Page 1 of 1
looking for help understanding arduinos
Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 11:25 pm
by JDP12
Hey all,
The concept of electronically fired guns has started to pique my interest, and arduino's seem to be very popular... I've looked on their website and such, but I'm a total beginner when it comes to electronics- components, wiring, and such. Can anyone give me any good online resources to help me understand this?
Stuff like how to hook up various things to an arduino, how programming works (I'm familiar with MATLAB if that helps?)
Thanks all.
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 1:01 am
by Technician1002
In programming, you can set the state of one of the output ports. To interface to the port you have to know the limitation of the current and voltage the chip can output. This often means the output must have some sort of amplifier to handle other voltages and currents. For example, a 5 volt output pin won't trigger a sprinkler valve. Adding a CMOS or IGBT transisor onto the pin can then switch the higher voltage and current to operate a relay or sprinker valve.
If you intend on driving an inductive load such as a relay coil or sprinkler valve, understanding of basic electronics is a must. Read all that you can on the subject as protection against inductive kick is a must to prevent damage. Snubbers, or diodes will need added to the circuit to protect from high voltage inductive spikes. There are many forums that go into this in more detail. The learning curve is a little steep, but once you start to grasp it and make headway, the rewards are great.
Here is a good start..
http://www.arduino.cc/playground/Main/Interfacing
http://arduino.cc/playground/uploads/Main/relays.pdf
Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 9:03 am
by POLAND_SPUD
Everything is on their site - seriously - you didn't browse it for long enough
Start with these ->
http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/HomePage
get yourself arduino board and do them...
wiring is there and so is code so just copy paste it _. if it works just analyse the code and change some numbers here and there (for example delay values) this way you'll learn most
some basic concepts are also explained here:
1.
http://www.ladyada.net/learn/arduino/index.html
2.
http://tronixstuff.wordpress.com/tutorials/