Raspberry Pi For Beginners: LED Connections, Bread-boards, and Programming 

+jtecmiami Oh, you can! You'd be surprised at what you know already... you'll be a pro in no time, trust me.

+Rafique Mohammed Thank you. I am trying to put out more videos, and I actually have several filmed, just not edited... School has just sneaked up on me, and I don't have the time to edit things every day. But I promise I'll get several out this summer.

+stillborn86 Thank you :)

+Javier Castellanos No, thank you for viewing and commenting! I'm trying to post periodical videos, but work and school kind of have me tied up right now, and I'm churning out videos on a slower pace than I'd like to... but they're coming.

+stillborn86 Hi, do u have or know a video with a totourial for the raspberry pi 3 b+? ive heard the pins aint the same as on the older raspberry's and im in school where i need to get atleast 1 light to light when i push a button but im on dead water at the moment..

bech 1200 First, according to the Pi Foundation (www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/usage/gpio-plus-and-raspi2/), the GPIO are the same with all current versions of the Pi. This means that the B+, A+, Pi2, and Pi3 all have the same GPIO. The only differences are with the original PiA and PiB because they have less pins... but those pins are actually the same as what's incorporated in the later versions. Secondly, I have a couple of sketches for lighting LEDs in my python repo, in the description of my videos. I have a couple of videos up for that, but if you need help, I'll be more than happy to help you out.

stillborn86 Thanks for your reply, ill be checking out your videos this week and hopefully make it work :-) im aiming to get 3 buttons for 3 diffrent leds that should light whenever a certain button is pressed but i am still a newbie at this :-)

bech 1200 Well, if you can give me the details, I'll do my best to help you out.

Thank you, very much!

Was just about to write that!

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.

I *have* thought about it, but as a broke college student, I don't really have a lot of money to sink into new camera equipment. Also, I've chosen to not monetize my videos, for the sake of the audience... so...

+ReckoningReckoner I appreciate the help with the Python code. Honestly, I hate Python, and wish it would just go away. It's just the most volatile code I have ever seen, and that makes things difficult for its users... including Google. But I'm always looking for ways to improve my code, and I'll give your suggestions a shot.

+The Confident Shopper I believe that the breakout boards are exactly the same between the B+, A+, Pi2, and Pi3. I don't own a Pi3, but I believe the GPIO is exactly the same layout. Because of this, you can buy any 40-pin breakout board, and it'll work for any of the above models. The only reason that the original PiA and PiB aren't included (and why I "broke them off" in the video) is because they have fewer pins. The layout for these fewer pins is the same for their analog on future Pi revisions, it's just that the future models added pins. So, again, as long as you get a 40-pin breakout board, you'll be fine.

+that1pothead Thank you! Glad it helped!

+gotbletu same feeling :P

Lol

Dr. Steel... sounds like yo would like him

Sorry. I will build anti-robots to defend the world against yours. The government will offer me a 85 million dollar contract.

Skynet had to begin somewhere...

And he's right... there's technically no such thing as infinite current. There's going to always be resistance in the wires, breadboard, and even the power source since it's not ideal. But the purpose of saying "infinite current" is to teach Ohm's Law and to get the point across that you will undoubtedly overamp your diode without an inline resistor.

More or less, yes. I can't say that it's COMPLETELY the same, but for a beginner, yes it is. The Pi3 has a 64-bit processor and a built-in WiFi module... this can change some things. But the GPIO are all the same, and Python is the same, regardless if you're on a Pi2, Pi3, or something that's not an rPi.

Your assumption is correct. The "signal" that the GPIO pin sends to the LED is a +3.3V output. So, when you turn the GPIO "on," it sends +3.3V through the pin. And, when you turn the GPIO "off," it turns that voltage down to 0V. So, all you need to do is send that positive power to the positive end of the LED, and send the cathode of the LED to the ground, and you'll have a working LED in no time.

+Aaron Rolen Sorry, let me clarify. I didn't run blink.py from the terminal. I ran it straight from Python on my Pi, so the ctrl + c advise in the comments below doesn't stop it. I'm sure there is a simple answer, I just have no idea what I'm doing.

+Aaron Rolen Are you running it in the Python IDE or are you running it as a command? If you're running it in the Python IDE, you've either double-clicked the Python icon (upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Python-logo-notext.svg/2000px-Python-logo-notext.svg.png) or you've typed `python` into the terminal by itself, and received something that looks like this: i.sli.mg/911FV1.png If you're running it as a command, you've typed something into your Terminal window, either on a computer connected to the Pi or a Terminal on the Pi itself, like I did in the video. If you're running the IDE, then the answer is that it cannot be done. The IDE runs commands one line at a time, and you're going to have to run `GPIO.cleanup()` in order to clean up your GPIO statuses. I can go into more detail about this, if you want... If you're running the program, like I did in my video, and you're using the code I provided a link to in the description, the GPIO should turn off automatically once the sketch is exited with `Cmd+C`.

Thanks for the quick response. I was running on IDLE at the time, but I ended up figuring it out in both IDLE and command. To stop through IDLE, I just created another short program telling all GPIOs to stop. Then I started running it on command. I was having issues accessing the program through command because I wasn't in the correct directory. Once I figured that out, it was smooth sailing. Shows you how new I am. Anyways, thanks a lot! I subscribed. I look forward to future videos.

Aaron Rolen Yeah, IDLE is the Python IDE, and it's highly recommended that IDLE not be used for anything except for debugging code. It's not coherent for actually running scripts as it works on a line-by-line basis. If you're going to be scripting for your rPi, you should be using the Terminal and a text editor (such as nano or vim -- vim being my personal favorite, although it has a pretty high learning curve). This assures that you have root (sudo) access and are running full sketches instead of individual lines of code, as you would through IDLE.

+TastyPear You're asking a lot from such a small piece of hardware... there are companies that have a hard time doing all of that with their dedicated, custom hardware. If I had to say, without doing any formal calculations, the Pi would be better than the Arduino simply due to the limited memory in the Arduino. I have a video I'm currently editing where I use a 1-wire system for a temperature sensing unit. It's not perfect, but it's a pretty good ball park temperature that only needs one wire. I'm not sure if the sensor will survive the extreme temperatures of a dryer, but it's worth a look. Time would be a matter of how accurate you want that to be. Both the Pi and Arduino have a pretty decent system clock, but they're not perfect. If you want perfect time keeping, you'll need some sort of RTC module... meaning using up more GPIO pins. The system clock on the Pi is a LITTLE better than the system clock on the Arduino. I haven't played with humidity or RPM monitoring... but a touch screen is also going to use multiple GPIO. I foresee you running out of GPIO if you're not paying careful attention to what you're doing. __________ Finally, I've dabbled in solar power before, and you're going to need a LOT of solar power to run the wattage a standard household dryer is going to need. They require a TON of power to convert both into heat as well as raw mechanical energy... then you're talking about running a Pi, touchscreen, and multiple sensors... You're either going to need a BIG solar panel to even run it for a few minutes, or you're going to need a BIG battery that's been charging for a LONG time... again, just doing some quick mental math, no hard numbers here.

+stillborn86 I just wrote out a lengthy reply and chrome crashed... Basically, I need something that can display a simple GUI. One that shows humidity, temperature, and a timer. I've taken an instrumentation course where we used DAQ cards that took readings at a hundredth of a second for thirty seconds. I was kind of hoping the Pi could take one reading every minute for a forty minute cycle, even if it couldn't process the data I imagine I could export it in simple DOS column format (excel)? The dryer is not powered by solar electricity, instead the heat source is done through solar panels preheating a tank of water that heats a water-air heat exchanger at the inlet of the drum. There is also a air-air heat exchanger which preheats the incoming air from the leaving air. There are regulations that prevent you from circulating your dryer air and this air-air heat exchanger works around that because the incoming and outgoing air dont come in contact. This was a concept myself and a group showed an annual savings of ~$200, done using cheap sheet metal and duct tape. Now since we have funding we're redoing the project using higher quality materials and there's a push to have more "2016" features. I wonder if an old iPad would work.

TastyPear Oh, yeah! The Pi would absolutely work with a GUI interface, and even a touch platform. You may have to do a little personal coding to your desktop environment and/or program that's monitoring your processes... but it's entirely possible. It's literally a small Linux computer, so anything you can get running on a Linux box should be cross-compatible. An iPad would also work, but I would imagine would be more difficult to work with. Due to its closed architecture, writing the program you'd need would be more difficult than the open architecture of the Pi.

I have a couple of them posted here: github.com/stillborn86/python

+Neura Essentially, yes. It'll cause an overamperage situation, which will burn out the incorporated pins, and potentially your entire CPU.

This is a good question, and I was just about to post a video explaining GPIO pins... But, to answer your question here: I don't use a 5v+ pin? O_o I use pins 11, 12, 13, & 15... all of which output 5v+ when turned on (HIGH). I also use the ground rail, which is set next to the 5v+ rail. If that's what you're asking about, you can honestly use ANY ground since they tie into the same ground in the board. That's why, when you see that larger board, with the 555 timer, you can see four jumpers spanning the bottom of the board. That's tying all three of the v+ columns together, and tying all of the ground columns together. Again, you can use any of the grounds you want, I just used the column since it was easier and more accessible from where I was on the board.

I see, look forward to the video, Thanks for the reply.

Thank you, very much! I'm trying to get a playlist together, but it's taking a LONG time to edit... Well, DC motors usually only turn one way, with the rPi since you can only supply positive voltage. Be careful with motors, as you can overamp the circuit and fry your hardware. I'd recommend getting a motor shield, or a relay designed for DC motors, and doing a LOT of research into small circuitry.

Thanks for replying! I thought all dc motors were reversable simply by reversing the polarity and yes use relays for sure. Living and learning here! You rock.

No, they're not all reversible. Some are, some can be reprogrammed to reverse, some have to be "rewired" to reverse, and some will never be reversible. Usually, cheap DC motors are one-directional, only. And, as a beginner, the mid-range ones will be, too... I don't mean to offend you with that one, there's just a LOT that goes into manipulating those things. But I'm sure you'll get there, and you'll probably surpass me, eventually.

Thanks for all of that. No offense taken. You seem to be a real great guy. :)

Honestly, it matters, but not too much. The people at the Raspberry Pi Foundation were really smart about their SBC system, and made it adaptable for a wide range of hardware. But, if you want to whittle the mathematics down, you just need to use Ohm's Law: V=IR. We know that the rPi GPIO puts out 3.3V, and that gives you everything else you need. You can use whatever LED and resistor values you want, just remember that a diode usually has about a 0.7V drop across it. If you want to find what size resistor you need, grab an LED and find it's operating current... then divide the 3.3V by that current to find the necessary resistor: (3.3/i) = R If you have a resistor and want to find the proper current/LED for that resistor, you just do it the other way around... divide the 3.3V output by the resistor value to find the operating current for the LED you need to choose: (3.3/R) = i As an engineer, you're usually going to use the first scenario, have an LED with an operating current, then need to find the resistance value to match that LED.

It's good to have a basic understanding about how Linux works, and how to navigate around in Linux... especially if you're running in "headless" mode (without a monitor, over SSH). But, if you're using a keyboard, mouse, and monitor on your rPi, and you've installed Raspbian, you can use the GUI to become familiar with it the way you've become familiar with Windows/OSX. It's also a good idea to learn VIM, as it's a built-in text editor, for Linux command line, which many professionals will suggest. It offers some powerful tools, but there is a steep learning curve. If you can get those two basics down, you'll do just fine.

Marinated Pasta I'm not sure what a Mobo speaker is, but you should be able to plug speakers into the GPIO. The only thing you'll have to remember is that they're low voltage (3.3V) and low amperage, so you'll need some sort of transistor/MOSFET system if the speaker requires a lot of power.

the speakers that plug into the front panel connectors and beep when the computer posts like this one: www.ebay.com/itm/like/252465865564?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true also ty so much for responding i got my pi3 for christmas and cant wait to play with it ^v^

It looks like that'll run off of the rPi voltage, but I can't be 100% sure, given the lack of details in your link. I'd assume it's a low voltage/amperage device, and should be drivable by the rPi.

thank you :)

Any single-core copper wire can be used, as long as it's 22 AWG. Anything bigger, or smaller, will not fit into a breadboard well. Single-core wire would probably be more manageable for you, since you don't have the "needle" ends to crimp onto a multi-threaded core... but it'll be harder to manipulate. What I mean by that is, a threaded core will have multiple threads of several smaller gauge wires in the insulation, which makes the wire more flexible and easier to manipulate. A single-core wire doesn't have those "threads" (as it's a single-core of copper) and will be stiffer. The problem with having a multi-threaded core means that you need to crimp those ends on your wires to make them work with a breadboard. The advantage of a single-core wire is that you don't need those crimped ends.

+stillborn86 Thanks dude, off to get some wire :D

The Python sketch is in my GIT repo, and I just cloned it into my rPi. I then use SSH to connect to the rPi, and implement the sketch via my terminal. I am actually planning on making a video on this, but it's part of a larger playlist, building the rPi from the beginning.

Well, if you have a rPi3, then you already have a WiFi module built-in with your system. Otherwise, you'll need to use the Ethernet port to connect to your router, directly. If you have an rPi that doesn't have an Ethernet port or the built-in WiFi module (Zero, A+, or A), then you're going to have to buy a USB WiFi dongle like I have in my video... otherwise, there's no way to connect it to the network without some soldering and wiring/hacking.

stillborn86 I have a rP3 so that's not a problem anymore. Now, I have a question once I run the code it gives me an error: IndentationError : expected an indented block. How can I avoid this? Thanks for taking your time

stillborn86 nevermind I found out what was the error. Once again, thanks for this video it's really helpful. :)

Thanks, man. I feel like I just *touched* on many topics without REALLY explaining any of them... I kind of want to make another video where I delve into each aspect a little deeper with better explanation.

Currently, I am using Arch on my rPi's, and yes, I keep it in the command line, only. The rPi isn't powerful enough to run a GUI while doing what I want to do with it, and SSH doesn't play well with an X11 server. So, in short: yes, I'm using text-based only, with Arch Linux... but it doesn't really matter which distro you're using, or how you interface with the rPi, as long as you can work with it, and learn from it.

You cannot connect the HDMI on the rPi to the HDMI on your laptop. They're both output-only, and it will not work. There are multiple ways of connecting to your rPi, and I'm in the process of making a video series, encompassing several different options...

+stillborn86 Thank you very much for your quick reply. Request :Please make it as soon as possible.

Satyanarayana Dhangeti I'm trying, there's just so many options that it's easiest to make them into multiple videos. That, plus being sick, and school starting back up has slowed me down, considerably.

It's been a while, but I believe I'm using SSH to connect to it over my local network.

+Farhad Noori Thank you! I know that getting started was the hardest part for me, and if I can make that easier for people, why not, right?

+stillborn86 I love you for this! I hope you can continue to make higher quality (audio-wise) videos on RPi.

Tudorgeable I wish I could... but I record everything on my phone, as it's the only thing I can afford as a student. I'm looking into getting a better recording setup, but it's all so expensive, and I don't monetize my videos.

stillborn86 Considering many people use adblock, ads wouldn't be an inconvenience to most, and since you're a poor student, why not monetize? Everybody does it and your content is actually useful (most let's players just monetize terrible effortless thoughtless content in my opinion, why not balance it out?)

Tudorgeable Eh... I've always been of the mindset that I shouldn't monetize something which everyone should freely have. Most people, when they come to my videos, are already frustrated and distracted/confused. The last thing they need is an ad for the next Fantastic4 movie distracting them, or taking up their time. Also, I don't get enough views to really make a difference. I don't think it would benefit me enough, and it would ultimately inconvenience others... and that's not what I'm about. I want to help people, not inconvenience them... even if it's only a small percentage who don't use ad blockers.