• 3.5 Introduction of ArduinoBlocks.com and Wemos D1 board

    • Learning Objectives:

      After this lesson, students can

      • use ArduinoBlocks.com to program a Wemos D1 board;
      • use a multimeter to measure DC voltages.

    • 1. INTRODUCTION OF ARDUINOBLOCKS.COM

    • ArduinoBlocks Connector V5.1 URL

      IMPORTANT NOTE:

      The Arduinoblocks connector must be run at the background for program uploading.

      Since ArduinoBlocks connector version 5 supports the use of serial port in Wemos D1 board but version 4 cannot, we will use Arduinoblocks connector version 5.

    • 2. INTRODUCTION OF WEMOS D1

    • Features of Wemos D1 R2 Wifi -Esp8266 Development Board:

      • The D1 R2 is a mini wifi board based on ESP-8266EX
      • 11 digital input/output pins, all pins have interrupt/PWM/I2C/one-wire supported (except D0)
      • 1 analog input (3.3V max input)
      • A Micro USB connection
      • Compatible with Arduino
      • Compatible with nodemcu
      • Several shields, sensors and output devices that are manufactured for the Arduino platform will work on the WeMos-D1R2.
      • Builtin WiFi


      Technical specifications (Wemos D1 R2):

       Microcontroller   ESP-8266EX 
      Operating Voltage   3.3V
      Digital I/O Pins 11 (All IO is work at 3.3V)
      Analog Input Pins   1, max 3.3V input
      Clock Speed 80MHz/160MHz
      Flash 4M bytes
      Length 68.6mm
      Width 53.4mm
      Weight 25g


      On-Board Switching Power Supply:

      • Input Voltage Range: 7V to 12V ? (varying from different manufacturers)
      • Output: 5V at 1A Max ?

      This a 3.3V development board and is not compatible with 5V hardware. Please check compatibility before purchasing Arduino shields.

      WeMos D1 R2 Pinout





      WeMos D1 Mini Pinout


      Pin Function ESP-8266 Pin 
      TX TXD TXD
      RX RXD RXD
      A0 Analog input, max 3.3V input  A0
      D0 IO GPIO16
      D1 IO, SCL GPIO5
      D2 IO, SDA GPIO4
      D3 IO, 10k Pull-up GPIO0
      D4 IO, 10k Pull-up, BUILTIN_LED GPIO2
      D5 IO, SCK GPIO14
      D6 IO, MISO GPIO12
      D7 IO, MOSI GPIO13
      D8 IO, 10k Pull-down, SS GPIO15
      G Ground GND
      5V 5V –
      3V3 3.3V 3.3V
      RST Reset RST

      [!] Except D0, All of the IO pins have interrupt/pwm/I2C/one-wire support 

    • 3. CLASSWORK

    • CW3.3.1 Blinking Onboard LED (10 marks)

      STEP 1: Run connector
      • Run the ArduinoBlocks-Connector. Don't close the command window. You can minimise the command window.

      STEP 2: COM port setting
      • Open a web browser. Go to www.arduinoblocks.com.
      • Press the "refresh ports" button, and then check the USB COM ports in the pulldown list before plugging the D1 board.
      • Plug the D1 board to your desktop computer by a USB cable.
      • Browse to check the newly added USB COM port. You may need to press the "refresh ports" button.
      • Change the USB port to that newly added USB COM port.


      STEP 3: Write your program
      • Use the teachers' project code for S3 Group 2:

      @yugv4TC


      Remark:
      • PIN D4 OFF: onboard LED ON
      • PIN D4 ON:  onboard LED OFF
      • You can use a multi-meter to measure the DC voltage of D4.

      STEP 4: Save and upload
      • Save your program by pressing the "save" button (frequently).
      • Upload your program (auto save) by pressing the "upload" button.
      • See the result.