Blinking LED Project

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Overview

In computer programming, when learning a new coding language we typically create a Hello World project, which prints Hello World to the screen.

When working with robotics and physical computing, our Hello World project becomes a blinking (light-emitting diode).

Let's take a look at how we'd create this on the PicoBricks using the Brick IDE.

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What you'll learn

How to make an LED blink on and off

What you'll need

PicoBricks Kit
PicoBricks Brick IDE
MicroUSB to USB cable
Laptop or tablet for coding

Key words

LED

An LED is a tiny light you can switch on and off (and sometimes change colour) with your code. LED is short for "light-emitting diode".

Real-world example: The little standby light on a TV is an LED, your code can flash one on and off the same way.

Forever loop

A forever loop repeats its instructions again and again without ever stopping (until you switch off or reset). It's perfect for anything you want to keep happening over and over.

Real-world example: Like a clock's second hand that keeps ticking round and round, a forever loop keeps running the same steps over and over.

Set up your PicoBricks

Open your favourite web browser. We recommend either Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. Type ide.picobricks.com into the address bar.
Connect the PicoBricks board to your computer using the USB cable.
Connect the PicoBricks board to the Brick IDE by selecting the Connection button at the top of the code area.

The PicoBricks Brick IDE coding environment

Build the code

Select Basic. Select a PicoBricks block and drop it in the code area.
Select Loops. Select a forever block and snap it to the PicoBricks block.
Select Bricks. Select a Set Led block and snap it within the forever block. It will be set to on by default.
Select Loops. Select a wait block and snap it to the Set Led on block. Change the 1 to 0.5.
Select Bricks. Select a Set Led block and snap it to the wait 0.5 block. Change the on to off.
Select Loops. Select a wait block and snap it to the Set Led off block. Change the 1 to 0.5.

The completed block code for the blinking LED

We've now completed the code for our blinking LED.

Run it and watch

Select the run button at the top of the code window.

Your LED should now blink on and off every half a second. 🎉

The LED blinking on and off every half a second

Try it yourself

Challenge: Can you make your LED blink faster or slower? Try changing both wait 0.5 blocks to a smaller number like 0.1 for a speedy flash, or a bigger number like 1 for a slow, sleepy blink. What happens if you give the two waits different numbers?

Stuck? Quick fixes

Problem	Try this
The LED isn't lighting up at all	Check the USB cable is pushed in properly at both ends, and make sure the Brick IDE shows it's connected to your PicoBricks board.
The blocks won't snap together	Make sure each block is dropped just inside the one above it. The `Set Led` and `wait` blocks need to sit inside the `forever` loop, not below it.
The LED comes on but never turns off	Check your second `Set Led` block is set to off, and that a `wait` block sits after each `Set Led` block.
Nothing happens when I press run	Try reconnecting the board, then press run again. Unplugging the USB cable and plugging it back in often helps too.