Using a Touch Sensor with Arduinos to Trigger an LED and Buzzer
How do we hardwire an Arduino into a breadboard?Copyright Susan West, 2023
This is a series of short activities that introduce students to physical computing, where they will use a basic breadboard, an Arduino Uno, and components to code and run a single and double LED, a buzzer, and a touch sensor. After successfully coding and wiring the individual components, they have the choice to either set up a realistic traffic light or a buzzer activated by a touch sensor.
Physical computing involves interactive systems that can sense and respond to the world around them. Engineers can use various types of sensors wired to a microcontroller such as an Arduino to solve problems. For example, if plants in a greenhouse need to be kept in a well-lit environment, an engineer could set up a light sensor to detect light below a certain threshold and set off a buzzer to alert the greenhouse worker to turn on the lights.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Construct a functional electrical circuit using an Arduino, a breadboard, and other electrical components.
- Set up a program that will integrate the input from a touch sensor with an output from an LED and buzzer.
- Modify the code to change the output of the LED and buzzer (in terms of length and intensity of signal).
- Apply the physical computing setup created in this activity to a real-life situation.