Arduino as a learning tool

Ahmad Adamu Galadima

Nigerian Turkish Nile University
Abuja, Nigeria
Email: galadimahmad@gmail.com

Abstract-In this paper we shall take a brief look at the II. ARDUINO
Arduino microcontroller and some of its applications and how
it can be used in learning. Arduino is an open-source microcon­ A. HARDWARE
troller used in electronic prototyping. Arduino hardware and its i) introduction: There are a wide variety of Arduino
components shall be looked at. Software and the Environment boards [6] out there, but only the Arduino Uno will be looked
that Arduino runs on are both looked at too. Some applications
at. The Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board based on the
will be taken as examples that can help make learning Arduino
ATmega328 [7], which is a high-performance Atmel 8-bit AVR
more interesting. This can be used as a major way to encourage
students and others to learn more about electronics and program­ RISC-based microcontroller. The device operates between 1.8-
ming. 5.5 volts [8].

The Arduino Uno has 14 digital input/output pins, 6 analog

Keywords-Arduino, hardware, software, applications, micro­
inputs, a 16 MHz ceramic resonator, a USB connection, a
controllers, arduino environment, learning.
power jack, an ICSP header, and a reset button. It contains
everything needed to support the microcontroller; simply con­
nect it to a computer with a USB cable or power it with a
I. I NTRODUCT ION AC-to-DC adapter or battery to get started.
2) Power: The Arduino Uno can be powered via the
Arduino is an open-source physical computing [1] platform USB connection or with an external power supply (AC-to-DC
based on a simple microcontroller board and a development adapter or battery).
environment that implements the Processing language [2]. It
was originally meant for artists and designers to create elec­ Leads from a battery can be inserted in the Gnd and Vin
tronic prototypes. They would be able to create these designs pin headers of the power connector. The board can operate on
easily with a little knowledge of programming and electronics an external supply of 6 to 20 volts.
without going too deep into it. Electronic prototyping was 3) Input/Output: Each of the 14 digital pins on the Uno
traditionally only associated with engineering and engineers. can be used as an input or output. This can be done using
the pinModeO, digitalWriteO and digitalReadO functions [9].
Arduino can be used to develop interactive objects, taking They operate at 5 volts. In addition, some pins have specialized
in inputs to control outputs. Projects done with Arduino can
functions.
be stand-alone or they can communicate with software running
on a computer [3]. So many interesting projects can be found 4) Communication: The Arduino Uno has a number of
that center around arduino. In fact many "shields" [4] (separate facilities for communicating with a computer, another Arduino
boards that can be connected) are created to add functionality board, or other microcontrollers. A Software Serial library
to the Arduino board. allows for serial communication on any of the Uno's digital
pins. [10]
Today the world we live in is becoming hugely depen­
dent on technology. This means there is a need for a more B. SOFT WARE
technically skilled workforce to build and maintain required
Arduino environment is open-source and easy to use [11]. It
technology. Many new technologies are interactive, therefore it
is written in Java and based on Processing [12] and other open
makes it easier to create environments in which learning can be
source software. It runs on various platforms such as Windows,
done by doing, recieving feedback and refining understanding
Mac OS X, and Linux. It is designed to introduce programming
and building new knowledge [5].
to people unfamiliar with software development, which makes
it convenient for students. It includes a code editor with
Learning tools over the years have ranged from pieces
features such as syntax highlighting, brace matching, and
of chalk and slate to pencil and paper, from fountain pens
automatic indentation, and is also capable of compiling and
to ballpoint pens and so on [5]. Introducing the Arduino
uploading programs to the board with a single click. A program
microcontroller to various levels of education can help improve
or code written for Arduino is called a "sketch".
interest of building/designing things. Through various projects
that would be worked on, it will greatly improve critical think­ Arduino sketches are written in C or C++. The Arduino
ing and problem solving skills. There are a lot of projects that integrated development environment (IDE) comes with a soft­
can be found online and new projects are being built almost on ware library called Wiring [13] from the original Wiring
a daily basis. With an Arduino board, few other components project, which makes many conunon input/output operations
and a little imagination, the possibilities are limitless. much easier.

978-1-4799-4106-3/14/$31.00 © 2014 IEEE

C. ENVIRONMENT have an ecosystem, the platform wont be successful, If you
start charging for everything, everything dies very quickly."
The Arduino development environment contains a text
[21] says Banzi, Arduino Co-founder .
editor for writing code, a message area, a text console, a
toolbar with buttons for common functions and a series of 2) Development of Arduino in an educational environment:
menus. It connects to the Arduino hardware to upload sketches The Arduino project was developed in an educational setting.
and communicate with them. [9] This makes it ideal for newcomers to get started quickly.

III. A B RIEF HISTORY OF MICROCONTROLLERS 3) The hardware is affordable: The Arduino hardware is
cheap to buy, or assemble. The hardware designs can be gotten
In the early 70's both Intel and Texas instruments started online free of charge. Damaged parts on the board can be
developing higher integrated microprocessors. Intel continued replaced at a token fee. So users dont have to worry about
in the development of microprocessors while Texas Instru­ burning out parts and can focus on "tinkering". Leaving the
ments took a slightly different route. Instead of just a single Arduino board in a permanent installation would be affordable
chip microprocessor, they decided to add built in memory to enough. So a project designed using an Arduino board wont
it and the microcontroller was born [14]. have to be pulled apart just to retrive it.
Though microprocessors could be a basis for a much more
4) Hardware and Software are both open-source: Given its
powerful computer, it would need other chips to work. The
free licence to the Arduino hardware and software designs, the
microcontroller with its all-in-one approach needs little help
circuit diagrams can be gotten and built by individuals without
from other chips although it had a limited range of functions it
paying anything to Arduino [22]. The software is also free
could perform [15]. From being used in simple calculators and
to download so the user can study and modify the software
as gas pump meters, to its developement and wide usage in
if necessary [23]. Since the software is not purchased and
various areas. Today microcontrollers can be found in virtually
only cost of buying the board or buying parts for the board is
every electronic device we use.
incurred, it is very cheap.

I V. ARDUINO AS A LEARNING TOOL 5) It is based on the Processing programming IDE: The

Processing development environment [24] was created to be
Arduino was actually formed when Massimo Banzi's
very easy to learn and use. Hobbyists, designers and artists
students couldnt find affordable and efficient microcontrollers
who want to learn programming can now do so easily as the
for a project they were working on. Banzi [16] together
Arduino development environment is based on Processing and
with David Cuartielles [17] created their very own board
other open-source software.
with one of Banzi's students, David Mellis [18], writing the
programming language for it. Because of how easy it was 6) Arduino is programmed via USB cable: As most com­
to use, it became a hit amongst students even if they didnt puters now do not have serial ports, using USB cables is a more
know much about computer programming and electronics viable option for programming boards. No special components
[19]. Soon enough interesting designs using the Arduino are needed to operate the Arduino board, making it accessible
microcontroller started springing up. Whether it was making outside a lab environment [25].
things move or controlling things, Arduino grew in popularity.
[20] 7) It is a multiplatform environment: The IDE can run on
several platforms including Mircrosoft, Linux and Mac OS X
giving it an even larger user community base.
It is very interesting to see results of a project worked on.
Be it a blinking light, a moving part and so on. This interest is
what motivates people to design something of their own. The V. APPLICATIONS
number of projects that can be worked on are endless and are
limited only by one's imagination. In the following section we In this section we shall look at some examples of how
shall look at a few project designs using arduino. Arduino has been used to create amazing projects.

A. Why Arduino?
A. Lilypad Arduino
With the numerous amount of microcontrollers out there,
one might wonder, "Why use Arduino?" or "What makes The Lilypad Arduino is a wearable version of the Arduino
it different from others?". We shall give some reasons as that helps to build soft interactive electronic textiles or e­
mentioned by Arduino co-founder Massimo Banzi [2]: textiles [26]. It was developed and designed by Leah Buechley
and SparkFun Electronics [27].The design of e-textile involves
1) There is an active community of users: User commu­ the use of several modules being sewn on the fabric with con­
nities are groups of people who use a particular product, in ductive thread to give it the electrical connections necessary.
this case the Arduino. Due to the very active nature of the The microcontroller can be programmed just like the normal
community, it is easy to get help on troubling issues from Arduino boards using the usb-to-serial connection. The lilypad
others who may have faced similar problems. It also improves Arduino is an example of a user community driven project
the the design and helps drive the future direction of the with the commercial version of the kit designed by Leah and
Arduino board. "What you find is that if you can create a SparkFun Electronics.
community around an open source project then it becomes
really alive because everyone starts to contribute. If you dont Some designs using Lilypad Arduino include:
 •
Fig. 4. Lilypad Arduino pillow

is very important to know. Other areas it could be used include:

hydroponics, monitoring of lake and rivers, and monitoring
Fig. 1. Lily Arduino and so add-on components that can be sewn together
solutions in the lab environment. [32]

The list of materials include: An Arduino Uno board,

1) Propinquity: "Propinquity takes embodied gameplay to Prototyping Shield,pH probe, ORB probe, pH ORP circuits,
an extreme by turning each player into the other players game BNC connectors, Temperature sensor, LCD keypad shield,
controller. Wearing proximity and touch sensors, players must SD card shield, 170 tie point breadboards, Nylon mounting
move around score points by coming close together, but never hardware and a box to place the project in [33].
touching" [28].
The instrument takes in pH, ORB and temperature readings
periodically depending on the user. It saves the readings in a
text file on the SD card. The readings are displayed on the
LCD.

Fig. 2. Propinquity glove by Wyld Collective Ltd. and Propinquity being

played by two players

2) Turn Signal Biking Jacket: This design is a jacket with

turn signals that will let people know where you're going when
on a bike [29]. Fig. 5. ORP / pH / Temperature Data Logger schematic and actual photo

The code for this project can be found on the instructables

website (http://www.instructables.comJ)

C. ArduSat

ArduSat or Arduino Satellite [34] is a small open source

miniaturized satellite based on Arduino. The project is being
run by NanoSatisfi, now known as Spire [35]. The project was
Fig. 3. Examples of jackets with tum signals powered by Lilypad Arduino created to form an educational platform for space exploration.
sewn onto them It was the first platform that allowed the general public to test
out their own space based applications.
3) Musical Pillow: Another example is using the Iilypad
arduino sewn to a pillow with a speaker and fabric tilt sensor, The ArduSat which contains several sensors including
playing a different note for each petal of the sensor. The pillow some cameras, geiger counter [36], spectrometer, magnetome­
also has an analog pin broken out to one of its corners to be ter, GPS, pressure and temperature sensors etc. These sensors
connected to any external analog sensors to make noise [30]. which gather information from the space environment, are
connected to some user progranunable Arduino processors.
These processors can run a users application or experiment. It
B. ORP / pH / Temperature Data Logger
measures Wcm on every side and weighs roughly 1 kilogram,
This is an inexpensive data logger that would measure and so it is pretty light weight. The things that can be done with
record pH, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), and temper­ the ArduSat are numerous, some possibilities are: observing
ature levels of a particular liquid. The three parameters are meteors, photography from space, making a spectrograph of
commonly mearsured in water and wastewater systems [31]. the sun, detecting high energy radiation, compiling temperature
For example certain fish cannot live in a certain pH range. So it readings etc [34]. The possibilities are endless.
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