
sequence, as shown in
figure. It’s important
that the resistors bridge
the break in the
breadboard as shown.
4. Place the potentiometer in the breadboard and connect the
center pin to Arduino A0. Connect the right outer pin to +5V
and the left potentiometer pin to GND.

5. Upload the code in “The Sketch” below.

The sketch first reads the input
from the potentiometer. It maps
the input value to the output
range, in this case nine LEDs.
Then it sets up a for loop over
the outputs. If the output
number of the LED in the series
is lower than the mapped input
range, the LED turns on; if not,
it turns off. See? Simple! If you
turn the potentiometer to the
right, the LEDs light up in
sequence. Turn it to the left, and
they turn off in sequence.
In this project, you'll
apply the skills you
learned in the
previous project to
make a strobe light
with adjustable speed
settings.
•Arduino board
• Breadboard
• Jumper wires
• 2 blue LEDs
• 2 red LEDs
• 50k-ohm
potentiometer
• (4) 220-ohm resistor
1. Place your LEDs
into the breadboard
with the short,
negative legs in the
GND rail, and then
connect this rail to
Arduino GND
2. Insert the resistors into the
board, connecting them to the
longer, positive legs of the
LEDs. Use jumper wires to
connect the two red LEDs
together and the two blue
LEDs together via the
resistors, as shown in Figure;
this allows the LEDs of the
same color to be controlled by
a single pin.
3. Connect the red LEDs to Arduino pin 12 and the blue LEDs
to Arduino pin 11.
4. Place the
potentiometer in the
breadboard and
connect the center pin
to Arduino A0, the left
pin to GND, and the
right pin to +5V.
5. Confirm that your
setup matches that of
figure, and then upload
the code in “The
Sketch” on the next
page .
The sketch works by setting the analog
signal from the potentiometer to the
Arduino as an input and the pins
connected to the LEDs as outputs. The
Arduino reads the analog input from the
potentiometer and uses this value as the
delay value—the amount of time that
passes before the LEDs change state
(either on or off). This means that the
LEDs are on and off for the duration of
the potentiometer value, so changing
this value alters the speed of the
flashing. The sketch cycles through the
LEDs to produce a strobe effect.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!
 References
 Fitzgerald, S., & Shiloh, M. (2013). Arduino Projects
Book. Arduino.

 Banzi, M. (2011). Getting Started with Arduino (2nd ed.).

O'Reilly.

 Monk, S. (2011). Programming Arduino: Getting Started

with Sketches (1st ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.