This tutorial is a simple guide to get started with the NodeMCU one of the most popular forms of the ESP8266 on the market right now. The NodeMCU is a powerful board that is good on the pocket book, but has its drawbacks. We are going to explore how to set this board up with the Arduino IDE, and some other simple tips and trick to get you started.

Tutorial, NodeMCUAb KurkMarch 14, 2018Tutorial, NodeMCU, ArduinoComment

Tips: How to ask for help

There is no shame in asking for help when you get stuck on your Arduino projects, but there are definitely right and wrong ways to ask for help. Often people are not sure what information needs to be displayed. Here are some simple tips on how to ask a question, and how to trouble shoot to be able to get the information needed for a question

Helpful Tips, ArduinoAb KurkFebruary 22, 2018how, to, ask, for, help, with, your, Arduino, project, TipsComment

Tutorial:A guide to putting your Arduino to sleep

If you need to run your Arduino of a battery pack, you need to find a way to reduce it's power consumption. One of the the best ways to do this is putting your Arduino to sleep when it is not performing any tasks. This tutorial is a great place to start on learning how to put your Arduino to sleep.

Arduino, TutorialAb KurkJanuary 26, 2018Arduino, Sleep, modes, tutorial, guide Comments

Halloween Hack: How to automatically activate your Halloween Arduino Project

With Halloween coming around the corner it is time to see how we can automate some scary projects. We are going to explore two of my favourite ways to do this. First we are going to look how to integrate a pressure plate switch (a big push button you step on which we are going to build), then we will look at how to connect a motion sensor (Passive Infrared Sensor or PIR) to your scaretastick project for the maximum scare factor. I recommend you also watch the video below to get the most out of this tutorial.

Tutorial, ArduinoAb KurkOctober 20, 2017Halloween, debouncing, pressure plate, pir, sensor, ArduinoComment

Helpful Tip: How to create a more professional and user friendly Arduino project by storing your configuration in the EEPROM

As makers we strive to make projects that are easy to use and have a more professional feel about them. If your project is user configurable (e.g. are you using C or F for your temperature), how do you store that information so it is kept, even when the Arduino gets reset?

What if you could make your Arduino remember these types of user changeable settings (e.g. using a menu saving your Wi-Fi password)?

Helpful TipsAb KurkAugust 18, 2017Arduino, EEPROM, TipsComment

Tutorial: Using Interrupts to improve the functionality of your Arduino projects

A couple of weeks back I wrote a short tutorial on using timers instead of delay() functions to make your Arduino projects more responsive to input from buttons and sensors. Using interrupts is a different way to achieve the same result. By attaching an interrupt to a digital pin the Arduino will halt what it is doing to handle the input as it happens making your project more responsive.

EXPLAINING WHAT AN INTERRUPT IS AND DOES.

Let’s say you are listening to your music with your noise canceling headphones on. At that point somebody calls you on your cell phone. Of course you don’t hear your phone ring as your music is loud and you are distracted by it. Luckily there is someone in the room with you who hears the ringing. This person pokes you in the side to let you know that your phone is ringing and tells you can answer it.

TutorialAb KurkApril 26, 2016Interrupts, Arduino, Sensors, exaplesComment