Particle Monitor Guide
Project Website: https://particletrack.tumblr.com
Github Site (code and other downloads): https://github.com/davruet/particletrack
Arduino
Using Arduino is the most popular way to learn how to make your own custom electronic devices. From the Arduino website:
Arduino is an open-source prototyping platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. Arduino boards are able to read inputs - light on a sensor, a finger on a button, or a Twitter message - and turn it into an output - activating a motor, turning on an LED, publishing something online. You can tell your board what to do by sending a set of instructions to the microcontroller on the board. To do so you use the Arduino programming language (based on Wiring), and the Arduino Software (IDE), based on Processing.
Arduino is incredibly popular, and you can find a vast wealth of information and help on the internet. The first place to go is the official Arduino website:
and the Getting Started page:
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/HomePage
and the Foundations page:
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Foundations
The boards we will be using for this workshop are the Arduino 101 boards, and there is a special guide for them here:
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/Arduino101
Free, in many ways
Arduino is also open-source and open-hardware -- this means that anyone is free to build their own Arduino board (the designs are public and free) and anyone can view and change the software it uses. It would be totally free, except that the hardware materials cost money. However, you can get Arduino compatible boards for as little as $5.
Getting ready
You'll need:
- An Arduino board. The most popular is called the Arduino Uno, but there are dozens, including all of these: https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Boards.
- A USB cable, type A/B (the kind typically used for printer cables -- one end is more squarish )
- A computer. It's available for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems. If you have a mac, Mac OS 10.7 or later is required.
Install the Arduino software
To get started, you'll first have to install the Arduino software on your computer. It's available here:
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software
Just choose the version that corresponds to your computer. At the time of this writing, the latest version is 1.6.11. This software will work with all Arduino boards.
Running your first "sketch"
Plug in your Arduino
First, connect the Arduino to your computer using the USB cable.
Update the software for the Arduino 101
The board we're using is called the Arduino 101, and it is new. Arduino doesn't come with support for the 101 built-in, so we'll have to do a quick software update to get everything working.
You can follow the instructions at the link below. This guide explains how to update Arduino to support the 101, then how to tell the Arduino software how to find it, and finally how to load and run your first program on the Arduino. This basic example program will blink a tiny LED light on the Arduino board.
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/Arduino101
Chicagoland Resources
Harold Washington Library Maker Lab:
http://www.chipublib.org/maker-lab/
Pumping Station One: