Using Node js and Arduino with LED Blinking Program

Today In this Tutorial we talk about “Using Node js and Arduino with LED Blinking Program”.

Node.js is a very powerful JavaScript-based framework built on Google Chrome’s JavaScript V8 Engine. It is used to develop I/O intensive web applications like video streaming sites, single-page applications, and other web applications. Node.js is open source, completely free, and used by thousands of developers around the world.

Node isn’t a program that you simply launch like Word or Photoshop: you won’t find it pinned to the taskbar or in your list of Apps. To use Node you must type command-line instructions, so you need to be comfortable with (or at least know how to start) a command-line tool like the Windows Command Prompt, PowerShell, Cygwin, or the Git shell (which is installed along with Github for Windows).

Consequently, Node.js represents a “JavaScript everywhere” paradigm,unifying web application development around a single programming language, rather than different languages for server side and client side scripts.

Requirements

• 1 x Arduino Uno board
• 1 x LED

Software Requirement

• Johnny-Five  :- Johnny-Five is an Open Source, Firmata Protocol based, IoT and Robotics programming framework, Released by Bocoup in 2012, Johnny-Five is maintained by a community of passionate software developers and hardware engineers. Johnny-Five programs can be written for Arduino (all models), Electric Imp, Beagle Bone, Intel Galileo & Edison, Linino One, Pinoccio, pcDuino3, Raspberry Pi, Particle/Spark Core & Photon, Tessel 2, TI Launchpad and more! More than 75 developers have made contributions towards building a robust, extensible and compatible ecosystem. We will achieve this with the Johnny-Five library for Node.js to program our robot. Johnny-Five uses a protocol called Firmata to communicate with the micro-controller over the USB .

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Step 1 – Setting up Firmata to Arduino Board

Before going to start programming with NodeBots, First we need to load Firmata onto Arduino board.

• Download Arduino IDE from it’s official website. know more about Arduino IDE visit this visit this: Arduino IDE | Arduino | Open Source Hardware/Softawre | Arduino Vs RPi
• Connect Arduino board via USB cable
• Launch Arduino IDE and find the Firmata sketch using the Menu -> File -> Examples -> Firmata -> StandardFirmata
• Select your Arduino board type using Tools -> Board
• Select the port (Comm Port) for the board using Tools -> Serial Port
• Upload the “StandardFirmata” program by selecting File -> Upload

Step 2 – Node.js  Installation

We use Ubuntu OS. You can use any OS. For installation visit official website Node.js® web site.

Supported Ubuntu versions:

NodeSource will maintain Ubuntu distributions in active support by Canonical, including LTS and the intermediate releases.

• Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) – not available for Node.js 10 and later
• Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus)
• Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver)
• Ubuntu 18.10 (Cosmic Cuttlefish)

Installing Node.js via package manager

Installation instructions

Node.js v11.x:

# Using Ubuntu
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_11.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

# Using Debian, as root
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_11.x | bash -
apt-get install -y nodejs

Node.js v10.x:

# Using Ubuntu
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_10.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

# Using Debian, as root
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_10.x | bash -
apt-get install -y nodejs

Node.js v8.x:

# Using Ubuntu
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_8.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

# Using Debian, as root
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_8.x | bash -
apt-get install -y nodejs

To check which version of Node.js you have installed after these initial steps, type:

nodejs -v

For more information about Installation Visit This – https://iotbyhvm.ooo/how-to-install-node-js-on-ubuntu/

Installation steps for Windows

Step by step guide line

• Download the Windows installer from the Nodes.js® web site.
• Run the installer (the .msi file you downloaded in the previous step.)
• Follow the prompts in the installer (Accept the license agreement, click the NEXT button a bunch of times and accept the default installation settings).
• Restart your computer. You won’t be able to run Node.js® until you restart your computer.

Step 3 – Johnny-five Installation

• Open Command Prompt. / Open Terminal in Linux.
• Run the following command in CMD/Terminal

npm install johnny-five

• Wait for installation complition.

Step 4 – Code

Open Any Text editor (Notepad, Notepad++, Nano or Vi Editor) and write below program and save it.

var led_pin=13;
var johnny_five=require("johnny-five"); 
var arduino_board=new johnny_five.Board(); 
arduino_board.on("ready", function() {  
   console.log("Blinking Program is Ready for use!");  
   var led = new johnny_five.Led(led_pin);  
   led.blink(1000);  
});

Step 5 – Connection

Step 6 – Finishing up

• Open command prompt
• Specifies your saved file location by using cd command in command prompt
• Run the following command

node your_file_name.js

I hope you like this post “Using Node js and Arduino with LED Blinking Program”. Do you have any questions? Leave a comment down below!

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