Getting Started with MATLAB Support Package for Arduino Hardware

Hardware setup

Connect an LED to digital pin 11 on the Arduino hardware through a 1kOhm resistor.

Create an arduino object

   a = arduino();

If you have more than one Arduino board connected, specify the port and board type.

   clear a;
   a = arduino('COM4', 'Uno');

Turn LED on and off

Write value 1 or true to digital pin 11 turns on the LED and write a value of 0 or false turns it off. Execute the following command at the MATLAB prompt to turn the LED off and on.

   writeDigitalPin(a, 'D11', 0);
   pause(2);
   writeDigitalPin(a, 'D11', 1);

Configure the LED to blink at a period of 0.5 second.

   for i = 1:10
      writeDigitalPin(a, 'D11', 0);
      pause(0.5);
      writeDigitalPin(a, 'D11', 1);
      pause(0.5);
   end

Brighten and dim LED

Send pulse signals of specified width to the PWM pins on the Arduino hardware. PWM signals can light up LEDs connected to the pin. The duty cycle of the pulse controls the brightness of the LED. Calculate the amount that the LED brightens and dims by dividing the max and min duty cycle for the pin by the number of iterations.

   brightness_step = (1-0)/20;
   for i = 1:20
      writePWMDutyCycle(a, 'D11', i*brightness_step);
      pause(0.1);
   end

   for i = 1:20
      writePWMDutyCycle(a, 'D11', 1-i*brightness_step);
      pause(0.1);
   end

You can also brighten and dim the lights by changing the voltage of the PWM signal. Calculate the amount that the LED brightens and dims by dividing the max and min voltage for the pin by the number of iterations.

   brightness_step = (5-0)/20; 
   for i = 1:20
      writePWMVoltage(a, 'D11', i*brightness_step);
      pause(0.1);
   end
 
   for i = 1:20
      writePWMVoltage(a, 'D11', 5-i*brightness_step);
      pause(0.1);
   end

Control an LED using a potentiometer

The potentiometer changes the voltage value read from analog pin 0 which can be used to set the voltage level on the PWM pin to control the brightness of the LED connected. Connect a potentiometer to Arduino hardware with the middle leg connected to analog pin 0 and the other two connected to 5V and GND.

   time = 200;
   while time > 0
      voltage = readVoltage(a, 'A0');
      writePWMVoltage(a, 'D11', voltage);

      time = time - 1;
      pause(0.1);
   end

While the code is running, you can rotate the knob on the potentiometer to see how it affects the brightness of the LED.

Control a Piezo speaker using a push button

This part of the example shows how to play a tone controlled by a push button connected to a digital pin on the Arduino hardware. You can also configure a digital pin to pullup mode and use the built-in pullup resistor.

1) Connect a Piezo speaker to digital pin 11.

2) Connect a push button to digital pin 12.

To play a tone on the speaker, you can use playTone method to specify the frequency and duration of the sound. Second, the status of a push button can be detected by reading the connected digital pin's value. In order for the push button to work, a pullup resistor needs to be connected to the corresponding digital pin on Arduino board. You can use the built-in pullup resistor by configuring the digital pin mode to pullup to enable it. If the button has been pushed, meaning the read back value is 0, a beep sound is played on the speaker. Execute the following command at the MATLAB prompt to play a sound on the speaker when push button is pressed down.

   configurePin(a, 'D12', 'pullup');
   time = 200;
   while time > 0
      speaker_status = readDigitalPin(a, 'D12');
      if speaker_status == 0
          playTone(a, 'D11', 1200, 1);
      else
          % Change duration to zero to mute the speaker
          playTone(a, 'D11', 1200, 0);
      end

     time = time - 1;
     pause(0.1);
   end

Clean up

Once the connection is no longer needed, clear the arduino object.

  clear a