ACC Automation: PLC & Industrial Control Learning
Practical Tips and Techniques
An LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is a great way to display information in our Arduino Uno controller. We will be wiring and programming an alphanumeric, two rows with 16 characters on each row. The display has an LED (Light Emitting Diode) backlight with adjustable contrast. This white and blue LCD will display “Hello World!” on … Read more
The IR (Infrared) remote control is a great way to incorporate wireless control of your project. Infrared receiver modules are simple and easy to use. In this post, we will be connecting the IR receiver to the UNO, and then use a Library that was designed for this particular sensor. In our sketch we will … Read more
The DHT11 is a digital temperature and humidity sensor. It uses a capacitive humidity sensor and a thermistor to measure the surrounding air and sends out a digital signal on the data pin (no analog input pins needed). Its simple to use, and the update timing of the sensor is about 2 seconds. Thermistor temperature … Read more
The ultrasonic sensor (HC-SR04) is great for all kinds of projects that need distance measurements. The HC-SR04 is inexpensive and easy to use. We will be sending signals directly to the sensor and interpreting the results without the need for a library. Ultrasonic sensor module HC-SR04 provides a 2cm-400cm non-contact measurement function, the accuracy can … Read more
Node-RED can easily log data to a database. SQL (Structured Query Language) can be used to communicate to a SQL database. Databases separate analysis from the data unlike spreadsheets like Excel. The database is designed to hold more information than spreadsheets and allow multiple users to access the information. We will be creating an SQLite … Read more
The servomotor, RC (Hobby) Servo is a type of gear motor that can only rotate 180 degrees. It is controlled by sending electrical pulses from our UNO R3 board. These pulses tell the servo what position it should move to. We will be wiring the servo to our Arduino UNO R3 controller on our super … Read more
Node-RED can easily display interactive information to the user or operator using a web browser on your phone, tablet, or computer. Any device that has access to the network in which node-red is running. We will be installing the node-red-dashboard palette. This allows us to create a live data dashboard user interface. (UI) The information … Read more
We will now look at the tilt ball switch on our Arduino Uno super starter kit. Tilt sensors (tilt ball switch) allow you to detect orientation or inclination. They are small, inexpensive, low-power, and easy to use. Their simplicity makes them popular for toys, gadgets, and appliances. Tilt ball switches are sometimes referred to as … Read more
We will now look at active and passive buzzer outputs on our Arduino UNO controller. Electronic buzzers are DC-powered and equipped with an integrated circuit. They are widely used in computers, printers, photocopiers, alarms, electronic toys, automotive electronic devices, telephones, timers, and other electronic products for voice devices. Buzzers can be categorized as active and … Read more
We will now be looking at how to use analog inputs to our Arduino UNO controller. An analog input converts a voltage level into a digital value. This can then be used in our Arduino program or sketch. The analog input signal can represent many different items. Speed, levels, distance, brightness, density, humidity, etc. are … Read more