Learning C for Arduino: A comprehensive guide that will help you ace C's fundamentals using the powerful Arduino board

Table of Contents

Learning C for Arduino

Credits

About the Author

About the Reviewer

www.PacktPub.com

Why subscribe?

Customer Feedback

Preface

What this book covers

What you need for this book

Who this book is for

Conventions

Reader feedback

Customer support

Errata

Piracy

Questions

1. Getting Started

Arduino

Types of Arduino

Arduino Uno

Arduino Mega

Arduino Nano

Arduino Leonardo

Arduino Mini

Arduino Micro

Exploring Arduino Uno

USB port

External power jack

Analog pins

Digital pins

ICSP

Microcontroller

Reset button

Connecting Arduino to PC

Downloading and installing Arduino IDE

Downloading Arduino IDE

Installing Arduino IDE

Installing Arduino IDE on Windows

Installing Arduino IDE on Ubuntu/Linux

Installing Arduino IDE on Mac

Explore Arduino IDE

Summary

2. Our First Program!

Connecting your Arduino

Hello Arduino!

Dissecting our first code

setup() function

loop() function

Things to remember

Watch your case

Don't forget your semicolon!

Adding both Setup() and Loop() functions

Minding the baud rate

Formatting your code

Turning the LED On

Blink a LED

Commenting

Try at home

Keyboard shortcuts

Summary

3. Exploring C with Arduino IDE

Variables

Exercise

Data types

Integers

Rational numbers or fractions

Characters and strings

Booleans

Collecting and showing data through serial port

Mathematical operations

Addition

Subtraction

Exercise

Multiplication

Division

Modulus

Arrays

Exercise

Strings and operations with strings

Conversion of strings

Exercise

Summary

4. Blinking with Operations and Loops

Expression in C

Logical operations in C

If-statement

Nested if

Logical operators

AND operator

OR operator

NOT operator

If-else

Switch-case

Exercises

Loops

for loop

Nested for loop

While loop

do-while loop

Exercise

Summary

5. Functions and Files with Arduino

Functions

Types of functions

Functions with no arguments and a return value

Function with arguments and no return value

Functions with arguments and a return value

Usages of functions

Exercise

Data logging

File handling

Connecting an SD card to your Arduino

Formatting the SD/Micro SD card

Connecting the module to the Arduino

Naming your data file

Reading a file

Importing a library

Setting CS/SS pin number

Writing on a file

Exercise

Summary

6. Arduino and C++

Object Oriented Programming

Objects

Class

Going deeper into class

Understanding OOP better

Fundamentals of OOP

Encapsulation

Data Abstraction

Constructor

Virtual function

Polymorphism

Pointer and reference in polymorphism

Method overload

Method overriding

Inheritance

Exercises

Benefits of OOP

Using OOP with Arduino

GSM modules

Types of GSM module

Getting to know SIM900A mini better

Connecting the GSM Shield to the Arduino

Arduino library

Making a call using GSM module

AT commands

Usages and rules of AT Commands

Sending an SMS

Receiving an SMS

Summary

7. Using Pointers and Structure

Pointers

Declaring a pointer

Reference point

Types of pointers

Pointers and arrays

Usages of pointers

Learning about structure

Structure and function

Pass by value

Pass by reference

Nested structure

Exercise

Summary

8. Working with Arduino Libraries

Arduino library

In Windows

In OSX

Linux OS

Types of libraries

The Servo library

Exploring Servo.h library

Knob the Servo

Sweep with Servo

The Firmata library

The SoftwareSerial library

The LiquidCrystal library

Uses of LiquidCrystal Library

The Stepper library

Installing a library

Removing a library

Creating our own library

Summary

9. Lets Build Something Awesome

LED cube

Smart weather system

Home security

Summary

10. Few Error Handlings

Few common errors

Arduino is connected but cannot be found by the computer

Cannot upload programs to the Arduino board

Arduino software

Update the drivers

Access to the serial port

Physical connection

Auto-reset

Bootloader

java.lang.StackOverflowError

Arduino software freeze when I try to upload a program

Board doesn't turn on (the green power LED doesn't light up)

Get an error when launching arduino.exe on Windows

Could not find the main class

Cygwin conflicts on Windows

Tools | Serial Port menu is not visible

gnu.io.PortInUseException on Mac

Sketch appear to upload successfully but not do anything

Undeclared functions or undeclared types error

Invalid device signature when trying to upload a sketch

'xxx' does not name a type error

Library is not Installed properly

Wrong folder location

Library dependencies

Wrong library name

Wrong folder name

Forgot to close the Arduino IDE

Check your hardware connections

Check the coding syntax error

Use serial monitor

Stay connected with the Arduino forum

Summary

Learning C for Arduino

Learning C for Arduino

Copyright © 2017 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

First published: March 2017

Production reference: 1220317

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

Livery Place

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Birmingham 

B3 2PB, UK.

ISBN 978-1-78712-009-9

www.packtpub.com

Credits

About the Author

Syed Omar Faruk Towaha has degrees in physics and computer engineering. He is a technologist, tech speaker, and physics enthusiast from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), Bangladesh. He has passion for programming, tech writing, and physics experiments. His recent books include Easy Circuits for Kids, Fundamentals of Ruby, How You Should Design Algorithms, and JavaScript Projects for Kids. He is an Oracle-certified professional developer who is currently involved with a number of projects that serve both physics and computer architecture. He is currently working as the CTO of an IT company.

About the Reviewer

Francesco Balducci is a software engineer, working on Digital Signal Processing, micro-controllers, systems-on-chip, and ASIC products, and is currently employed at ST Microelectronics. He received his degree in Electronic Engineering at Politecnico di Torino in 2005. His thesis was about software security and methods to measure the strength of copy protection systems.

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Preface

Have you ever thought about making a robot? Or an electronic device that can be programmed for serving mechanical or logical purposes? If yes, then this book is the perfect guide for you. Throughout this book, you will be guided to learn C programming, which is required to program the microcontroller used in a logical device. You will also learn how you can develop your ideas about making an intelligent device. You will be able to program Arduino for your projects or play with Arduino for fun.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Getting Started, in this chapter, you will learn about Arduino, types of Arduino, Install the Arduino IDE and know the Arduino IDE. This chapter will also have details about the functions of the Arduino IDE software.

Chapter 2, Our First Program! in this chapter, you will learn how you can connect your Arduino to the computer and write the first program for the Arduino. You will also learn how you can format your code. A simple Arduino project will also be discussed in this chapter.

Chapter 3, Exploring C with Arduino IDE, in this chapter, you will learn about C programming for Arduino. You will learn how you can declare variables, take inputs from the Serial Monitor, few mathematical operations, String, Arrays and many other things related to C programming.

Chapter 4, Blinking with Operations and Loops, in this chapter, you will learn logical operations and loops. You will also learn where you can use these techniques in your programs.

Chapter 5, Functions and Files with Arduino, in this chapter, you will learn about functions, functions types, and file handlings. You will also learn how you can connect an SD card to your Arduino and program for it to read and write.

Chapter 6, Arduino and C++, in this chapter you will learn basic things about object oriented programming, the benefits of OOP, and how you can use OOP in Arduino programming. At the end of this chapter you will be able to connect GSM module to your Arduino and make call or send and receive SMS with the module.

Chapter 7, Using Pointers and Structure, in this chapter you will go deeper into the C programming. You will learn the usages of pointer and structure. You will also learn how you can use them in your code.

Chapter 8, Working with Arduino Libraries, in this chapter, you will learn about Arduino libraries. You will learn how you can install a library and use it in your code. You will learn about few famous Arduino libraries.

Chapter 9, Let’s Build Something Awesome, in this chapter, you will build a number of projects including LED cube, a smart weather system, and a home security system. You will also learn how you can make your own projects.

Chapter 10, Few Error Handlings, in this chapter, you will learn how you can solve few common Arduino errors. You will also learn techniques for fixing errors that can occur in building any project or code.

What you need for this book

Software: Arduino IDE and Fritzing.

Who this book is for

This book is for hobbyists who have no knowledge about programming and microcontrollers, but are keen to learn C programming using a very affordable hardware device.

Conventions

In this book, you will find a number of text styles that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning.

Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, path names, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: On the last code we have written Serial.print(Hello Arduino!\n).

A block of code is set as follows:

void setup() {

  Serial.begin(9600);

}

void loop() {

  Serial.print(Hello Arduino!\n);

}

New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, for example, in menus or dialog boxes, appear in the text like this: If you go to Tools | Port you will see a bunch of port list.

Note

Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.

Tip

Tips and tricks appear like this.

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Errata

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Questions

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Chapter 1. Getting Started

Since you have picked this book, this means you want to learn both about programming and electronics, especially microcontrollers. The book is designed to enable you to learn C programming easily and implement the language with an Arduino. I would suggest you do every code of the book by yourself and run them on the Arduino IDE. Microcontroller programming was hard before, but since the innovation of Arduino and the use of C programming on the Arduino board, microcontroller programming has become easy and fun.

Before going any further, let's understand the programming language C better. You may wonder why C programming is called C.

Well, before the creation of C, there was its predecessor programming language, called B. So, you should be able to guess from this where the name came from. The B language was developed by Ken Thompson at Bell Labs. At the same lab, the C language was developed in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie. The main purpose of creating this language was to design a UNIX operating system. Ken Thomson and Dennis Ritchie were the main developers of the UNIX operating system, so Dennis developed C to design UNIX.

C is not just a powerful language but a flexible one too. It is a portable language, because we can write a C program on one computer and compile to another with almost no modification.

To compile the source code of C, we need to have an IDE installed to our computers. Throughout this book we will learn C programming using the Arduino IDE. We will also be introduced to the Arduino IDE, its installation process, and how we can run our very first C program using an Arduino and the Arduino IDE.

Note

IDE stands for Integrated Development Environment. IDEs are used for software development. An IDE usually consists of an editor (where we can type code and comments), and a few tools along with a debugger (which is used to test the code to see if it has any errors). Most IDEs have a built in compiler (which converts source code/programming language into machine language).

Let's get introduced to an Arduino now.

Arduino

Arduino is a microcontroller board. People also call it a prototype