Mark Easley
Published

Getting Started with TI LaunchPad and the Sidekick Kit

Try out some basic breadboard circuits with a TI microcontroller

BeginnerFull instructions provided1.5 hours2,521
Getting Started with TI LaunchPad and the Sidekick Kit

Things used in this project

Hardware components

MSP-EXP432P401R SimpleLink MSP432 LaunchPad
Texas Instruments MSP-EXP432P401R SimpleLink MSP432 LaunchPad
×1
Seeed Studio Seeedstudio Sidekick Basic Kit for TI LaunchPad
×1
MSP-EXP430F5529LP MSP430 LaunchPad
Texas Instruments MSP-EXP430F5529LP MSP430 LaunchPad
Alternative if MSP432 LaunchPad is not available
×1
EK-TM4C123GXL TM4C Tiva LaunchPad
Texas Instruments EK-TM4C123GXL TM4C Tiva LaunchPad
Alternative if MSP432 LaunchPad is not available
×1

Software apps and online services

Energia
Texas Instruments Energia

Story

Read more

Schematics

PresentationSlides

PresentationSlidesPDF

Code

EXAMPLE01_FadeRGBLED.ino

C/C++
/*
  Example 01: Fade RGB LED (PWM)
  Sidekick Basic Kit for TI LaunchPad
  
  Now we are going to use the special tricolor LED. RGB stands for
  Red, Green, and Blue which are primary colors that can make any 
  color we want. This LED can help us make different colors that
  can mean different things.
  
  We are going to use Pulse Width Modulation to let the LED fade. 
  Certain pins on the LaunchPad are PWM capable. In Energia, we call
  this analogWrite() capable. We will want to use those to connect 
  to our LED. If you are not sure, check the Energia pin maps on 
  the website for your LaunchPad.
  
  Hardware Required:
  * TI LaunchPad
  * Breadboard BoosterPack
  * Breadboard
  * RGB LED
  * 4x Jumper Wires
  * 3x 330 ohm resistors (optional)
  
  This example code is in the public domain.
*/

// Connect Anode pin to VCC
// Connect Red to pin 19 which should be PWM capable
// Connect Green to pin with PWM 
// Connect Blue to pin with PWM 
// You can put a resistor in between to protect your circuit
// but for low power LEDs it's usually okay to drive directly 
// from the LaunchPad.

// Let's use #define to rename our pins from numbers to readable variables
// This is good practice when writing code so it is less confusing to read
#define RED 19 // pin 19 is always PWM capable according to LaunchPad standard
#define GREEN 38 // may need to change this for your LaunchPad
#define BLUE 39 // may need to change this for your LaunchPad
#define delayTime 10 // delay between color changes, 10ms by default

// Here we can introduce some global variables. These variables have a type
// (int) and a name. We can use the variables in any function that comes after
// Global variables are useful because we can save the state of a variable to 
// use in later operations and functions.
int redVal;
int greenVal;
int blueVal;

/* This is our setup function. We want to set our LED pins as OUTPUT.
 * We can also set them to HIGH at the beginning.
 */
void setup() {
  // We don't have to use pinMode() when using analogWrite() but it doesn't
  // hurt to use it, especially if we want to call digitalWrite() for the 
  // same pin in the same sketch. 
  pinMode(RED, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(GREEN, OUTPUT); 
  pinMode(BLUE, OUTPUT);

  // Test Red
  digitalWrite(RED, LOW);
  digitalWrite(GREEN, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(BLUE, HIGH);
  delay(500);
  // Test Green
  digitalWrite(RED, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(GREEN, LOW);
  digitalWrite(BLUE, HIGH);
  delay(500);
  // Test Blue
  digitalWrite(RED, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(GREEN, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(BLUE, LOW);
  delay(500);
}

/* In the loop function we will fade the brightness of the RGB LED
 * and simultaneously change the colors. 
 */
void loop() {
  
  // We will use a for loop to change the color gradually
  // This will make it fade instead of instantly change
  // We need to go from 0 to 255. You may need to modify 
  // your range depending on your LaunchPad to see a smooth
  // result.
  int PWM_RESOLUTION = 255; // this variable will hold our resolution.

  
  /* Start with full red */
  int redVal = 0; // zero voltage will give us full color
  int greenVal = PWM_RESOLUTION; // max voltage will give us no color
  int blueVal = PWM_RESOLUTION; // max voltage will give us no color
  analogWrite( RED, redVal );
  analogWrite( GREEN, greenVal );
  analogWrite( BLUE, blueVal );

  /* Fade from red to green */
  for( int i = 0 ; i < PWM_RESOLUTION ; i += 1 ){
    greenVal -= 1;
    redVal += 1;
    analogWrite( RED, redVal ); // set the new red value
    analogWrite( GREEN, greenVal ); // set the new green value
    
    delay( delayTime ); // wait for how long delay time is
  }
 
  /* Now full green */
  redVal = PWM_RESOLUTION; // max voltage will give us no color
  greenVal = 0; // zero voltage will give us full color
  blueVal = PWM_RESOLUTION; // max voltage will give us no color
  analogWrite( RED, redVal );
  analogWrite( GREEN, greenVal );
  analogWrite( BLUE, blueVal );

  // again we will use the for loop to change the color gradually
  /* Fade from green to blue */
  for( int i = 0 ; i < PWM_RESOLUTION ; i += 1 ){
    blueVal -= 1;
    greenVal += 1;
    analogWrite( BLUE, blueVal ); // set the new blue value
    analogWrite( GREEN, greenVal ); // set the new green value

    delay( delayTime ); // wait for how long delay time is
  }
  
  /* Now full blue */
  redVal = PWM_RESOLUTION; // max voltage will give us no color
  greenVal = PWM_RESOLUTION; // max voltage will give us no color
  blueVal = 0; // zero voltage will give us full color
  analogWrite( RED, redVal );
  analogWrite( GREEN, greenVal );
  analogWrite( BLUE, blueVal );

  // again we will use the for loop to change the color gradually
  /* Fade from blue to red */
  for( int i = 0 ; i < PWM_RESOLUTION ; i += 1 ){
    redVal -= 1;
    blueVal += 1;
    analogWrite( RED, redVal ); // set the new red value
    analogWrite( BLUE, blueVal ); // set the new blue value

    delay( delayTime ); // wait for how long delay time is
  }
}

Credits

Mark Easley

Mark Easley

65 projects • 137 followers
Texas Instruments LaunchPad SW Engineer

Comments

Related channels and tags
  • Seeed Studio
  • Texas Instruments