1.7: LEDs

Step 1

Getting Started

Make sure that your drone is connected with Blockly before starting the lesson! If you are unsure of how to connect, go back to the first lesson to review!

Step 2

What is an LED?

LED stands for “light-emitting diode”. A diode is an electronic device that allows an electronic current to flow in only one direction. LEDs are beginning to replace traditional light bulbs because they are more efficient.

Your CoDrone EDU has 2 RGB LEDs: one in the center of the drone and one in the remote controller. RGB stands for red, green, and blue. Using the three colors, you can create almost every color imaginable! Aside from making your drone look cool, LEDs provide another form of feedback. For example, the drone light can tell you the connection status of your drone. A solid light means your drone is connected, while a flashing light indicates it’s low on battery.

Step 3

Parameters

CoDrone EDU provides functionality so that you can either change the drone’s LED or the remote controller’s LED! All of these functions can be found in the Lights menu.

Each LED block has one or more of these parameters:

Color – To change the color of the LEDs, click on the color. It will bring up a menu so that you can choose which color you want to change your CoDrone EDU LEDs to.

Brightness – In the solid LED blocks, this refers to the light’s brightness, with 0 being off and 255 being full brightness.

Step 4

LED rainbow

Pair to CoDrone EDU and practice using the LEDs to make a rainbow. Make sure each color shows for one second before switching to the next color. For optimal brightness, set the brightness to 255. Use the wait block in between the color blocks so you can see each color before it moves on to the next one. Use a repeat block to repeat the pattern.

Step 5

Challenge

Challenge: Disco Drone

Program your drone to turn like a disco! Here is your challenge:

Use the **Turn degrees** blocks to turn a total of 360 degrees.
The LED on the drone and controller have to change every 90 degrees.
Add a 1 second **Wait** block before each LED command
Hint: Alternate turning 90 degrees and changing colors 4 times
Bonus: Put your disco code in a loop so it repeats 3 times before landing

Step 6

Lesson Complete

In this lesson, you learned about the CoDrone EDU’s LEDs. You can control both the drone and the controller LEDs. In the next lesson, you will put it all together to make a remote control.

This lesson works with:

Grade level:

Approx. time required:

CSTA

CCSS