First Steps with the NodeMCU ESP8266 Wi-Fi Module and Arduino NANO | Maker, MakerED, Coding | Tips 2

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A GOOD preparation is half the work done

When we play around with Arduino NANO, NodeMCU, ESP8266 and others it is important (and more comfortable) to make us life as less difficult as necessary. Therefore we will have a look on the How-To, using some helpful tools…

First of all it is a MUST to have “Breadboards” for connecting the components to the micro controller, they exist in different sizes and colours.

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Item and quantity	Supplier and order number	Price
Mini Breadboard Kit for Arduino	AMAZON (DE): Mini Breadboard Kit für Arduino	6,99€
Breadboard 830 Pin Solderless Prototype PCB Board Kit	AMAZON (DE): Breadboard 830 Pin Solderless Prototype PCB Board Kit	9,99€
9 Volt Clips with connector	AMAZON (DE): 9 Volt Clips with connector 5 pieces	5,59€
Power Supply Module for Arduino Board	AMAZON (DE): Power Supply Module für Arduino Board 6 pieces	10,99€
Total:

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Concerning the Power Supply Module for the Breadboard: it delivers 3,3 Volts AND 5 Volts. The 5 volts is the power Supply for Arduino, Nano, etc. and the 3,3 Volts is for OLEDs, RFID…

The advantage of the Power Supply for breadboard: once uploaded the sketch to the Arduino, Nano, ESP8266, etc. you can unplug the USB cable and connect a 9 volts battery (better an 9 Volts accumulator…) through the above mentioned 9 Volt Clips with connector. Now you can much more easily play around and move your prototype…

USB connector is for powering external devices (output only). Do not attempt to use it to power the MB-V2

Read carefully, please (important!!):

• YwRobot Breadboard Power Supply MB-V2
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The Power Supply has jumpers which one can switch from 3,3 V to 5 V. So on one side we place the jumper on 3,3 Volts and on the other side we place the jumper to 5 Volts, so that we have the two different voltages on two different power supply bus.

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Practical example:

Please check the picture below where we use a RFID-RC522 and a Arduino NANO: the RFID-RC522 MUST get connected to the 3,3 Volts!! If connected on 5 Volts it would get damaged, actually fried!! The Arduino NANO is connected to the 5 Volts bus.

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Let us have a look if everything is correct by measuring the voltages with a multimeter, here we go:

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That’s it folks, stay tuned for next blog post 😉

You may also have a look on one of my previous posts for more tips:

• First Steps with the Arduino-UNO R3 | Maker, MakerED, Coding | Useful help-tools
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L’auteur Gust MEES est Formateur andragogique / pédagogique TIC, membre du “Comité Conseil” de “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), appelé maintenant BEESECURE, partenaire officiel (consultant) du Ministère de l’éducation au Luxembourg du projet  ”MySecureIT“, partenaire officiel du Ministère du Commerce au Luxembourg du projet ”CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness and Security Enhancement Structure). L’auteur était aussi gagnant d’un concours en électronique en 1979 ( Pays germaniques ) et voyait son projet publié dans le magazine électronique “ELO”. The author Gust MEES is ICT Course Instructor, ”Member of the Advisory Board” from “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), BEESECURE, Official Partner (Consultant) from the Ministry of Education in Luxembourg, project “MySecureIT“, Official Partner from the Ministry of Commerce in Luxembourg, project “CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness and Security Enhancement Structure). The author was also a winner of an electronics contest (Germanic countries) in 1979 and got his project published in the “Electronics Magazine ELO”.

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Stay tuned for next blog post(s) 😉..
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Keywords necessary for me to create this project: Breadboard, Power Supply for Breadboard, Arduino, Maker, MakerED, MakerSpaces, Coding, 

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First Steps with the Arduino-UNO R3 | Maker, MakerED, Coding | Useful help-tools

 

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Useful Help Tools For Arduino UNO

On the beginning when one wants start coding and making, one doesn’t really know where to start! So, probably the best way is to use a Starter-Kit with a documentation where some projects (examples) are provided with tutorials. That’s what I also did, you might check my tutorials about it below, please:

• First Steps with the Arduino-UNO | Maker, MakerED, Coding | Part 1
• First Steps with the Arduino-UNO | Maker, MakerED, Coding | Sensor-Kit SKA-36
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SO, after that one has becoming a little bit familiar with all that new stuff one has lived already some experience and one is asking if there aren’t any helping tools and devices to make life much easier… YES, and there are some very interesting prototype shields, board holders and breadboard jumper in different lengths…

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Item and quantity	Supplier and order number	Price
Arduino Protoshield Prototyping-Kit	AMAZON (DE): Arduino Protoshield Prototyping-Kit, Mini-Steckplatine Prototyping Prototyp Schild protoshield für Arduino UNO 5 x	11,23€
Breadboard Jumper Drähte Ribbon Kabel Kit	AMAZON (DE): Breadboard Jumper Drähte Ribbon Kabel Kit	15,99€
Breadboard Holder Base Plate Circuit Board Screws for Arduino Uno R3 Mega 2560, Raspberry Pi	AMAZON (DE): Breadboard Holder Base Plate Circuit Board Screws for Arduino Uno R3 Mega 2560, Raspberry Pi	7,99€
Total:

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Please check below some photos which show you how easy it will become with the Prototype Shield and with the 20 cm breadboard jumper it will look proper and professional.

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1 Click image, please, to enlarge.	2 Click image, please, to enlarge.
3 Click image, please, to enlarge.	4 Click image, please, to enlarge.
5 Click image, please, to enlarge.	6 Click image, please, to enlarge.

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Have fun and make your maker, coding life easier 😉

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L’auteur Gust MEES est Formateur andragogique / pédagogique TIC, membre du “Comité Conseil” de “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), appelé maintenant BEESECURE, partenaire officiel (consultant) du Ministère de l’éducation au Luxembourg du projet  ”MySecureIT“, partenaire officiel du Ministère du Commerce au Luxembourg du projet ”CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness and Security Enhancement Structure). L’auteur était aussi gagnant d’un concours en électronique en 1979 ( Pays germaniques ) et voyait son projet publié dans le magazine électronique “ELO”. The author Gust MEES is ICT Course Instructor, ”Member of the Advisory Board” from “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), BEESECURE, Official Partner (Consultant) from the Ministry of Education in Luxembourg, project “MySecureIT“, Official Partner from the Ministry of Commerce in Luxembourg, project “CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness and Security Enhancement Structure). The author was also a winner of an electronics contest (Germanic countries) in 1979 and got his project published in the “Electronics Magazine ELO”.

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Stay tuned for next blog post(s) 😉..
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Keywords necessary for me to create this blog post: Arduino UNO R3, Arduino NANO, Tools, Coding, Maker, MakerED, MakerSpaces…

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First Steps with the Arduino-UNO R3 | Maker, MakerED, Coding | 1.8 Inch TFT with DS3231 RTC and Arduino

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1.8 Inch TFT with DS3231 RTC and Arduino

We were already playing around with LED MATRIX for time and temperature display with a Wi-Fi connection on an ESP8266, but we didn’t create yet a project with an RTC (Real Time Clock) module and an 1.8 inch TFT display; here we go. We will use again a ready to go code, but we will change it a bit for better looking. SO, we will learn How-To code rectangles and lines for a TFT screen, very easy… It is GOOD to try out different components to get used with coding, Maker, MakerED… Especially when we use displays, which ever ones, as one sees directly the results; sensation of direct success!!

The tutorial in the video shows an Arduino UNO, but we will use in this tutorial an Arduino NANO as it is less expensive (+/- 1/3 of the price of an Arduino UNO) and also it takes less place when integrating the components into a box.

Below you see how to connect the TFT-Display to the Arduino.

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Click image, please, to enlarge.

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Check the video below, please:

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Detailed parts list, supplier and prices

Please find below the detailed parts list as well as the supplier and the prices.

 

Item and quantity	Supplier and order number	Price
1x 1.8 inch Touchscreen	AMAZON (DE): AZDelivery 1,8 Zoll SPI TFT-Display mit 128 x 160 Pixeln für Arduino und Raspberry Pi inkl gratis eBook	9,99€
1x RTC DS3231	AMAZON (DE): AZDelivery Real Time Clock RTC DS3231 und gratis Batterie inklusive I2C für Arduino und Raspberry Pi sowie GRATIS eBook (3x Real Time Clock) 14,99€ / 3 pces	5€
1x Arduino NANO	AMAZON (DE): AZDelivery Nano V3.0 CH340 Chip fertig verlötete, verbesserte Version mit USB Kabel, 100 % Arduino Nano V3 kompatibel	7,99€
Total:		22,98€

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As you can see it is a very cheap project, ONLY 22,98 € and easy to realize! ALL what YOU need is a bit time, passion and here we GO! 😉 Have FUN! I order my stuff on AMAZON.DE, but you can chose any other supplier as the parts are very popular…

Please follow the whole tutorial with connections (Wiring Diagram) and Code (Sketch) here:

• http://educ8s.tv/arduino-real-time-clock/
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When copying the code on the mentioned website <===>   http://educ8s.tv/arduino-real-time-clock/  <===> you must be aware of some TYPOS in it!!! Check below please where they are and how to correct them. Once corrected save the code in the Arduino IDE  and upload it. Here are the errors, check below please.

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As you can see above the “Arduino IDE” shows an error and highlighted it in Line 1. The sign “<” is too much, delete it and save your sketch, then upload it again to the Arduino NANO. You might get a second error message again, check below please.

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In above image you will see a new error message in Line 100. Check below please on how-to correct it.

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Same procedure as above, save it in the Arduino IDE and upload it again to the Arduino NANO (UNO). Here what will show up now.

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There are some problems with the time and day still… I didn’t follow step-by-step instructions on the video, OK let’s have a look in deep now!! Please check the video tutorial @ 03:15 for the settings and follow them strictly, otherwise your clock setting will NOT working!! Done so, it will be working great. I did some more changes in the coding such as changing the text colors and ALSO to draw a rectangle and some lines to make it look BETTER, please check below.

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As you can see, I added some new code snippet from lines 142 to 151, this will draw a rectangle around the TFT screen and it will draw white lines under the measured values. It will look BETTER, well that’s what I think and my wife as well; you just do the way as you want, up to you 😉 Here below the result…

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Here below the version with the Arduino NANO.

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SO, that’s it folks, enjoy it and have fun 😉

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L’auteur Gust MEES est Formateur andragogique / pédagogique TIC, membre du “Comité Conseil” de “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), appelé maintenant BEESECURE, partenaire officiel (consultant) du Ministère de l’éducation au Luxembourg du projet  ”MySecureIT“, partenaire officiel du Ministère du Commerce au Luxembourg du projet ”CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness and Security Enhancement Structure). L’auteur était aussi gagnant d’un concours en électronique en 1979 ( Pays germaniques ) et voyait son projet publié dans le magazine électronique “ELO”. The author Gust MEES is ICT Course Instructor, ”Member of the Advisory Board” from “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), BEESECURE, Official Partner (Consultant) from the Ministry of Education in Luxembourg, project “MySecureIT“, Official Partner from the Ministry of Commerce in Luxembourg, project “CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness and Security Enhancement Structure). The author was also a winner of an electronics contest (Germanic countries) in 1979 and got his project published in the “Electronics Magazine ELO”.

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Stay tuned for next blog post(s) 😉..
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Keywords necessary for me to create this blog post: Arduino UNO R3, Arduino NANO, TFT DISPLAY, Coding, Maker, MakerED, MakerSpaces, #RTC, Real Time Clock, Temperature, DS3231,…

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