How to Program Elegoo Uno R3

The world has drastically evolved to a world of technology, with almost everyone choosing technology as a career path or being so fascinated that they even take it up as a hobby. Some of the richest people in the world are in one way or the other involved in technology which further increases the eagerness people have to delve into it.

Programming or coding has also been incorporated into school syllabus all over the world to help children slowly build basic knowledge as they grow and learn much more complex aspects. However, just like with every other learning process, equipment are needed for a smooth and efficient transition and this is where the Elegoo Uno R3 starter kit comes in.

What Is Elegoo Uno R3?

In the world of electronics, the Elegoo Uno R3 upgraded starter kit happens to be the most economical kit for beginners interested in programming to start, based on the Arduino platform (an open-source platform used for building electronic projects).

The starter kit provides an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software, which evolves the user from beginner to professional level.

Elegoo Uno R3 boasts of an LCD1602 module with a pin header that you don’t need to solder yourself which makes it easy to wire up, a power supply module, 9V battery with dc, Elegoo R3 controller board, USB capable, and a packaged compartmentalized case with a bonus box for small parts like LED’s, IC’s, buttons, diodes, etc.

It is also 100% compatible with programming boards like MEGA 2560 R3, NANO, Arduino UNO R3 (which consists of both a physical programmable circuit board or microcontroller, and a piece of software or Integrated Development Environment that runs your computer, is used to write and upload computer code to the physical board), and Arduino IDE Official R3, Official kit.

With its clone products being highly compatible with the official Arduino microcontroller boards, a great perk of this particular manufacturer in the market, Elegoo can use official Arduino software, sensors, and codes.

How Is Elegoo Uno R3 User-Friendly?

• You can use the UNO boards as the brains behind almost any electronics project as it interacts with buttons, LEDs, motors, speakers, GPS units, cameras, the internet, smartphones including your TV.
• You can create digital devices and interactive objects that can sense and control objects in the physical and digital world e.g. robots or fortune-telling machines, just by connecting the UNO board with your personal computer via a USB cable and uploading programs to the board.
• With the availability of several sensors, users that are well advanced in this area of technology can make use of this starter kit in developing all sorts of tests and experiments.
• The starter kit provides a tutorial on the basic setting of the software IDE, working principles of the sensors and simple program to enable UNO board to control the sensors, making it easier for your use and understanding.
• Lastly, the Elegoo Uno R3 is so user-friendly that the starter kit can be used by novice users who have little to no programming experience, and even children of ten years and above while those younger will need to be guided and supervised by adults during use.

High-Quality Components and Sensors of Elegoo Uno R3 and How to Program Them

74HC595 Shift Register and LEDs

• This component is a Serial to Parallel Converter whose eight outputs and three inputs can be used to feed data into it one at a time.
• The shift register chip can hold what can be thought to be eight memory locations either a 1 or a 0, and by feeding in data using the ‘Data’ and ‘Clock’ pins of the chip you can set each of these values on or off.
• The LEDs can only be changed about 500,000 times a second instead of 8,000,000 a second since this chip makes it slower to drive the LEDs, but it’s still so much faster than the human eyes can detect which makes it a good deal for you to get.

LCD1602 Display Module

• With the LED backlight it possesses, this module can display two rows with up to 16 characters on each row, and the rectangles for each character including the pixels that make each of them up is visible to you on the display module.
• For more identification, the display is white on blue and is for the main purpose of showing text.
• To program, you can line up the display with the top of the breadboard which will help you identify its pins with a little counting, especially for a breadboard with rows numbered with row 1 as the top row of the board.
• The yellow lead linking the slider of the pot to pin 3 of the display shouldn’t be forgotten as the pot is used to control the display’s contrast.

DC Motors and L293D Transistor

• The DC motors are stepper motors moving in discrete steps with multiple coils organized in groups known as “phases”, each of which when energized in sequence the motor will rotate one step at a time.
• The stepper motors are the motor of choice for many precision motion control applications because of the precise positioning and speed control you can achieve hen they are computer-controlled.
• This is a very useful chip in controlling two motors independently and most of the pins on the right-hand side of the chip are for controlling a second motor.
• The L293D transistor is a quadruple high-current half-H drivers and it is designed to provide bidirectional drive currents of up to 1A at voltages from 4.5V to 36V, and up to 600-mA at voltages 4.5V to 36V.
• The transistor can drive inductive loads like relays, solenoids, dc, and bipolar stepping motors, including other high-current/high-voltage loads in positive-supply applications.

4 DIGIT 7 SEGMENT DISPLAY

• Although the 7 segment display has 7 LEDs referred to as “segments” arranged in the shape of an “8”, most 7 segment displays consist of 8 segments with a dot on the right side of the digit that serves as a decimal point.
• To control the digit to be displayed, the common anode or cathode pin is made use of when a 4-digit 7-segment display is involved.
• While it only has one digit working, the Persistence of Vision principle helps you visualize the entire numbers displayed and this is because each of the scanning speeds is so fast that you will hardly notice the intervals.
• You can make a simple display showing certain numbers, a count-up timer, or an electronic dice by building the circuit and editing the program.

In conclusion, the Elegoo Uno R3 starter kit with more than 200 components is the most complete and economical starter kit you will find and with its compatibility with various programming boards, you are sure to enjoy its great value.

The best thing about this starter kit is that you don’t have to be a professional programmer before you can easily make use of it as there is a tutorial provision to show you how to use them with all the code to use the modules available on the CD in the kit. The modules also come soldered which makes them easy for you to wire up.

With appropriate supervision, even kids can make use of the starter kit with complete ease as they venture into the depth of programming technology knowledge. With these basics provided, they are sure to attain the next level of programming skill faster and with great confidence.

Go ahead and purchase your Elegoo Uno R3 today for the start of your programming journey!