Thinking about getting a Arduino Uno R3

Projects General Guidance
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Hello everyone, I am new to the Arduino world and I have watch many YouTube videos. I do have a quick question, the main purpose for me considering to buy the Arduino is I need something that will make a small strip of LED's flash once every 30 seconds. Is that possible with the Arduino? If you need more information please let me know.

Thank you
Kermit

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Yes, it will do that.

But, if they are all blinking on & off together (no fancy controls or sequencing or anything) you can do that with an [u]LM555[/u] (less than $1 USD) and a few other inexpensive parts and no software/programming is required.

Note that an Arduino or an LM555 needs an additional transistor or MOSFET to drive an LED strip. The Arduino can put-out 40mA maximum from one output pin. The 555 can put-out 200mA. One "standard" LED requires about 10-20mA. Typically, you only drive one LED from an Arduino output pin. If you have "high power" LEDs (1W or more) used for lighting-up a room, etc., these require a special power supply.

The [u]Blink LED Example[/u] is pretty much the simplest programming example.* It will blink the Pin-13 LED already mounted on the Uno. It's very easy to change the timing, and you'd just need to add the hardware to power a whole strip of LEDs.

There a slightly more advanced [u]Blink Without delay()[/u] when want the CPU freed-up to do something else during the delay period.

*This is the program to use to make sure everything's set-up correctly and that you can compile and upload a program from your computer to the Arduino and run the program.

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Yup, that's all I need it to do. My mom has a small building in a Christmas village and she wants one of those old time photographer guys that used gun powder to take pictures. So I wanted to use a small flat strip of LED's and a timer to make it flash every 30 seconds. Where could I find the 555 and is it hard to build?

Thanks
Kermit

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Thanks Spycatcher, I found them on E-Bay. All I see is the 555 chip itself, I'm not sure I have the skill level to put one together. Do they make them already assembled or with instructions? Thanks for all the help

Dave

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Kermit911:
I'm not sure I have the skill level to put one together.

Well, the same would apply to using an Arduino, wouldn't it?

(Since it involves adding a transistor or FET to control the LED strip.)

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Kermit,

try using this free software:

you basically put in the on and the off time, and it will plot a diagram for you using the 555 timer.

then you just recreate that diagram/schematic onto a project board, and link it up to input voltage and the LED you'd like to trigger, and it will do what you want.

if you want to make it adjustable, you can first input sayyyy 5 second interval, write down the resistor values. then input 20 seconds, and write down those resistor values. then instead of using the resistors, you replace them with potentiometers that cover the ranges from the 5 second schematic to the 20 second schematic. this way you can fine tune the flash on/off time using potentiometers and dial it in exactly as you require.

total cost for a project like this with a 555 timer ic (not including lights) should be around 5 to 10 dollars, and is a much better alternative to using arduino.

But arduino would be a lot more fun. Just not necessary, really.