Published September 15, 2018 © GPL3+

Basic Arduino Blink Example

Ever wonder how to set up the Arduino? Follow this simple blink tutorial.

BeginnerProtip1 hour1,222

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Elegoo Mega 2560 R3 Board Blue AT

Software apps and online services

Arduino IDE

Story

Setting up the Arduino IDE

After downloading the IDE from https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software install it and open it.

First, you'll need to plug your Arduino device (I'm using the Mega 2560 R3) into your computer (I'm using a Macbook Pro)

To make sure it is connected:

Look at the top of your screen under "Tools"

Select tools and scroll down to "Port:"

If your device is plugged into your computer, it should show up in the list of ports. Select it

On the main screen of the IDE, in the upper right corner there will be what looks like a magnifying glass

When you hover over it with your cursor, "Serial Monitor" will pop up. Click on it

Confirming the connection

Setting up the Sketch

Now that we confirmed that the Arduino is connected, let's set up the blink sketch.

Go up to file

Select "File" -> "Examples" -> "01.Basics" -> "Blink"

Look over your sketch when it pops up in a new window

Selecting the Blink sketch

Uploading the Sketch

The next step is to upload the sketch. If you're uploading your own custom sketch or if you modified the blink example, I recommend selecting the 'Verify' button which is a circular button on the upper left with a check-mark inside of it. This will confirm that your code compiles correctly.

The standard Arduino 2560 comes with the blink sketch preloaded, blinking the light on and off in 1 second intervals. This means that if we re-upload the blink example using the Arduino IDE we won't see a difference because the example also blinks the light in 1 second intervals.

Let's change the interval to be delay(500); which will delay the actions for 500 milliseconds or half of a second.

First, on your IDE you will see this.

Verifying and uploading the sketch

To further illustrate how quickly you can upload new sketches (when they are small like this), let's change the interval to be delay(100); which will delay the actions for 100 milliseconds or 1/10th of a second.

Once we upload this new sketch, we will be able to see the difference in the blink speed. (See below)

Running the Blink sketch on the Arduino

Conclusion

Now that we've set up our Arduino, modified a sketch, and uploaded it to the Arduino you can see how easy it is to quickly prototype ideas and run them on your Arduino.

Special thanks to Elegoo for this board.

You can find more of their products here:

https://www.elegoo.com/shop/

Code

Basic Blink Sketch

// the setup function runs once when you press reset or power the board
void setup() {
  // initialize digital pin LED_BUILTIN as an output.
  pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);
}

// the loop function runs over and over again forever
void loop() {
  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);   // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)
  delay(1000);                       // wait for a second
  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW);    // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW
  delay(1000);                       // wait for a second
}

Credits

Luke Dutton

9 projects • 10 followers

I currently have a BAS in Information Technology with a certificate in Software Application Development

Basic Arduino Blink Example

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Setting up the Arduino IDE

Setting up the Sketch

Uploading the Sketch

Conclusion

Schematics

Arduino 2560 R3

Code

Basic Blink Sketch

Credits

Luke Dutton

Comments

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Basic Arduino Blink Example

Basic Arduino Blink Example

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Setting up the Arduino IDE

Setting up the Sketch

Uploading the Sketch

Conclusion

Schematics

Arduino 2560 R3

Code

Basic Blink Sketch

Credits

Luke Dutton

Comments

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