You are going to write a tutorial on how to do one little piece of your project. By writing the tutorial, you’ll get to know that part of your project really well (as they say, the best way to learn something is to teach someone else how to do it). You’ll also give back to the larger Arduino community.
1. Start with your diagram to figure out one piece of your project that you need to build. Everyone on your team should choose a different piece. Please get help from each other, but you’re each writing your own tutorial.
2. Learn how to make your piece of the project work. Figure out the code and the circuitry. Find existing tutorials that you may be able to build from (cite these tutorials!!). Again, if you get stuck, turn to your group members.
3. Write a tutorial that teaches someone else how to do your part of the project. It must include a parts list, a circuit diagram (schematic, breadboard, or both is fine, whatever you think most clearly communicates the wiring concept and execution to your user), code, and any other information you need to make the tutorial as clear as possible (e.g., images, or a brief video).
The Arduino Playground has links to many, many tutorials. There are also many on Instructables and hackerscapes. Some are easier to understand than others. What makes for a good tutorial?
Read the Arduino Style Guide for tips on writing tutorials.
As you write, think of your fellow classmates: would they understand how to follow your tutorial?
4. Post your tutorial on this blog.
- Soon, I will send out an email with the subject “[SENSING THE CITY] Your username and password”. If you don’t find this email, check your spam folder. This email grants you permission to be an author. You can write and edit posts. You can also delete your unpublished posts. If you need to delete a published post, let me know. (FYI: you can’t view your classmate’s posts while they are in draft, and they can’t see yours.) Use the link in the email to log in.
- Once you’re logged in, click the link on the left side bar for Posts and choose “Add New.” It will look like this:
- Give your post a clear title. Do not put the name of your group project in the title. Choose a title that would make sense to someone who is not taking the class and is unfamiliar with your project. For example: “Using an anemometer to identify maximum daily wind speeds” is a good title. “OurProject Tutorial 1” is a bad title.
- Categorize your post by checking the Tutorials box on the right of the screen.
- Write your tutorial.
- To include any images, click on the plus sign and then scroll down to Common Elements. Then click on Image.
- If you want to include a video, you’ll need to upload it to YouTube (or similar) first. Then, click on the plus sign and scroll down to Embeds. Click on YouTube.
- Make your code more readable with an add-in called UrvanovSyntaxHighlighter. To use the syntax highlighter, first hover over the plus sign, like you did above. Look for the <> symbol and click on it.
- This will create a new block for your code. Copy and paste in your Arduino code. From the Language drop-down menu, choose Arduino. From the Theme drop-down menu, choose Arduino Ide. When you’re done, click Add on the upper right corner of the window.
- Before you publish your draft, you can click the Preview button on the upper right-hand corner of the screen to make sure everything looks right. This is a good chance to check that your code formatting worked as planned and to look for typos.
- Don’t forget to properly comment your code and cite/include links to anyone whose code you drew from. It is OK to build off other people’s code, but you absolutely must credit them.
- When you’re ready, hit Publish.
- Feel free to correct any little things after you publish. If you ever make any significant updates, it’s good to add a note (e.g., “Updated on ___”).
5. Be proud of yourself for publishing an Arduino tutorial!