Tutorial 04 for Arduino: Analog Inputs

[hullj15]

i have an arduino mega 2560 and i just got the arduino coding software so i try an exmple code but i couldnt upload it to my arduino the error message was somthing onlong the lines of serial port "com1"not found did you select the right one from tools>serial port menu? but for some reason in the tools menu the serial port button is faded out and i can acess it for some reason does any one know why and/or how to sort this problem? many thanks to anyone who can help.

[fabse64]

But I've got a question: On the schematics you show, anything that's not connected to something goes to ground, which is minus, is that right? That means we're basically only working with plus, right?

[fabse64]

Finally a channel it's worth subbing to. Thanks for your tutorials!

[davademon]

i made the led nightlight but i'm still afraid of monsters hiding in my closet. plzhlpthx

[Rannyfash]

GLADOS!!!!!

[whilmer27]

HI SIR!!!

can you make a tutorial about RFID and adruino,. and aslo FINGER PRINT SCANNER and adruino., thanks in advance.,

[dubhealedlouiedawg]

Did you build the yellow robotic arm? or did you buy it anywhere? If yes to the latter, where can I get one?

[mehdiway]

Beautiful !!

[1991swagger]

hey jeremy i was thinking instead of adopting the use of a voltage divider why not measure the increase current through the resistor, use a shunt resistor and send the voltage across the shunt to the arduino. Will this allow a greater resolution?

[1991swagger]

@1991swagger that is if you amplify it with an opamp

[WebDesigneri]

Hi! I have a variable resistor that can be set from 3.34 to 8.72 kohms. What's the best way to read the position of the variable resistor with an arduino and get the best resolution? The variable resistor has only 2 pins, so it doesn't work like a potentiometer.

[sciguy14]

@WebDesigneri If it only have two pins, how is it being varied? You can set it up in a voltage divder circuit with a fixed value resistor, and use the output voltage to determine the value of your variable resistor.

[WebDesigneri]

@sciguy14 The device I'm working with is actually a cruise control actuator. It has some kind of a potentiometer / variable resistor in it, but I can't get the output voltage of the pot from any wire that's coming out of the device. There are 7 wires total. Two are for controlling the motor in the actuator, 2 are for a solenoid that locks the actuator arm and I can read a varying resistance value between 2 wires.

[WebDesigneri]

@sciguy14 The resistance varies when the actuator arm moves, so the position of the arm could be determined. So one wire is left. I assumed this would be the output from the potentiometer, but I don't get a voltage however I wire it (maybe it's broken?). I tried the voltage divider circuit with a fixed value resistor already, but didn't get that good of a resolution on the Arduino. What would be the best value for the fixed value resistor for this to work? Thanks for your help.

[Crazycooldude1234567]

Hi Jeremy Just Wandering If You Could Send Me The Intro Music To You Tutorials,Thanks

[Bryan7346]

I'm wondering if anyone on here could take a look at a few lines of code that I have written. I am trying to just make sure a small video camera stay on and stay recording, I am going to put it in a weather balloon. I believe it to be very simple code (to someone who know what theyre doing) but I have had some trouble with the REC button working. I have sent Jeremy Blum a msg directly via FB but he never responded. Please respond to this post if ur interested or email bryan246@gmail.com thanx

[sciguy14]

@Bryan7346 I never received a facebook message from you. Did you send it to the right Jeremy Blum? Use the contact form on my website.

[indian9222]

the best tutorial ive come across learnt a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mudithead]

Hey, question- i have infrared sensor and everything but the the JST connector which connects the sensor to the breadboard is actually aluminium( that reddish- brownish fiber like thing) and not copper. Will that make any difference? Help

[mudithead]

@mudithead Well i tried, but its just staying in only 2 values '230' and '231'..No changes in output. :( help

[sciguy14]

@mudithead no

[mudithead]

Hey great video. :)

Well, i did order the arduino starter kit so thats not a problem. But, i did order the infrared sensor(short range) but that did not come the connector( the jst connector or whatever it is called) :( How should i connect the sensor now? Is that cable available on element 14 website? Or is it available everywhere?

[maxclonage]

Can you actually use the 3.3v pin on the Uno board to power a sensor that requires 3.3v and at the same time use that as the Vref?

[sciguy14]

@maxclonage Yes.

[MrMimsicle]

Hey! You changed your programming style (sort of). Dunno if anyone else noticed that. Anyway, nice tutorial

[sciguy14]

@MrMimsicle You mean putting the brackets on the same line? I switch back and forth.

[MrMimsicle]

@sciguy14 Yeah, for some reason when I see programmers put brackets underneath voids, booleans, ints etc. it always bugs the crap out of me for some reason

[PRBHTRAI]

your videos helps a lot...i am doing a project that includes using arduino , gps and a magnetic field sensor......

[CIPHERJAY]

@sciguy14 Would it be possible to include the infrared transmitter product on your website? I cant find one from element 14! Thanks!! (and thanks for the tutorials, they are great! )

[sciguy14]

@CIPHERJAY They can be tough to find. Check sparkfun

[Bashar46]

Good JOb man ur doing a good JOb..I Used C++ For Arduino But this Program u have ..Kind Good Easier

[Mrkirill578]

I wondered what would happened if you put the led next to the light sensor

[Slench101]

this made me make a bargraph, consisting of 6 leds, each with overlapping values.. showing me 11 different brightness levels, instead of just 2...

in other words: very useful tutorials!

[eddiea6987]

does an Ultra Sonic Range Finder fall under analog? so to get a reading i just use the analogRead cooomand on an analog input pin? just about most sensors fall under analog right?

[Slench101]

how does the arduino know if you're using digital pin 0 or analog pin 0?

[sciguy14]

@Slench101 because you use the analogRead command.

[Slench101]

@sciguy14 isn't that confusing in terms of coding?

wouldn't it be easier to call all the analog pins A0 A1 A2... etc like they're called on the board?

so for example

int lightSense = A0;

instead of

int lightSense = 0;

[elfboy0]

For the last example, since I don't have an infrared sensor, I used a pot. However, I found I had to add a "delay" command to the end of the loop, and lower the "thresh" value, to account for me turning the pot more slowly than the loop would cycle through. Otherwise, it worked fine. But I imagine a lot of viewers won't happen to have an infrared handy.

[TheSaltysack]

dude you are the man i now understand after looking over some basic circuits

[TheSaltysack]

wich arduino is best

[sciguy14]

@TheSaltysack Mega 2560 has the most functionality, but is overkill for most projects.

[francisroan]

i just love the intro tune

[sciguy14]

@francisroan A friend made it!  Check out his channel: amiller90

[bluemagictube]

Fur future reference when you have a camera view like that at 3:52 it is better to do some rotation of the board so we can see what is going on clearly. Excellent tutorials ! Shame you arent doing any more !

[sciguy14]

@bluemagictube I am hoping to do more, just taking a short break. Putting these out every week can get exhausting.

[valor36az]

These tutorials are awesome, keep them up Jeremy

[shebotnov]

Thx for the info. Any plans on building a simple robot in your videos? With hooked up servo with IR sensor f.e. Ofc. with a 2 DC motors.

[sciguy14]

@shebotnov NOt sure, possibly in the future.

[shebotnov]

Thx for the info. Any plans on building a simple robot in your videos? Hook up a servo with IR sensor f.e.

[exforbrian]

This is great, I just learned about the Arduino last night and with this video and some others I now see the ease of programing and DIY progects, his "SLOW" expinations of this project was perfect for me, THANKS!!!!

[sciguy14]

@exforbrian Glad it helped!

[manutube8080]

Which relay can I use to power a light bulb?? I can't find one. Which specifications do I have to considered if I'm on South America and the voltage is 220V?

[sciguy14]

@manutube8080 Either an electromechanical relay + a transistor and a flyback diode, or an opto-isolated solid-state relay. The panasonic AQG12105 electro mechanical relay would work. Be sure to power it from the arudino using a transistor (this will be shown in the next video). Also, add a diode from the negative to positive end of the relay.

[manutube8080]

@sciguy14 ok thanx i will wait for yout next tud on monday

[billwesleypatrick]

WOW YOU ARE SO AWSOME!!! LET ME TRY! ok i am going to type the word wow now, first i will place my finger over the w key on my keyboard and then depress a w should apear on my screen, now i will move my finger over the o key and depress it next, this should now apear as wo on the screen, now finally i return my finger to the first key i depressed, the w key and again depress it, there. the word wow is now on my screen, see over explaining is super annoying and people lose intrest!

[raghunitin]

@billwesleypatrick go get yourself a job man. He is doing this great and this is for beginners. Look at the difficulty meter. Its only two. If you want some other complicated stuffs, you've got the search bar above, which allows you to get access to tons of stuffs like that. Even if you can't appreciate people, at-least don't demotivate them. Jeremy did/is doing/will do a great job and I'm feeling great for having subscribed to his channel. Even I've learned some new stuffs around here. :P

[sciguy14]

@raghunitin THANKS :)

[raghunitin]

@sciguy14 no probs... :) ;)

[sciguy14]

@billwesleypatrick this is a tutorial series aimed at beginners. Many people have asked me to explain things slowly, so that's what I'm doing.

[khisanth75]

@billwesleypatrick He doesnt over explain at all, just makes it clear what he is doing and most importantly WHY he is doing it. These are great tutorials!

[fuelban]

nice video guy. thanks.

Thom in Scotland

[11thtoe]

Just a thought:

digitalWrite( ledPin,  (abs(currentDist - lastDist) > thresh && lightVal < 800)

);

although this is arguably less self-documenting, the logic seems more concise to me and easier to understand.

Thanks for your video series, I'm enjoying them!

[sciguy14]

@11thtoe Yes, good call, using abs would make it more concise.  Thanks!

[whisk0r]

Good stuff Jeremy! Was this the episode during which the laptop blue screened?

How many more did you manage to finish with your video binge?

[sciguy14]

@whisk0r Haha yeah... Had to rewrite and re-capture the arduino programs several times... I filmed enough content for 10 total episodes (6 more).

[whisk0r]

@sciguy14 That is a serious amount of work! Great idea though (school). Our videos are more about what's happening 'today' so we can't work ahead like that.

[sciguy14]

@whisk0r Yeah, ordinarily I prefer not to work like that, but it seemed like the smartest thing to do...

[raghunitin]

Another concept learnt... Thanks to Jeremy Blum.... :)

I still have this one thing bothering my mind........ Will the photo-resistor work only for a short distance? I saw you moving your hand too close so that the photo resistor would sense it. Or is it the light in the room making the resistor to work so?

[sciguy14]

@raghunitin No, it detects general ambient light. I have bright lights for filming, so I had to move my arm in close proximity to create a change. In general it will detect changes to light in the room.

[Ervine4]

your a boss.

[pjharro]

Part2:

Then I think "there is already so many levels of abstraction in electronics (any IC for eg.) should I care that I am not making the house by pouring concrete".

Do you have any thoughts on this? Do you consider using pre-made boards cheating?

I suppose I should be using the tools given me to create more elaborate devices rather than mixing concrete :)

[sciguy14]

@pjharro I've had similar thoughts. My opinion on the arduino is that it is a good jumping off point - a great way to make something really cool, really quick. It certainly is not a production level solution. I think arduino should be used to test and refine a concept, then port it over to C code on an atmega when it's ready to be finalized into a product. It's a great way to get acquainted with microcontrollers if you are new to them. I use atmegas with C for serious research projects.

[pjharro]

Part1:

This is a great series Jeremy. One thing that seems stuck in my head. I have a strong backgruound in programming and would find C coding easy enough (although I havn't coded in C for a few years). When I see the Arduino boards I keep thinking it is cheating somehow, I think "some clever cookies have done all the hard work for me so making things with it is not as big an achievemnt"...

[COBLover666]

You are insanely clever my friend :)

[o0subzero0o]

sciguy14 for president :)

Your videos are 100% kickass!

[WhatUpTech]

Nice Video:)

[BanthaFodd3r]

Thanks a lot for this series, i've done a little theory behind simple electronics at school but have never really done anything in a practical sense with it. After buying an aduino board and looking around, I have to say, your videos are by far the most informative.

[sciguy14]

@BanthaFodd3r Very glad to hear that! Look forward to more.

[hardikvpandya]

super informative. may i ask how u got in touch with element 14 guys?

[sciguy14]

@hardikvpandya We had a long back and forth after they saw my "building an engineer" talk. We eventually decided to work together to promote arduino.