How-To Sensors

In these lessons, you will learn the basic concepts of circuits, coding, and how they can be applied to sensors. The lessons focus around using the Arduino Uno microcontroller in order to read inputs from sensors and manipulate outputs with lights.

Through these lessons, you will learn:

  1. How to wire circuits containing electrical components such as LED’s, resistors, pushbuttons, and potentiometers
  2. How to create voltage dividers and calculate their output voltages
  3. How to use flex and pressure sensors
  4. How to read inputs using the Arduino and create an output effect using code

The first three units will walk you through how to create basic circuits using LED’s, pushbuttons, and potentiometers. Each unit will first demonstrate how power travels through the circuit and how each component affects the circuit by learning hardware. The unit will then walk you through a similar circuit set up that implements Arduino code using Arduino software to show how the circuit can be manipulated using code.

UNIT 1: Introduction

  • This unit will introduce you to the Arduino, how to use a breadboard, and Ohm’s Law
  • Electrical components that are introduced include resistors and LEDs.
  • Coding concepts that are introduced include pinMode()

UNIT 2: Digital Input / Output

  • Electrical components that are introduced include pushbuttons
  • Coding concepts that are introduced include variables, digitalRead(), digitalWrite(), Serial.println(), and if...else loops

UNIT 3: Analog Input / Output

  • Electrical components that are introduced include potentiometers and pressure sensors
  • Coding concepts that are introduced include analogRead(), analogWrite(), and the map() function
  • Voltage dividers are also covered here

UNIT 4: And More…

  • This unit combines previous projects that teach electrical components and sensors in order to discover new applications and strengthen the learning process
  • Electrical components that are introduced include flex sensors
  • Coding concepts that are introduced include delay() and for loops