Arduino Workshop Lesson 2 18 March 2016

Content:

- Setting up of LED to appear and disappear in a line

- Adding a buzzer to play sounds in sync with light

- Building of own project

Process:

It was the second lesson of our Arduino workshop and our first task was to light up a row of LED such that it would seem like the light was travelling in a line down the LEDs. This would require that all the LEDs be off as the next on is turned on and so on. This is a relatively simple task that we could complete using the delay function. The next task, however, was to involve the buzzer into the set-up such that a note would be played as the light switched from one LED to another. The main difficulty here was to synchronise the playing of the note with the lighting of the LED. For this, we were unable to complete the task until we figured out how to use an array. Finally, we were able to complete the task after lots of hard work.

The result of our hard work:

The second segment of our day was for us to embark on our own projects. We were allowed to think of our own ideas and to work it out. My group worked on two projects, a reaction time timer and a dice. Unfortunately, both of them did not work our very well but in the process, we had to be extremely determined and we learnt alot through the web and trial and error. Trying to complete our own projects trained us to think deep and concentrate well.

We also explored the other components in our Arduino kit and tried to make them work. One of the examples was the LCD. The wiring of the LCD was extremely complicated and we had to follow examples from the internet to make it work. We had to be extremely focused and meticulous as we could not even attach one of the wires wrongly without making the set up not work. After a long long time and several retries:

Reflection:

The objective of this course and the embarking on a self project, to me, was to teach us the value of determination and the will to learn and succeed. Success is the derivative of your hard work. It does not come easy and it only goes to those who toil and work effectively. I also realised the wide array of learning possibilities found in the internet. We are extremely blessed with the internet today as it empowers us with the opportunity to learn. As long as we have a will to learn, we can always do so with the internet. I will use the internet much more not just to further my learning for Arduino but in all aspects of learning as well. 

Personal Experience: 

Not just was this course beneficial to me technically, it built my character as well. I made me realise the important of hard work and the will to learn. From now on I will strive to work harder in all aspects of my learning and life. I also gained more understanding of the different functions in Arduino and understood the importance of determination as a programmer.