Introduction to Physical Computing with Arduino Microcontrollers

In this hands-on workshop you will learn how Arduino, a family of open-source microcontrollers, can power a variety of complex projects, from robots to wearable tech. This workshop covers the essential features and capabilities of an Arduino board need to start programming your own projects. You will learn fundamental concepts and techniques including how to set up the Arduino board with the Arduino IDE, how to wire up an LED to your Arduino board and write a program to blink the LED lights. This workshop will also cover pushbuttons, explaining why they are considered inputs to the Arduino board, as well as how to activate an LED with a pushbutton.

Topics Covered

• What are microcontrollers

• Creating an Arduino program

• Using the setup() and loop() functions

• Using the pinMode() and digitalWrite() commands

• Creating a sketch

• Controlling LED’s

• Wiring a pushbutton

• Activating an LED with a pushbutton

• Working with sensors

• Troubleshooting