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).
- 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
- Wait for installation complition.
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
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
- Now you can see the output of your LED blinking using Arduino and Nodejs.