Slides from my Arduino presentation

[BitTwiddler]

I've been working with the programming/electronics sub-team for the last few weeks. So far we've discussed C programming. Now it's time to move on to practical applications utilizing the Arduino ecosystem.

These are some Powerpoint slides I prepared for tomorrow's class entitled "Arduino Architecture". Feel free to peruse, comment and abuse as you see fit.

[randalcr]

What would you recommend using for teaching/learning how to program an arduino? Our team was looking at using some for a project, but nobody really knows much about the programming side of it.

[BitTwiddler]

Originally Posted by randalcr

What would you recommend using for teaching/learning how to program an arduino? Our team was looking at using some for a project, but nobody really knows much about the programming side of it.

Start like I did. Buy an UNO board, go to https://www.arduino.cc/, download the Arduino IDE and look at the example programs provided with the IDE. You may want to stop at Radio Shack and pick up a few LEDs, potentiometers, piezo speakers and a small breadboard with some wires and get to work. It's fun. Any questions you may have about Arduinos can probably be answered on the link provided above. Google "Arduino project's" for tons of neat ideas for using them in real world applications.
Need to learn C programming? Check out:http://www.cprogramming.com/tutorial/c-tutorial.html. they have a tutorial on the C programming language.

[BitTwiddler]

Just an afterthought...
Did you get a coupon for a free Arduino board from 16 Hertz in the 2015 KOP?
They still have them available for FRC teams as of today.

[D.gimon]

You should check out this Arduino Simulator. It's very well done. I have an Arduino UNO board and had a sketch running to have a servo motor go back and forth at a speed determined by a potentiometer. Ran the sketch on the simulator and got the exact same results. Very nice and a lot less work.

https://www.sites.google.com/site/unoardusim/

[BitTwiddler]

Originally Posted by D.gimon

You should check out this Arduino Simulator. It's very well done. I have an Arduino UNO board and had a sketch running to have a servo motor go back and forth at a speed determined by a potentiometer. Ran the sketch on the simulator and got the exact same results. Very nice and a lot less work.

https://www.sites.google.com/site/unoardusim/

I like it. Nice catch!

[bowmanb]

Another really nice simulator is AutoDesk's 123D Circuit. It's both a breadboarding/schematic app and an Arduino simulator. And it's free. You do have to register for an account. It's great stuff.

https://123d.circuits.io/

[sparkytwd]

I'm a big fan of the Teensy line of boards. The LC is only $12 from PJRC http://www.pjrc.com/store/teensylc.html (I'm in no way affiliated, just a huge fan). Paul has done a lot of great work integrating it with Arduino. With an LC and a ring or strand of WS2812B LEDs, you can start on some really cool effects for next year.

[slibert]

Originally Posted by randalcr

What would you recommend using for teaching/learning how to program an arduino? Our team was looking at using some for a project, but nobody really knows much about the programming side of it.

A few years ago, the linked-to curriculum was developed for an "Inventing with Electronics and Software" class taught here on Kauai. The curriculum is open source, and based upon the Arduino Inventor's Kit (~$99 at Sparkfun or Amazon). The class has been taught over the last few years to students new to programming.

I can also second the recommendation on the "Arduino Programmer's Notebook", which is used as a reference as they take the "Inventing" course. It's very well written.

Completing the picture, for our team after the students have completed the "Inventing" course step, the next logical step is to introduce them to Java (team 2465's programming language of choice). This year our new programming students at this "second step" level are going through the MIT Online Courseware Java Tutorial (suggested previously by another poster on ChiefDelphi). It's a more challenging course, but it covers what they'll need to know.

At that point, they are ready to start working w/the RobotBuilder and a custom robot program in Eclipse/Java. The big leap here is learning the WPI library and the dev/debug process in Eclipse->Roborio. We have three projects this year: (a) one team builds a fully-operational robot chassis and drive system, (b) another team builds a LED-strip light display, and (c) a third group uses the RobotBuilder for constructing a robot's "gizmo" (non drive system-related) RoboRIO software.