SIK Experiment Guide for Arduino - V3.3

Contributors: HelloTechie, Toni_K

Introduction: The Arduino Software (IDE) and Code

The following steps are a basic overview of getting started with the Arduino IDE. For more detailed, step-by-step instructions for setting up the Arduino IDE on your computer, please check out the following tutorial.

Download the Arduino IDE

In order to get your microcontroller up and running, you'll need to download the newest version of the Arduino software first (it's free and open source!).

This software, known as the Arduino IDE, will allow you to program the board to do exactly what you want. It’s like a word processor for writing code.

Connect the Microcontroller to your Computer

Use the USB cable provided in the SIK kit to connect the included microcontroller (RedBoard or Arduino Uno) to one of your computer’s USB inputs.

Install FTDI Drivers

Depending on your computer’s operating system, you will need to follow specific instructions. Please go to How to Install FTDI Drivers, for specific instructions on how to install the FTDI drivers onto your RedBoard.

Select your board: Arduino Uno

Before we can start jumping into the experiments, there are a couple adjustments we need to make. This step is required to tell the Arduino IDE which of the many Arduino boards we have. Go up to the Tools menu. Then hover over Board and make sure Arduino Uno is selected.

Select a Serial Port

Next up we need to tell the Arduino IDE which of our computer's serial ports the microcontroller is connected to. For this, again go up to Tools, then hover over Port (Serial Port in older Arduino versions) and select your RedBoard or Arduino's serial port.

Download Arduino Code

You are so close to to being done with setup! Download the SIK Guide Code. Click the following link to download the code:

You can also download the code from GitHub.

Once you've unzipped the download, copy SIK-Guide-Code-V_3.3 into examples folder in the Arduino folder.