Introduction

Free Running Switcher

In past projects, one or two LEDs, usually red and/or green, were used as visual indicators, letting us know that the Arduino had completed a task or operation. But why limit ourselves to red and green? There is a type of LED that has three different colors all in the same package. An RGB LED has three light-emitting diodes inside of it: one red, one green, and one blue.

In this chapter, you will learn how to use a multicolor LED by building a simple RGB Flasher. The parts you will use for the RGB Flasher are one fixed resistor, a multicolor LED, and an Arduino microcontroller. The RGB Flasher will be built using the handy MakerShield. Figure 9-1 shows the RGB Flasher block diagram.