Week 2 – Potentiometer

Experiment 2: Reading a Potentiometer 

Arduino – Week-2 

Name: _______________________________________________________________ 

Introduction 

In this circuit you’ll work with a potentiometer. 

A potentiometer is also known as a variable resistor. When powered with 5V, the middle pin outputs a voltage between 0V and 5V, depending on the position of the knob on the potentiometer. A potentiometer is a perfect demonstration of a variable voltage divider circuit. The voltage is divided proportionate to the resistance between the middle pin and the ground pin. In this circuit, you’ll learn how to use a potentiometer to control the brightness of an LED. 

Parts Needed 

You will need the following parts: 

⦁    1x Breadboard 

⦁    1x RedBoard or Arduino Uno 

⦁    1x LED 

⦁    1x 330Ω Resistor 

⦁    6x Jumper Wires 

⦁    1x Potentiometer 

Hardware Hookup 

Ready to start hooking everything up?  

Check out the diagram and to see how everything is connected. 

What You Should See 

You should see the LED blink faster or slower in accordance with your potentiometer. If it isn’t working, make sure you have assembled the circuit correctly and verified and uploaded the code to your board, or see the troubleshooting section. 

Program 

To display the potentiometer reading 

To Turn the LED ON and OFF depending on the value of the potentiometer  

Challenge-1: 

Turn on different LED when the potentiometer rotates. 

Challenge-2: 

If the value of the potentiometer is between	800 to 1000	Turn ON Red LED
If the value of the potentiometer is between	600 to 800	Turn ON White LED
If the value of the potentiometer is between	400 to 600	Turn ON Yellow LED
If the value of the potentiometer is between	200 to 400	Turn ON Green LED
If the value of the potentiometer is between	0 to 200	Turn ON Blue LED