Digital Manufacturing Lecture 01 – Becoming a Builder in the Digital World
This semester, we will learn about the main processes and technologies in digital manufacturing, including the Build and Code parts.
In the first half of the semester, we will mainly study the Code part, which gives objects “soul” and allows them to perform the functions and interactions we expect.
How can we give objects a certain “intelligence”?
By adding a chip to them.
However, chips, circuits, components, and hardware involve very specialized knowledge, which is too high a barrier for the average person. So today we introduce a shortcut to the hardware world – Arduino.
TED Talk by Arduino founder: Unlocking Open Source Imagination
The original intention of Arduino is to enable people without an electronic background to get started in a very short time. This small board has opened up the imagination of many people, lowered the threshold for making things, and allowed countless fun ideas to be tested and realized.
Why Use Arduino?
It can help us quickly build prototypes of smart objects at a very low cost. That is
Prototype & Digitize for the Real World
Many times, we have an idea, for example: an automatic device for watering flowers. “Automatic” means we will set some rules to trigger the action of watering flowers automatically under certain conditions. To achieve automation, we need an executor with a certain “understanding ability”, similar to a computer. If each idea required a computer to implement, we would have gone bankrupt long ago.
At this time, we only need a highly simplified version of a computer – commonly called a microcontroller. It is an integrated circuit chip that integrates the central processing unit (CPU), random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), multiple I/O ports, interrupt system, timer/counter, and other functions into a small and complete microcomputer system, widely used in industrial control.
The size of a microcontroller can indeed be just a thin piece, making it convenient for us to place inside various objects, giving them computational capabilities.
Arduino is a type of microcontroller.
Similar tools include Raspberry Pi (which is not a microcontroller, but a low-spec computer based on Linux), which is more powerful than Arduino because its chip is not limited to 8 bits and can run an operating system.
Analog Signals and Digital Signals
When we want to influence the physical environment, we often need to convert analog signals into digital signals – because we can manipulate digital signals (programming is a powerful manipulation), but we cannot arbitrarily change analog signals.
So what are analog signals and digital signals?
Simply put, analog signals are continuous both in time and value (infinitely differentiable). Common signals in nature are analog signals, such as temperature, sound, etc. Digital signals, on the other hand, are not completely continuous in time and value, existing in many “levels”; the more levels there are, the higher the resolution of the signal.
For a more detailed explanation, we can check out the video below:
What are Analog Signals? Digital Signals?
One of the main functions of Arduino is to help us achieve analog-to-digital conversion, collecting data from the physical world and processing signals to feedback into the physical world.
Arduino Development Boards
Arduino has many different models and development boards with varying functions.
Some of them are smaller, or have more powerful chips, or are equipped with wifi or bluetooth modules. This way, we can use different boards according to the needs of our projects. Specific information about each board can be found on the official website.
Arduino development boards are essentially microcontroller application development boards, and most of the chips used are AVR chips. The development boards encapsulate and simplify the most commonly used software and hardware modules. The hardware encapsulation mainly provides basic chips, digital signal ports, analog signal ports, power supplies, and other interfaces. The software encapsulation mainly provides simple functions and application libraries, so that people without much microcontroller background can also use them.
Building Simple Circuits with Arduino
What is a circuit?
As a type of path, it is somewhat similar to a highway or subway line, except that it transports not vehicles and people, but electric charges. People and vehicles choose the shortest or least change routes, and electric charges also move along the path of least resistance.
In the simplest circuit, there are three essential parts: power source, intermediate link, and load.
The load refers to the part that converts electrical energy into other forms of energy, such as light bulbs, motors, etc. The mission of the circuit is to enable the load to work properly.
(Fog)
The following is the simplest circuit, where current flows from the positive terminal of the power source through the LED and returns to the negative terminal of the power source.
The right side of the image above shows a breadboard, which helps us quickly build circuits.
In the breadboard, the Terminal Strips are all connected, and the Power Rails on both sides are also connected.
For the use of circuit boards, you can watch this detailed video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WReFkfrUIk (Prepare a ladder)
Arduino provides power and ground ports, allowing us to quickly connect a complete circuit:
Arduino Programming Environment
Arduino development boards are the hardware part. Next, we will learn about the software part. Download the Arduino software from the official website and install it. Once opened, you will see the Arduino programming environment.
Now you can not only program in the software but also access online programming tools:https://create.arduino.cc/
The specific interface functions will not be detailed here.
Students often encounter an error when uploading programs to the board at the beginning, mostly because the transmission port has not been selected. You need to select the corresponding port in the Tools menu before uploading. If you are using a USB connection between the board and the computer, select the port that includes USB.
In the next class, we will introduce some basic knowledge of circuits. C U
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