Arduino Control over Serial Port

So let's build something more difficult. We will see how you can control arduino over a serial port. We turn the onboard LED on and off through the serial port.

Let's see the video of the program working and then we will explain the code.

Arduino UNO Programming Basics

So let's take the blink program and tinker it!

void setup() {               
  // initialize the digital pin as an output.
  // Pin 13 has an LED connected on most Arduino boards:
  pinMode(13, OUTPUT);    
}

void loop() {
  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // set the LED on
  delay(1000);              // wait for a second
  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // set the LED off
  delay(1000);              // wait for a second
}

Arduino UNO + Ubuntu 10.10

I just installed Arduino UNO in Ubuntu 10.10 from the instructions here, go where it says "Ubuntu without (arduino) package". Then download the software (the linux version) and it should work great!

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UPDATE -- There is a visual walk-through, on how to install arduino on an ubuntu clean install here.

Basic Electrical Components

There are quite a few tutorials here, to help you get started with arduino. They are basic programs to learn the use and most of the capabilities of the board. I scanned quickly through, to make a list of the basic stuff you will need, so here it goes:

LEDs:

Most programs require up to 3 LEDs, so buying 2-3 of each basic colors (Red, Green, Blue) is a good idea, so it isn't very monotonous. They are quite cheap, they will not be a great expense.

Resistors:

• 100 Ohm
• 220 Ohm
• 4.7 KOhm
• 10 KOhm

I think those are most of the resistors used. Buy 2-3 of each, they are quite cheap too.

My Arduino Uno!

Today I bought my ARDUINO UNO. 

It's quite smaller than I expected. Came in a small paper case. Seems very sturdy, nice construction overall. 

Came as shown in the picture, no wires or anything else, so I have to go buy some LEDs, jumper wires, resistors maybe a breadboard, to start tinkering.

I also need a power adapter, but i think the A/B USB cable can power the board through the PC.

Anyway, I will post the results from my experiments, so check back.