Have you ever wanted to get the value of a voltage? You can use a microcontroller’s analog input to read discrete values rather than the 0s and 1s from a digital input. DevicePlus has a great tutorial that explains this concept in detail.
Arduino supports analog inputs to read these various voltages. Analog inputs enable you to read the state of electronic components that change gradually. For example, you can use volume to adjust brightness or loudness or a temperature sensor to get the current temperature.
Actual voltage is not an exact value such as 1V or 5V, but an irrational number, in which numerical values continue forever after the decimal point, such as 5.01342…V. These values cannot be directly handled by a computer. In electronic circuits, therefore, analog values are converted to digital values using a mechanism called AD converter so that the value can be handled by a computer. Arduino also has an AD converter by default, which can read analog voltages and convert them into digital values.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
