Can I make an Arduino Uno open a program on my pc?

Projects Programming
1

Hi

Just a student here seeking some advise...

I am trying to make a simple "keypad" with 1-5 buttons. Each button is supposed to open a program that is installed on my pc. Can my Arduino UNO (R3) do this or do I need to get my hands on a different board?

My pathetic beginner level code so far:

const int button1=A0;

int button1Value=0;

void setup()
{
Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop()
{
button1Value=analogRead(button1);
if(button1Value>1000)
{
Serial.println("button is pressed");
}else
{
Serial.println("button is not predded");
}
delay(500);
}

The else command is of course unnecessary when I add the actual buttons. The "button is pressed" would be replaced with the command to open a program (if it even is possible :o ).

2

Hello VtheWizard,
Welcome to the forum.

Please read 'how to use this forum - please read', there is a big clue in the title, then follow the instructions.

You are obviously a beginner. What you want to do would require a suitable program running on your PC to achieve. I don't think it too unfair to say that I doubt you have yet aquired the necessary skills to do that. You need to learn a programming language for a PC.

3

An Arduino Leonardo or Micro can pretend to be a USB keyboard so it could send keystrokes to the PC. That could include a command to start a program.

The Leonardo and Micro use the Atmega 32U4 microprocessor which gives them that capability. Look up Keyboard in the Reference section.

...R