{ "schema": "tinyskiff.lessonPacket.v0", "lessonCode": "TSK-DAY04-BUTTON", "course": "TinySkiff ESP32-S3 Lab", "day": 4, "title": "Make a button light an LED", "status": "published", "learnerProfile": "adult beginner; curious and capable; no electronics assumed", "estimatedTimeMinutes": 25, "mission": "Wire a push button to one pin and a LED to another, upload the Arduino sketch, and watch the LED light the instant you press — your first circuit where something you do changes what the board does.", "mainPath": "Arduino/C++", "optionalSidePath": "MicroPython", "sourceMetadata": { "officialPdf": "source/Freenove_Super_Starter_Kit_for_ESP32_S3-main/C/C_Tutorial.pdf", "chapter": "Chapter 2 Button & LED", "page": 48, "arduinoSketch": "source/Freenove_Super_Starter_Kit_for_ESP32_S3-main/C/Sketches/Sketch_02.1_ButtonAndLed/Sketch_02.1_ButtonAndLed.ino", "micropythonFile": "source/Freenove_Super_Starter_Kit_for_ESP32_S3-main/Python/Python_Codes/02.1_ButtonAndLed/ButtonAndLed.py", "imageAsset": "docs/course/assets/day-04/circuit-page-48.png", "imageAlt": "Official Freenove circuit for Button and LED: a LED on GPIO 2 through a 220 ohm resistor to ground, and a push button on GPIO 13 held by 10 kilo-ohm resistors, shown as both a schematic and a breadboard photo.", "licenseNote": "Based on Freenove official material released under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0; preserve attribution and non-affiliation language.\n" }, "parts": [ { "name": "ESP32-S3 board", "imageAsset": "docs/course/assets/shared/item-esp32-s3-board.jpg", "explanation": "A development board is a friendly package around a tiny computer chip. The ESP32-S3 runs your uploaded sketch, controls pins, reads sensors, and can also use USB, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. In this lesson, it sends the ping signal and measures the echo time." }, { "name": "GPIO extension board", "imageAsset": "docs/course/assets/shared/item-gpio-extension-board.png", "explanation": "GPIO means general-purpose input/output. These pins are connection points your code can use. The extension board makes them easier to see, reach, and wire without cramming everything onto the ESP32-S3 itself." }, { "name": "LED", "imageAsset": "docs/course/assets/shared/item-led.png", "explanation": "A LED is a one-way light. It only lights when its longer leg (the +) faces the pin and its shorter leg (the −) faces ground. Too much current burns it out, so a LED always sits behind a resistor." }, { "name": "220 Ω resistor", "imageAsset": "docs/course/assets/shared/item-resistor.png", "explanation": "A resistor limits how much current flows. Placed in series with the LED, the 220 Ω one keeps the current gentle enough to light the LED instead of burning it out. The bands of colour print its value, and it has no direction." }, { "name": "2 × 10 kΩ resistors", "imageAsset": "docs/course/assets/shared/item-resistor.png", "explanation": "An input pin left floating drifts between HIGH and LOW and reads at random. A 10 kΩ resistor gently ties the pin to a known level, so it reads a steady value until a button press forces the other one." }, { "name": "Push button", "imageAsset": "docs/course/assets/shared/item-push-button.png", "explanation": "This push button has four pins in two connected pairs. Pressing it bridges the pairs and completes the circuit; releasing it breaks the connection again. It is the simplest way to hand the board a yes-or-no input." }, { "name": "Jumper wires", "imageAsset": "docs/course/assets/shared/item-jumper-wire.png", "explanation": "Jumper wires make temporary connections without soldering. Female-to-male wires have a socket on one end and a pin on the other, useful when a sensor module and board use different connector styles." }, { "name": "Arduino IDE", "imageAsset": "docs/course/assets/shared/item-arduino-ide.png", "explanation": "Arduino IDE is the desktop app that opens the sketch, compiles it, uploads it to the ESP32-S3, and shows messages from the board in Serial Monitor." } ], "wiring": [ { "partPin": "LED long leg (+)", "connectTo": "GPIO 2 via 220 Ω", "reason": "This pin switches the LED on and off." }, { "partPin": "LED short leg (−)", "connectTo": "GND", "reason": "Completes the LED's path back to zero volts." }, { "partPin": "Push button", "connectTo": "GPIO 13", "reason": "The board reads this pin to feel each press." }, { "partPin": "10 kΩ resistor", "connectTo": "3.3V", "reason": "Holds GPIO 13 HIGH until a press pulls it LOW." } ], "coachInstructions": [ "Guide one physical connection at a time and wait for learner confirmation before proceeding.", "Watch for LED polarity and the 220 Ω series resistor — the two most common first-circuit mistakes.", "If the LED never lights, check its direction, the resistor, the GPIO 2 wire, and the shared ground before changing code.", "If the LED is always on, suspect the button wiring or its 10 kΩ resistor on GPIO 13.", "Offer short explanations on request; do not dump theory before the learner has a working circuit.", "Keep the Arduino path primary; MicroPython is optional only if already set up." ], "steps": [ "Seat the ESP32-S3 on the GPIO extension board and keep USB unplugged while you wire.", "Place the LED so its long leg (+) is on the GPIO 2 side and its short leg (−) heads toward ground.", "Put the 220 Ω resistor in series between GPIO 2 and the LED's long leg.", "Wire the push button so one side reaches GPIO 13 and the other reaches ground.", "Add the 10 kΩ resistor that holds GPIO 13 steady until the button is pressed.", "Compare every wire to the chart before you plug in USB.", "Open Sketch_02.1_ButtonAndLed.ino in Arduino IDE and upload it.", "Press the button and watch the LED." ], "codeFocus": { "arduino": [ { "line": "pinMode(PIN_BUTTON, INPUT)", "explanation": "Sets GPIO 13 as an input so the board can read the button." }, { "line": "digitalRead(PIN_BUTTON) == LOW", "explanation": "True only while the button is held — a press pulls the pin LOW." }, { "line": "digitalWrite(PIN_LED, HIGH)", "explanation": "Lights the LED; the else branch turns it off again." } ], "micropython": [ { "line": "Pin(13, Pin.IN, Pin.PULL_UP)", "explanation": "Reads GPIO 13 as an input with a built-in pull-up — the same job the 10 kΩ resistor does in hardware." }, { "line": "if not button.value()", "explanation": "True when the pin reads LOW, which is the press." } ] }, "theoryModel": { "plainLanguage": "The board reads the button, decides with an if, and drives the LED — the loop under every gadget.", "formula": "input (button) → decision (code) → output (LED)", "notes": [ { "title": "Why a press reads LOW", "body": "In this wiring a press pulls GPIO 13 toward ground, so the sketch checks for LOW on purpose." }, { "title": "What the 10 kΩ resistor is for", "body": "Without it the input pin would float and read at random. The resistor gives it a steady resting value." } ] }, "test": { "expectedOutputExample": [ "Press and hold the button — the LED lights immediately.", "Let go — the LED goes dark.", "It follows your finger with no delay for as long as the board has power." ], "successCriteria": "This press is momentary — the LED only stays on while you hold it. Tomorrow's lamp will make it latch." }, "troubleshooting": [ { "symptom": "LED never lights", "firstChecks": [ "Check the LED's direction and the 220 Ω resistor, then the GPIO 2 wire." ] }, { "symptom": "LED always on", "firstChecks": [ "The button or its 10 kΩ resistor is likely miswired on GPIO 13." ] }, { "symptom": "Nothing responds", "firstChecks": [ "Re-check the shared ground, then that the sketch uploaded." ] }, { "symptom": "Upload fails", "firstChecks": [ "Swap in a data-capable USB cable." ] } ], "challenge": "Predict the LED's state before each press, then reason about what the 10 kΩ resistor is quietly doing.", "logbookPrompts": [ "Which prediction did you get wrong, and why?", "What did the 10 kΩ resistor turn out to be doing?", "What everyday object works like this button and light?" ] }