Blinking LED Arduino

This is a blinking LED activity as the intro for Arduino Code programming.

The Arduino Code

Arduino is both software and hardware. Right there, you can control the design.

There are two built-in functions in Arduino Code: void setup and void loop.

void setup is where you tell the computer whether an electronic component being programmed is an output device. Other initial setup can be done here, like, the initial mode of an LED is turned on.

void loop is where the execution of programs happen.

Take note of the word void. A void type of function will simply execute all the commands and will not return any value. Other functions which are not void can return values.

The Setup

You need an 3 basic LEDs, 1 breadboard and the Arduino UNO board.

Follow the wiring as indicated in the picture below:

Then, go to Code section and copy the initial code below:

void setup()
{
  pinMode(13, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(12, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(11, OUTPUT);
}

void loop()
{
  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(12, LOW);
  digitalWrite(11, LOW);
  delay(1000);
  
  digitalWrite(13, LOW);
  digitalWrite(12, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(11, LOW);
  delay(1000);
  
  digitalWrite(13, LOW);
  digitalWrite(12, LOW);
  digitalWrite(11, HIGH);
  delay(1000);
}

Code Explanation

There are just 3 commands here:

pinMode is the command you tell the Arduino board what is the mode of a particular pin. If ever you did not mention that, then the default is input.

digitalWrite is the command whether there will be supply of voltage HIGH or there is none LOW for a particular pin, like in our example, Arduino Digital Pin 13. For a basic LED, we all know that when there is sufficient voltage, it will light up and if there is none, there will be none.

delay is the command for temporarily delay a program, just like a pause. If prior to this, an LED is light up, it will pause for a certain amount of time with the initial status of the LED. It's in terms of milliseconds, because for computers, they work in terms of milli or nanoseconds. For example, they can accomplish 1000 digital task in just 1 second. For high-powered servers, it's more than that.