Learn Arduino + rainbow LEDs - beginner, no experience needed - for ages 20s–40s

A ribbon studded with gemstones, each one supposedly waiting to glow and dance in uncountable colors at your whim...

A palm-sized box, inlaid with turquoise, appears to be adorned with fragments of pearlescent shells and the bodies of otherworldly beetles...

A stranger tells of a ritual where incantations written on intangible paper are conveyed though invisible energy, encoded in crystal, and kept forever in an unseen realm...

When you call upon the turquoise box, your spells are enacted with inhuman precision at blinding speed...

What?

Yes I've been listening to too many Dungeons & Dragons podcasts. In this class you'll learn how to use a tiny computer with a strip of individually-controllable lights. Here is an example of what it looks like.

You dream up instructions for which lights to turn on, what color, and at what time to make patterns, animations, and responses to the outside world! This is a fun and sensory way to dip your toes into hobbyist programming & electronics.

For absolute beginners - no experience needed

This class is for people who have never read a computer program and never touched electronics.

This technology may appear magical, mysterious, out-of-reach. It turns out people have been working for over twenty years to make it accessible to everyday people. As much of the gross stuff as possible has been worked out and nicely packaged so you don't need to worry about it.

The only real prerequisites are: using a computer / typing; motor skills and eyesight to connect some small things.

All materials provided, you bring your laptop

We will provide all the hardware to mess around with. You just need to bring a computer (Windows, Mac, and Linux all OK). If you don't have a laptop I have a few spares.

You must leave the materials here after the class.
You can buy the parts from me for like $40-$50.

Learning goals

• Get exposure to electronics and programming; reduce intimidation.
• Copy, use, and, understand example code. You might not be able to write code yourself from scratch.
• Copy, use, and, understand wiring instructions. You might not be able to do wiring yourself from scratch.

Curriculum in detail
Structure to introduce important ideas. I tell you some stuff, and in the last part the students are c

1. Install Arduino software on computer (can be done at home in advance
2. Learn basic workflow
3. Install software library for using LEDs
4. Connect the LEDs to the Arduino and to power
5. Use example program from the LED library
6. Customize example program a little
7. Breadboard here?
8. Send messages from Arduino to your laptop
9. Copy code to set up the potentiometer thing
10. Play around with the potentiometer thing, notice what needs to be changed
11. Starting with example code for one color channel, students will figure out how to make the same thing for the other two color channels!
12. Then you can add a fourth potentiometer to change how many LEDs are lit up

Technical scope

• Hardware: Arduino Uno and Mega only, no STM32 or ESP32.
• Software: Arduino IDE (C++) only, no Python or WLED.
• Prototyping: jumper wires and breadboard only, no soldering.
• Communication: USB cable only, no Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.