After graduating from Flatiron School I started exploring the idea of getting into robotics. I wasn't really sure where to start so I went down some rabbit holes and landed on getting the Arduino starter kit. Its a really awesome kit and comes with all the basic components to get you started. The best part about the kit is that it comes with a tutorial book. The book does a really good job at slowly introducing you to the different components through different circuit builds.
Theres also some coding that goes into the projects which is also provided so you can learn some C++ along the way. The programming language they introduce you too is called Arduino language which is essentially a framework built on top of C++. It's been really interesting to work with, the biggest adjustment for me so far is remember the ";" is required at the end of a line, haha.
One of my favorite projects I have worked on so far is a musical keyboard. They introduce a new concept called a resistor ladder. Which is essentially a way to connect multiple switches to the same analog input.
The main components to this build are buttons, a piezo, resistors, and a few wires. The piezo is the device that emits the different frequencies. The different frequencies are determined by the amount of voltage that is able to go through the button whenever you press it. The way the voltage is controlled is using different levels of resistors. So the code for this is pretty simple. You basically want to write a bunch of conditional statements to emit a specific frequency depending on a range of voltage values.
If you are interested in what the actual code looks like stay tuned for next week. Im going to get a little more in depth on what goes into coding an Arduino project. I am thoroughly enjoying the ride that I have gotten on and can't wait to see what I am able to produce in the future. Right now my end goal is to make a little droid friend that can roam around my apartment just living its best life! Thanks for taking the time to read this. Hope you have a great day!
Top comments (2)
Hi! I found your article. I was looking for info on Arduinos and came across yours. I'm new to Arduinos, but my husband has one (given to him by his company), and I want to play around w/it. Side note: I did want to mention that I, too, graduated from a bootcamp (Lambda school) and I live in Colorado! I just started a new job as a software engineer! Anyways, I am wanting to learn more about Robotics ('cause my company's product is a Robot- I work on some Robot code but mainly back-end inventory management that the Robot works with). I thought using Arduinos would help me get better at understanding robots. I would like to make a Robot too! BTW have you attended any local Arduino workshops? I know Longmont maker's space had some for a while.
Hi Kate! Very cool, I started playing with Arduinos a little bit after I graduated last November! Thats awesome you attended lamba, I have heard good things about them. And congratulations on finding a job! Still searching here, but I know something will come along eventually.
I never even thought to look into Arduino workshops, have you attended any? That sounds really interesting.