Currently, I am working on a tutorial on how to use SD card readers with Arduino. One of the things I wanted to show in this video is how to capture temperature sensor readings and save them to an SD card. But before I can do that, I need to explain how to use the LM35 temperature sensor.
The LM35 is a low voltage precision temperature sensor manufactured by Texas Instruments. It provides a voltage output that is linearly proportional to the temperature in Celsius, making it easy to use with Arduino. The LM35 operates effectively under various environmental conditions and does not require calibration or additional components. It has an accuracy of plus or minus half a degree at room temperature and plus or minus 1 degree over a wide temperature range.
To use the LM35 temperature sensor with Arduino, you need to connect it to the 5V pin on the Arduino board for power and connect the ground wire to the ground pin. The middle pin of the sensor, which gives the analog signal output, should be connected to any analog input pin of the Arduino.
Once the sensor is connected, you can create a simple sketch to display the temperature in the serial monitor. You can use the analogRead function to read input from the sensor and save it to a variable. Then, you can calculate the temperature from the voltage reading using a specific formula. Finally, you can display the temperature in both Celsius and Fahrenheit in the serial monitor.
To make the project more interesting, you can enhance it by adding an OLED display and a single push button. This will allow you to create a device that captures a series of temperature readings and presents them visually on the screen. You can use the Arduino program to record the temperature readings every minute and save them along with the corresponding timestamp to a data table. Then, you can draw a line chart on the OLED display based on the recorded data. The chart should have X and Y scales with labels, and the X-axis should represent time in minutes while the Y-axis represents temperature. The chart should be able to grow dynamically as more entries are added to the data table.
To draw the line chart on the OLED display, you can use AI powered by ChatGPT. By providing a detailed description of what you want to achieve, you can generate the code for the line chart. You can specify the data table structure, the X and Y scales, and the formatting of the chart. After generating the code, you can load it into Arduino and see the chart displayed on the OLED screen.
In conclusion, using SD card readers and the LM35 temperature sensor with Arduino opens up a world of possibilities for capturing and visualizing data. Whether you’re recording temperature readings or creating interactive displays, Arduino provides a versatile platform for your projects.
