Going into week 2 we have been introduced to microprocessors, specifically the Arduino Nano IoT. This is both exciting for me and a source of anxiety. The anxiety comes from the fact that I do not have a coding background, so I am taking extra care with learning the code as closely possible. It’s not so bad so far, however I now have two halves to check when my LED (or anything else really) is not working correctly (more on this later).

The labs went pretty smooth!

The light bulbs worked on my first try, as well as the button counters.

The light bulbs worked on my first try, as well as the button counters.

I think I was able to get a changing tone when pressing the button, however it was almost too quiet to hear, so I was questioning myself. Placebo or not? I am excited to play with transistors so I can make the sound louder.

I think I was able to get a changing tone when pressing the button, however it was almost too quiet to hear, so I was questioning myself. Placebo or not? I am excited to play with transistors so I can make the sound louder.

Here is where the two sides of debugging a circuit reared its ugly head. I tried for about an hour to figure out why I was not able to change the light levels with the force sensors. The lights were flickering inconsistently and not when I was interacting with the sensors. I triple checked my code and it was very similar to the example.

Here is where the two sides of debugging a circuit reared its ugly head. I tried for about an hour to figure out why I was not able to change the light levels with the force sensors. The lights were flickering inconsistently and not when I was interacting with the sensors. I triple checked my code and it was very similar to the example.

I finally ripped apart my circuit, rewired it a little neater and it still didn't work. Bummer. Surya (who was sitting next to me) suggested I change the range of the force sensors to the full range of 0-1024, rather than 400-900, which did the trick. Thanks Surya!

I finally ripped apart my circuit, rewired it a little neater and it still didn't work. Bummer. Surya (who was sitting next to me) suggested I change the range of the force sensors to the full range of 0-1024, rather than 400-900, which did the trick. Thanks Surya!

This leads me to my final conclusion that I feel mostly good about the labs, but I definitely want to spend more time on finding the range of my sensors.