LEDs and Digital Output

LEDs - Light Emitting Diodes

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LEDs

  • Light emitting diodes are basically small light bulbs (but use significantly less power)
  • LEDs are everywhere!
    • (Nearly) all the blinking lights around us (e.g. router, washing machine, etc.)
    • Smartphone flash
    • TV remotes (infrared LEDs)
    • Energy-efficient light bulbs
    • Some displays

How LEDs Work

LED

How LEDs Work

  • Light emitting diode is made of two layers of semiconducting material
  • When the voltage at the anode (longer leg) is about 2.2v more than the voltage at the cathode (shorter leg), the LED emits light
    • This positive voltage difference is called forward biasing

LED

LEDs are Directional (aka Have Polarity)

  • LEDs allow current to flow in only one direction
  • If positive voltage is applied to the anode, light will emit
  • If positive voltage is applied to the cathode, light will not emit (aka the polarity is reversed) led Schematic

LED Precautions

  • LEDs have limitation in how much current they can handle
  • More current = brighter light …up to a point, and then the LED breaks
  • This is why we use a resistor to limit the flow of current
  • We call this a current limiting resistor
  • The resistor can be before or after the LED in the circuit

Exercise

  • What do you think will be the difference between using 10KOhm resistor vs 330 Ohm resistor?

LED Datasheet

  • Datasheet
  • Forward Current
  • Peak Forward Current
  • Forward Voltage

Choosing a Current-Limiting Resistor

  • Rule of Thumb: 330 Ohms or 220 Ohms are common options
    • For this class, go ahead and use whichever is available
  • Why?

Let’s turn on LED without any Code

  • We can “hardwire” an LED to turn on by connecting the anode (long side) to a +3.3V and the cathode (short side) to ground
  • The LED is always on because the anode is always at +3.3V and the cathode is always at ground

Wiring

image-20230823105711033

Turning on LEDs in Code

  • We need to be able to control the voltage at the anode so it can be either +3.3V (LED turns on), or GND (LED turns off)
  • Connected anode to pin D2 on Argon
  • Connected cathode to GND
  • Now using code, we can make the voltage at pin D2 either +3.3V or GND

Wiring

Digital Output

  • These are signals that are HIGH or LOW
    • HIGH is 5V (pin VUSB) or 3.3V (pin 3v3)
      • HIGH is considered “true”
    • LOW / false is 0V (ground)
      • LOW is considered “false”

Setting input / output with pinMode

Syntax

pinMode(PIN_NUMBER, MODE);
//MODE: OUTPUT or INPUT
  • Before we can use pins on the Argon, we need to specify if pins will be used for input or output
  • Most pins on the Argon can be configured to SEND output (e.g. to turn on a light) or to RECEIVE input (e.g. a button press)
  • When you want to use a pin in your program, you should specify its mode in setup()

Writing Digital Output with digitalWrite

Syntax

digitalWrite(PIN_NUMBER, VALUE);
//VALUE: HIGH or LOW
  • You can send an ON (HIGH) or OFF (LOW) signal at output on a pin
  • This is writing a digital value
    • Digital values are like boolean values: 0/1, on/off, true/false

Credits

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