Analog Read Serial

This example shows you how to read analog input from the physical world using a potentiometer. A potentiometer is a simple mechanical device that provides a varying amount of resistance when its shaft is turned. By passing voltage through a potentiometer and into an analog input on your board, it is possible to measure the amount of resistance produced by a potentiometer (or pot for short) as an analog value. In this example you will monitor the state of your potentiometer after establishing serial communication between your Arduino or Genuino and your computer running the Arduino Software (IDE).

Step 1: What You Need?

1 x Arduino Board ( Arduino UNO R3 used in this tutorial.)
1 x 10k Ohm Potentiometer
Female-to-Male Jumper Wires

Don't have components? Don't worry. Just click the component's name. 

Step 2: Build Your Circuit.

Connect the three wires from the potentiometer to your board. The first goes from one of the outer pins of the potentiometer to ground. The second goes from the other outer pin of the potentiometer to 5 volts. The third goes from the middle pin of the potentiometer to the analog pin A0.

Step 3: Upload Code To Board.

1. Select the Arduino board type: Select Tools >> Board >> Select your correct Arduino board used. 

2.  Find the port number by accessing device manager on Windows. See the section Port (COM&LPT) and look for an open port named "Arduino Uno (COMxx)". If you are using a different board, you will find a name accordingly. What matters is the xx in COMxx part. In my case, it's COM3. So my port number is 3. 

Select the right port: Tools >> Port >> Select the port number.

3. You can find this code in the example of Arduino IDE.
Select File >> Examples >> 01.Basics >> AnalogReadSerial

Click press the "upload" button (see the button with right arrow mark).

Step 4: Test Your Circuit.

By turning the shaft of the potentiometer, you change the amount of resistance on either side of the wiper, which is connected to the center pin of the potentiometer. This changes the voltage at the center pin. When the resistance between the center and the side connected to 5 volts is close to zero (and the resistance on the other side is close to 10k ohm), the voltage at the center pin nears 5 volts. When the resistances are reversed, the voltage at the center pin nears 0 volts, or ground. This voltage is the analog voltage that you're reading as an input.

The Arduino and Genuino boards have a circuit inside called an analog-to-digital converter or ADC that reads this changing voltage and converts it to a number between 0 and 1023. When the shaft is turned all the way in one direction, there are 0 volts going to the pin, and the input value is 0. When the shaft is turned all the way in the opposite direction, there are 5 volts going to the pin and the input value is 1023. In between, analogRead() returns a number between 0 and 1023 that is proportional to the amount of voltage being applied to the pin.

Download: 

Arduino software

Sources:[https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/AnalogReadSerial]

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My Robot Education Sdn. Bhd. (Robotedu.my) was founded in 2015 as the first robotics education centre in Malaysia to provide Arduino-based robotics courses for youths. Our vision is to be able to provide robotics education to every youth in Malaysia.