Arduino BLINK Blueprints

Key Features

• Learn to control TV backlighting using an IR remote
• Get introduced to sound visualization so you are able to use sound-controlled LEDs
• Build an exciting persistence of vision wand

Book Description

Arduino is an open-source prototyping platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. Arduino has been used in thousands of different projects and applications by a wide range of programmers and artists, and their contributions have added up to an incredible amount of accessible knowledge that can be of great help to novices and experts alike.

Want to build exciting LED projects with Arduino? This book will be your companion to bring out the creative genius in you. To begin with, you will get introduced to the maker movement and the open source hardware development Arduino boards. You will then move on to develop a mood lamp and a remote-controlled TV backlight. As you progress through the book, you will develop an LED cube and will learn to use sound visualization to develop a sound-controlled LED Christmas tree. You will then move on to build a persistence of vision wand.

At the end of each chapter, you'll see some common problems, their solutions, and some workarounds.

What you will learn

• Set up Arduino boards to run a basic ‘Hello World' program
• Develop a mood lamp and expand it to become an LED night lamp
• Control TV backlight color and intensity using an IR remote
• Develop an IR-controlled 4*4 LED cube
• Use sound visualization to develop a sound-controlled LED Christmas tree
• See a fun way to create interesting long exposure photographs and light displays using persistence of vision (POV) wands

About the Author

Samarth Shah is a software engineer by profession and maker by heart. He leads maker activities at Pune Makers and heads Infosys Robotics Club. He loves building creative/innovative prototypes using the latest hardware/sensors (Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Kinect, Leap Motion, and many more) and software. He has given talks at various national and international conferences. He has authored a book on Raspberry Pi entitled Learning Raspberry Pi, Packt Publishing. During the day, he works on various data visualization techniques and UI frameworks. At night, he does blogging, reading, writing, and many more things. You can read more about him at http://samarthshah.com.

Utsav Shah is an instrumentation engineer who loves to work on the latest hardware as well as software technologies. He has been featured on India's leading website http://yourstory.in and Ahmedabad Mirror (Times Group) for his research work on "Converting sign language into speech" using a Leap Motion controller. Apart from his regular work at Infosys Limited, he manages activities of Infosys Robotics Club. In his leisure time, he loves to read books and work on cutting-edge technologies.

Table of Contents

1. Getting Started with Arduino and LEDs
2. Project 1 – LED Night Lamp
3. Project 2 – Remote Controlled TV Backlight
4. Project 3 – LED Cube
5. Sound Visualization and LED Christmas Tree
6. Persistence of Vision
7. Troubleshooting and Advanced Resources