Arduino Lesson For Loops For Simple LED Circuit - Technology Tutorials

3/17/2015
ArduinoLesson3:ForLoopsforSimpleLEDCircuit|TechnologyTutorials
Technology Tutorials
ARDUINO, TUTORIAL
ARDUINO LESSON 3: FOR LOOPS FOR

SIMPLE LED CIRCUIT
JUNE 25, 2014 | ADMIN | 3 COMMENTS
In this lesson we will create a circuit and write arduino code to control two LEDs.
You can jump right to the video, or read through the tutorial.
http://www.toptechboy.com/arduino/arduinolesson3simpleledcircuit/
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In the earlier lessons we wrote our first programs and built our first circuit. At this time you
should be getting comfortable with how the breadboard works and how to work with
variables and digitalWrite commands in the arduino IDE (Integrated Development
Environment). Now we are going to build a slightly more complicated circuit for controlling
two LEDs. Since we want to control each one individually, you will need to have a separate
arduino pin control each LED and each LED should have its own current limiting resistor (330
ohms). You should be able to sketch out your own circuit at this point. This is a diagram of the
circuit we will be using. Yours does not have to be exactly like this, but it should have the same
function.
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This circuit will allow you to independently control two Light Emitting Diodes from the arduino microcontroller
Notice that in this circuit, the shorter leg of both LEDs needs to be connected to ground. In
order to accomplish this we run a wire from the ground pin on the arduino to the top row of
the breadboard. This makes the top row ground. Now any device that needs to be grounded
can just be connected to the top row, since that row of the breadboard is connected all the
way across (See LESSON 1). Also note that both LEDs have their own 330 ohm current
limiting resistor, and remember that the direction matters on diodes . . . be sure to put them in
with the longer leg connected to the more positive part of the circuit . . . in this case, the longer
leg should be connected to the resistor (since the resistor connects to the + voltage coming
from the arduino pin).
When you get the circuit built, it should look something like this:
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Photograph of our Arduino Circuit for Controlling Two Diodes.
Now thatyour circuit is built, we are ready to do some programming.

Our objective in this exercise is to be able to independently control the LEDs. We will want to
blink the red one ten times in a row, and then blink the yellow one once. A blink should be
turning LED on, leaving it on for a quarter second, turning it off, and leaving it off for a quarter
second. Then that sequence will be repeated. So, we will need to think about the variables we
will need. We have two LEDs so we will need to declare two variables to indicate the pins that
the LEDs are connected to. In the schematic we connected the red LED to pin 9 and the yellow
LED to pin 10. Also, since we will be blinking two LEDs, we will need onTime and offTime
variables for each LED. You should go ahead and open your arduino IDE and set declare your
variables. Think about what you are going to name your variables . . . you do not have to use
the same names I use. My code looks like this:
Declare Variables and Assign Values
Arduino
int redLEDPin=9; //Declare redLEDPin an int, and set to pin 9

int yellowLEDPin=10; //Declare yellowLEDPin an int, and set to pin 10
int redOnTime=250; //Declare redOnTime an int, and set to 250 mseconds
int redOffTime=250; //Declare redOffTime an int, and set to 250
int yellowOnTime=250; //Declare yellowOnTime an int, and set to 250
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int yellowOffTime=250; //Declare yellowOffTime an int, and set to 250
Now that your variables are declared, what should you do next? Thats right! You need to
work on your void setup(). In your void setup you will need to set your pinModes. Since you are
using 2 arduino pins this time, you need to issue two pinMode commads as follows.
Do your Void setup
Arduino
void setup() {
pinMode(redLEDPin, OUTPUT);// Tell Arduino that redLEDPin is an output pin
pinMode(yellowLEDPin, OUTPUT);//Tell Arduino that yellowLEDPin is an output pin
}
Things are moving along and we are now ready to do our main business in the void loop().
Remember our goal is to blink the Red LED ten times, and then blink the yellow LED one time.
Now do the Void Loop
Arduino
void loop() {
digitalWrite(redLEDPin,HIGH); //Turn red LED on

delay(redOnTime); //Leave on for redOnTime
digitalWrite(redLEDPin,LOW);//Turn red LED off
delay(redOffTime);//Leave off for redOffTime




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digitalWrite(yellowLEDPin,HIGH); //Turn yellow LED on

delay(yellowOnTime); //Leave on for yellowOnTime
digitalWrite(yellowLEDPin,LOW);//Turn yellow LED off
delay(yellowOffTime);//Leave off for yellowOffTime
}
OK, now you are ready to run your code. If you did it correctly, it should run, and blink the red
LED ten times, and then blink the yellow LED one time. If it does not run correctly, you need to
debug your code. If it does not work, it is because you made a mistake. Most of the time it is
silly typos or forgetting to end lines with a semicolon. Check your work, and you will find your
error. Sometimes it helps to have someone else look it over with you.
OK, hopefully you have your code and circuit working now. You can play around with the
parameters, and you can see that you can make the LEDs do whatever you want them to.
Now imagine I asked you to make the red LED blink 25 times and then the yellow blink ten
times. The problem becomes that it gets very tedious to continue to copy and paste the code,
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and it eventually becomes impossible to keep track of how many times you have pasted the
code in. We need a better way of doing repetitive tasks, like blinking. Luckily there is what is
called a for loop a for loop will repeat a clause, or a group of commands, or lines of code a
specified number of times. The for loop looks like this:
Describe a for loop
Arduino
for (int j=1; j<=10; j=j+1) {
//do something cool in this loop
OK, there is lots going on with this new code, so lets break it down. First, notice the open and
close curly brackets. All of the code or command lines you put between the curly brackets will
be the code that is executed in the for loop. You can put as much or as little code as you want
in the for loop. Now lets look at the first line that actually initiates the for loop. Inside the
parenthesis are the parameters or arguments that define the behavior of the loop. Notice first
that we have introduced a new variable, j. Since we do not need this variable in other parts of
the program, we make it a local variable. That is, we do not declare it at the top of the
program, but declare it just when we use it. That is why we have int j=1. The int is declaring
that we are going to use a new variable called j. Now j=1 is telling the loop to start with a value
of j of 1. Then the j<=10 says to continue to loop as long as j is less than or equal to 10. Then
after the next semicolon we have j=j+1. This tells the arduino that each time through the loop,
increment j by 1. So, inside the parenthesis we are telling the arduino to start looping with j set
equal to one, to continue to loop as long as j is less than or equal to 10, and each time through
the loop to add 1 to the value of j.
So, if we want to blink the red LED ten times, it becomes very easy using the following code:
Arduino
for (int j=1; j<=10; j=j+1) { // Start our for loop
}
Remember that our goal was to blink the red LED ten times and blink the yelow LED one time.
We need to add a little code so that the LED will blink yellow. This should be done AFTER the
for loop.
Arduino
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for (int j=1; j<=10; j=j+1) { // Start our for loop

}
digitalWrite(yellowLEDPin,HIGH); //Turn yellow LED on

delay(yellowOnTime); //Leave on for yellowOnTime
digitalWrite(yellowLEDPin,LOW);//Turn yellow LED off
delay(yellowOffTime);//Leave off for yellowOffTime
WOW, that is a huge improvement over our original code. The for loop makes it much easier
to manage things. The one thing that I dont like about what we did in the code above is that
we looped to the constant value of ten. It would be better and smarter to declare a new
variable at the top of the program, The new variable could be numRedBlinks. Then in the for
loop we would loop until j<=numRedBlinks. Then at the top of the program we could set
numRedBlinks to however many times we want the red led to blink.
OK, I have done lots of the work for you in the above example. Now, I want you to write a
program where the yellow LED is also controlled inside a for loop. So, you would declare at the
top of the program two new variables . . . numRedBlink and numYellowBlink. The program
would have a for loop to blink the red LED numRedBlink times, and then blink the yellow LED
numYellowBlink times. Good Luck!
RESOURCES USED IN THIS LESSON:
Arduino Microcontroller: You can get a good deal on the arduino on Amazon. Arduinos are
open source and many are cheap chinese knockoffs, so you want to make sure you get an
official version, which you can at the link above.
Sparkfun Inventors Kit: While the bare arduino will get you started, I really suggest getting
the Sparkfun Inventor Kit. The projects I will feature in this tutorial set will use the
components in this kit, and it is probably cheaper to go ahead and get the kit than to buy the
individual components as you go along. The kit is under $100 on Amazon.
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FOR LOOPS
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3 THOUGHTS ON ARDUINO LESSON 3: FOR LOOPS FOR SIMPLE LED CIRCUIT

Daniel Pantilie
JANUARY 15, 2015 AT 2:45 PM
Great web site great teacher ,i have done the first 5 lessons and im very happy. My first
working program look like :
/*This Sketch was write by Daniel P. and inspired by great tutorials with prof. Paul
Mc.Whorter
post at http://www.toptechboy.com
Turns on and off a LED connected to any digital pin,in my case i use pin 13,
using the delay() function.
This example code is in the public domain.
*/
int red=13; //Declare my red led an integer, int and set to pin 13
int redOnTime=250; //Declare how long my led will be on and set to 250 millisconds
int redOffTime=250; //Declare how long my led will be off and set to 250 milliseconds
int numRedBlink; //Declare a global variable where i store an integer , how many time my
led will blinking
String redMessage=The Red Led Blinking; //Declare a string variable
void setup(){
pinMode(red,OUTPUT); //Tell Arduino my red led is an OUTPUT
Serial.begin(9600); //Turn on Serial Port
}
void loop(){
Serial.print(How Many Times Do You Want The Red Led To Blink ? );
while(Serial.available()==0){} //Wait until the user enter an integer
numRedBlink=Serial.parseInt(); //Assigned a value to numRedBlink
Serial.println(numRedBlink);
Serial.println(redMessage);
for(int j=1;j<=numRedBlink;j++){ //Start my for loop ,where the int j count
Serial.print(" You are on blink #: ");
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Serial.println(j); //Print the counter

digitalWrite(red,HIGH); //Turn red led on
delay(redOnTime); //Keep on my led for redOnTime
digitalWrite(red,LOW); //Turn red led off
delay(redOffTime); //Keep off my led for redOffTime
}
Serial.println(" ");
}
Thanks a lot and keep teaching as.
kukkuk
MARCH 14, 2015 AT 1:12 PM
hello sir..may I ask ,how do we want to stop the loop after one complete cycle? Btw I really
appreciate this lesson..Thank You
admin
MARCH 14, 2015 AT 1:18 PM
The void loop continues to loop. It is not something you can stop. If you want to do
something only once, put it in the void setup
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3/17/2015

ARDUINO LESSON 3: FOR LOOPS FOR

Photograph of our Arduino Circuit for Controlling Two Diodes.

Now thatyour circuit is built, we are ready to do some programming.

int redLEDPin=9; //Declare redLEDPin an int, and set to pin 9

int yellowOffTime=250; //Declare yellowOffTime an int, and set to 250

digitalWrite(redLEDPin,HIGH); //Turn red LED on

digitalWrite(redLEDPin,HIGH); //Turn red LED on

digitalWrite(redLEDPin,HIGH); //Turn red LED on

digitalWrite(redLEDPin,HIGH); //Turn red LED on

digitalWrite(redLEDPin,HIGH); //Turn red LED on

digitalWrite(redLEDPin,HIGH); //Turn red LED on

digitalWrite(redLEDPin,HIGH); //Turn red LED on

digitalWrite(redLEDPin,HIGH); //Turn red LED on

digitalWrite(redLEDPin,HIGH); //Turn red LED on

digitalWrite(redLEDPin,HIGH); //Turn red LED on

digitalWrite(yellowLEDPin,HIGH); //Turn yellow LED on

for (int j=1; j<=10; j=j+1) {

//do something cool in this loop

for (int j=1; j<=10; j=j+1) { // Start our for loop

digitalWrite(yellowLEDPin,HIGH); //Turn yellow LED on

HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE

3 THOUGHTS ON ARDUINO LESSON 3: FOR LOOPS FOR SIMPLE LED CIRCUIT

Serial.println(j); //Print the counter

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