4.1 Turn the Knob

Potentiometer is a resistor component with 3 terminals and its resistance value can be adjusted according to some regular variation.

Required Components

In this project, we need the following components.

It’s definitely convenient to buy a whole kit, here’s the link:

Name	ITEMS IN THIS KIT	LINK
3 in 1 Starter Kit	380+	3 in 1 Starter Kit

You can also buy them separately from the links below.

COMPONENT INTRODUCTION	PURCHASE LINK
SunFounder R3 Board	BUY
Breadboard	BUY
Jumper Wires	BUY
Potentiometer	BUY

Schematic

In this example, we use the analog pin (A0) to read the value of the potentiometer. By rotating the axis of the potentiometer, you can change the distribution of resistance among these three pins, changing the voltage on the middle pin. When the resistance between the middle and a outside pin connected to 5V is close to zero (and the resistance between the middle and the other outside pin is close to 10kΩ), the voltage at the middle pin is close to 5V. The reverse operation (the resistance between the middle and a outside pin connected to 5V is close to 10kΩ) will make the voltage at the middle pin be close to 0V.

Wiring

Code

Note

• You can open the file 4.1.turn_the_knob.ino under the path of 3in1-kit\basic_project\4.1.turn_the_knob.

• Or copy this code into Arduino IDE.

• Or upload the code through the Arduino Web Editor.

After uploading the codes to the board, you can open the serial monitor to see the reading value of the pin. When rotating the axis of the potentiometer, the serial monitor will print the value 「0」~「1023」.