2nd Arduino Project

I completed my second Arduino project with the help of the wonderful tutorial series by Jeremy Blum. It was so much fun! I ordered a few things from SparkFun and now I feel like I have a pretty good setup for future projects. In this tutorial, we set up a little circuit with a push button. I learned all about debouncing a switch (I liked the explanation given here), a concept that was totally new to me. I got to apply some programming knowledge to play around with inputs, outputs, LED brightness and such. A good time was had by all! Actually, I was the only one home and the dog didn’t seem particularly impressed. He gave me a quizzical look and then went back to sleep.

School is humming along quite nicely. Again, this semester is not going to be a cake-walk but I love what I’m learning. My professors are a hoot. Truly, they keep me on my toes. Every class expects preparation and participation. Speaking of preparation, I’ve probably played around with the Arduino enough for today. Time to get back to the books!

Sully (the chocolate lab) insists. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This picture is him seven years ago. This obviously has nothing to do with engineering. It’s just cute.

My first project!

I got a light to blink! It might be a kit that a small child could have assembled, but it works and I even understand why. I soldered one of the potentiometers (and maybe a few other parts) in crooked but that’s okay. I think I need to start taping things like that to the board before turning over and soldering. Is there a better way to keep things in place than taping?

I’m going to do one more cheap kit that I ordered as practice and then I’m going to start free styling! Next skill to conquer? Breadboards, whoowhee!

I’ve also been busy starting my electronics overview since I’ll be taking an intro EE class as well as digital systems and EMag and waves. Yikes! I’m really jumping into this whole electricity thing feet first. I’ve been trying to locate a cheap copy of The Art of Electronics at local used book stores because I’m NOT paying 100 bucks on Amazon. Hmm, just found an international version on eBay for under $40, maybe I’ll get that.

Well, happy new year and see you all in 2012!