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LED Blink Using Nodejs

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).

Components Required

  • 1 x Arduino Uno board
  • 1 x LED

Software Required

  • Johnny-Five  :- Johnny-Five is the JavaScript Robotics & IoT Platform. Released by Bocoup in 2012, Johnny-Five is maintained by a community of passionate software developers and hardware engineers. 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 .

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
  • 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 Overview

Installing Node and NPM is pretty straightforward using the installer package available from the Node.js® web site.

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).

Nodejs Installer

  • Restart your computer. You won’t be able to run Node.js® until you restart your computer.

Step 3 – Johnny-five Installation Overview

  • Open Command Prompt.
  • Run the following command in CMD
npm install johnny-five

johnny five installation 1

  • Wait for installation complition.

johnny five installation step2

Step 4 – Code Segment

  • Open editor (Notepad, Notepad++, Edit Plus) and write below program
var led_pin=13;
var johnny_five=require("johnny-five"); 
var arduino_board=new johnny_five.Board(); 
arduino_board.on("ready", function() {  
   console.log("Program is Ready!");  
   var led = new johnny_five.Led(led_pin);  
   led.blink(1000);  
});
  • Save program in computer.

Step 5 – Hardware Setup

arduino nodejs led blinking program hardware setup

Step 6 – Execution

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

arduino nodejs led blinking program execution code

  • Now you can see the output of your LED blinking using Arduino and Nodejs.

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