1. Getting started with Arduino

1. About Arduino IDE

Arduino IDE is an integrated development environment dedicated to Arduino which is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-read interface and simplified programming process, aimed at students without a background in electronics.

Its clear interface, syntax highlighting and auto-completion functions make the programming process easy and enjoyable. It also offers a wealth of tutorials, sample codes, and community support to help beginners get started quickly and solve practical problems.

Importantly, it is published as an open source tool. Therefore, it not only accelerates users own learning process by utilizing and referring others’ works, it is also available for extension experienced programmers to freely access, modify and distribute codes.

In one word, Arduino IDE is easy-to-use for beginners, yet flexible enough for advanced users to take advantage of as well.

2. For Windows

Attention please, the Arduino IDE version used here is 2.3.6. For other versions, the provided codes may not be compiled or uploaded.

2.1 Download Arduino IDE

Enter Arduino official to download Software | Arduino.

Arduino boasts multiple versions such as Widows, mac and Linux(as shown below), please ensure that the one you download is compatible with your computer.

Here, we will take Windows Win 10 or newer(64-bit) as an example to introduce how to download it. You may also choose the Windows ZIP file.

Two versions are provided for Windows: for installing(Windows Win 10 or newer(64-bit)) and for downloading(Windows ZIP file, a zipped file, no need to install).

2.2 Install Arduino IDE

1. Save the .exe file downloaded from the software page to your hard drive and simply run the file.

2. Read the License Agreement and agree it.

3. Choose the installation options.

4. Choose the installation location.

5. Click “finish” and run Arduino IDE.

3. For MacOS

3.1 Download Arduino IDE

Enter Arduino official to download Software | Arduino.

Similar to Windows, here we will take macOS Intel 10.15 Catalina or newer(64-bit) as an example to introduce how to download it. You may also choose the macOS Apple Silicon 11 Big Sur or newer(64-bit).

3.2 Install Arduino IDE

After then, click the file arduino_ide_xxxx.dmg and follow the instruction: copy and pastes the Arduino IDE.app into Applications. A couple of seconds later, you can see the Arduino IDE icon.

4. Arduino IDE Language

⚠️ Note that for different systems such as Windows and MAC, the language setting methods are not the same. The followings can be used as a reference.

1. Open Arduino IDE.

2. Click “File ——>Preferences…”. In Preferences, click “English” to select a familiar language and “OK”.

5. Arduino IDE Page

1. File - includes new Sketch, open Sketch, open recently used code, open sample code, close the IDE, save code, preferences, advanced Settings, etc.

2. Edit - includes copy, paste, automatic formatting, font size, etc. (shortcut keys are recommended).

3. Sketch - includes verify\compile, upload code, import library and so on.

4. Tools - The most important two are development board and port.

5. Help - Views the IDE version and official reference documents.

6. Open Serial Plotter - displays serial data in a method of line graph

7. Open Serial Monitor - opens the Serial Monitor tool, as a new tab in the console.

8. Verify - compiles your code to your Arduino Board.

9. Verify / Upload - compiles and uploads your code to your Arduino Board.

10. Sketchbook - here you will find all of your sketches locally stored on your computer. Additionally, you can sync with the Arduino Cloud, and also obtain your sketches from the online environment.

11. Boards Manager - install or remove Arduino Boards .

12. Library Manager - browse through thousands of Arduino libraries or import local libraries

13. Debugger - test and debug programs in real time.

14. Search - search for keywords in your code.

15. Code editing area

16. IDE prompt area (Uploading fails or succeeds) & Serial monitor display area

6. Upload Code via Arduino IED

Upload code: An examples code is provided here: it will print “Hello Keyestudio!” per second.

Copy and paste the following code to Arduino IDE:

/*
keyestudio
Print “Hello Keyestudio!”
http://www.keyestudio.com
*/

void setup() {
// put your setup code here, to run once:

Serial.begin(9600); //Set the serial port baud rate to 9600
}

void loop() {
// put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
Serial.println("Hello Keyestudio!"); //Serial port printing
delay(1000); //Delay of 1 second
}

Click “Tools”——>“Board”——> Arduino AVR Boards, and here we choose Arduino Uno as our development board.

Choose the correct COM port.

If there are so many ports that you have no idea which is the correct one, you may unplug the board to check which one disappears. If there is no COM port, please check whether the driver is installed.

In our demostration, the port is COM3, so we click “Tools”to choose“COM3” in “Port”.

If your board is successfully connected, it will show on the interface.

Click to compile the code. If it succeeds, the following two show up:

Click and set baud rate to 9600, and “Hello Keyestudio!” are being printed!

1.“Toggle Autoscroll”: To set whether to follow the print.

2.“Toggle Timestamp”: To set whether to display printing time.

3.“Clear Output”: To clear the output data

4.Serial Input

5.Serial port sending format

6.Baud rate: To set the baud rate.

7.Printing box.

2. Install Driver

We need a driver to boot our development board. Or else, the COM port connected to computer will not be found.

Select the corresponding development board and computer system in the table and click the link to enter the tutorial:

Sku	Development Board	Image	Windows System	MAC System
ks0497	keyestudio V4.0		CP2102-WINDOWS	CP2102-MAC
ks0498	keyestudio MEGA		CP2102-WINDOWS	CP2102-MAC
ks0486	keyestudio Plus		CP2102-WINDOWS	CP2102-MAC
ks0499	keyestudio MEGA Plus		CP2102-WINDOWS	CP2102-MAC
ks0173	keyestudio NANO		CH340-WINDOWS	CH340-MAC
ks0546	keyestudio 328 PULS		CH340-WINDOWS	CH340-MAC
KS0413	keyestudio ESP32		CP2102-WINDOWS	CP2102-MAC
KS5016	keyestudio ESP32S		CH340-WINDOWS	CH340-MAC
KS0389	keyestudio ESP8266		CP2102-WINDOWS	CP2102-MAC

3. Arduino IDE Settings

Clickicon to open Arduino IDE.

1. “File”: Including New Sketch, Open…, Sketchbook, Examples, Close, Save(Save as…), Preferences, Advanced…, etc.

2. “Edit”: Including Copy, Paste, Auto Format, Increase/Decrease Font Size, etc. Commonly, you can use shortcuts to do these operations.

3. “Sketch”: Including Verify/Compile, Upload, Include Library, etc.

4. “Tools”: Including Board and Port, which are two of the most important functions.

5. “Help”: Including Check for Updates as well as some official data references.

6. “Serial Plotter”: To display the data from serial port in the way of a line chart.

7. “Serial Monitor”: To prints the data from serial port.

8. Verify code.

9. Verify and upload code.

10. “Sketchbook”: To create a new sketch, or sign in to Arduino Cloud to sync and edit your Cloud Sketches.

11. “Boards Manager”: To install or remove development board.

12. “Library Manager”: To install or remove library.

13. “Debug”: To monitor code and debug breakpoints.

14. Search.

15. Sketch editing area.

16. IDE Output: To report error or successful uploading, and to display data from serial monitor.

3. Upload Code via Arduino IED

Example of using Keystudio Plus UNO for tutorials marked with ‘/’

Development board	windows system	MAC system
Keyestudio Plus UNO	Win Plus UNO Tutorial	Mac Plus UNO Tutorial
Keyestudio NANO	/	/
Keyestudio MEGA 2560	/	/
Keyestudio Leonardo	/	/
Keyestudio Micro pro\por Mini	/	/
Keyestudio ESP32\ESP32 Plus	Win ESP32 Tutorial	Mac ESP32 Tutorial
raspberry pi pico	Win Pico Tutorial	Mac Pico Tutorial

4. Import Library

First of all, the corresponding Arduino library files are required.

A. What are Libraries ?

Libraries are a collection of code that make it easy for you to connect a sensor,display, module, etc.

For example, the built-in LiquidCrystal library helps talk to LCD displays.

There are hundreds of additional libraries available on the Internet for download. The built-in libraries and some of these additional libraries are listed in the reference.

If there is an error ‘No such file or directory’ when compiling or uploading code, it means the library file is missing. As shown in the figure below, the error occurred when uploading LCD1602 module code due to the missing ‘LiquidCrystal_I2C’ library file.

B. How to Install a Library ?

Let's take adding the "LiquidCrystal_I2C" library file as an example.

Here we will introduce the most simple way to add libraries.

Click Skerch > Include Library > Add .Zip Library… in sequence.

Find files(.zip) you need to add as library and wait. “Library installed” will be displayed if library is successfully added.

Dynamic operation example:

For how to include a library, the method of the two system is the same.

For more details, please visit our official website: https://www.keyestudio.com/