Try New Things

1. Try changing the Blink code so that the LED blinks so fast you cannot see it blinking. How many blinks per second can your eyes register?
2. Try changing the Blink code so that the LED blinks “SOS” in Morse code. SOS is the international symbol for help. The SOS pattern is three short blinks followed by three longer blinks followed by three short blinks.

“error compiling”

1. Try clicking ‘upload’ again

“problem uploading to board”

1. Be sure the port is connected to the right COM#
2. Unplug and re-plug the USB cable (possibly using a different USB port if another one is available).
3. Disconnect all wires from the Arduino board, unplug and re-plug the USB cable, close all Arduino windows and open the Blink code again, then try uploading again.

“expected ‘ ) ‘ before ‘;’ token

1. Notice it highlights the area area the problem is in. 
2. You’re missing a parenthesis somewhere, make sure every parenthesis has its match.

“expected ‘;’ before ‘delay’ “

1. Notice it highlights the area area the problem is in.
2. You’re missing a ‘;’ after a line of code. Check each line has a ‘;’ after it.

1. The first suggestion is a challenge we pose to the students.

• We typically say, “ladies and gentlemen, did you know that all of the lights in the room are blinking? The lights in the ceiling, on the TV screens, on your computer screens, they’re all blinking. My challenge for you is to change the delays in your code so that your LED blinks so fast that you can no longer see it blink. However, I want you to find the threshold value because there are several values that will work. The threshold is the largest delay value that you can use in both delays where you cannot see the light blink. So let’s say the answer was a delay of 50. At 50, the light would look solid, but at 51 it would flutter a lit bit and you would be able to tell that it is blinking. If you upload your code and you can see the light blinking, you need to choose a smaller value. If you cannot see it blinking, then try a larger value to test if you’ve found the largest possible value. The answer is greater than 1 and less than 30 and it is the same number in both the delays and it’s a whole number.” 
   
• You might ask the students to not say their answer out loud to let everyone get there on their own too. We sometimes use this as a way to order who will be getting their crafts later. The order in which they get it right is the order they will be able to get their crafts later.
   

2. If you’re using the Thinkabit LabWearable Tech notebooks, have your students write this answer in the notebook after the question: “At what delay value could you no longer see the light blinking?”