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This week, we learned about embedded programming – writing code directly onto a microprocessor. Our assignment was to simply write a program for an embedded system that interacts and communicates.
This is one I'm actually excited about – I've always wanted to learn how to solder, and I have (admittadly limited) experience with Arduino, so I'm not starting totally from scratch. But before we went to the official lab, a few of the Media Lab cohort got together for an unofficial recitation, led by the amazing Ceci.
Ceci gave us a quick overview of how to read PCP schematics, how to attach and use our Arduino boards, and what things to look out for and avoid (for example, I accidentally almost shorted the entire board by letting a loose wire dangle. Oops!)
I started with somethign simple - getting the microprocessor to say "I'm on!" or "I'm off!" every time I connected the jumper cable to either 5V or Ground. Basically, treating the jumper cable as a button. Here's that code:
But I wanted to go further. With the group's help, I figured out how to make it so that it would actually keep a counter of how many times I connected the wire. Here's what that looked like:
