01: Introduction & Documentation

Lab Day #1

I began by trying to complete the circuit, enabling the lightbulb to light. The key is to make sure that each new wire is connected by the metal on the bottom to the other wire. If this does not happen, then the current will not be able to flow through, and the lightbulbw will not light. Essentially, I pluged the USB into the battery and the other end of that cable into the arduino board. I then stripped the end of one wire (green) and put it in the 5V slot on the arduino board. Next, I stripped another wire (black) and put it in the ground slot on the arduino board. I then put the green wire into the bread board and attached one end of a resistor along the same row so that the current would flow. I then put the other end of the resistor in, along with the LED and the black wire. The longer leg of the LED must go next to the power source.

Next, I worked on connecting two bulbs in series with one resistor. Again, this required the same information that was applied to the single bulb.

I then changed the power source of the arduino board from a battery to my computer. From there, I used an example blink program to get the LEDs to blink on and off. Once the program was downloaded, I pressed play and the program ran. The time duration in between each blink can be adjusted on the program with one second correspdoning to 1000 on the screen.

Next, I moved on to motors. I decided that in order to connect the wires that I had stripped to the motor, I would sauder it. To solder, I turned the soldering iron on and made sure that the tip was clean (can be clearned in yellow pad). Next, I held the soldering iron on the motor where the wire was attached. After a short while, I took the solder and held it right where I wanted the wire to be. I then removed the solder, cleaned it in the sponge, and repeated for the other side.