Another quick pill about Arduino, this is about setting up the IDE and manage libraries.
Arduino IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is not as advanced as other solutions but it’s quite light and easy to use. It can be found here.
Once installed, you might want to change the default sketchbook location by opening File→Preferences.
Now download, save and open a source file, for instance the one we are using in the Step by Step guide (it can be found here on AM-STUDIO’s GitHub) then compile it. You will get a number of errors, let’s review them.
Libraries
Libraries are, simply put, a collection of methods and functions that tell the board how to perform certain tasks. The default package contains only a little fraction of the available libraries, not to mention the fact that you can write your own. The “Joystick” library, that our project requires, does not come by default so we have to install it in a specific location. That location is the “libraries” subfolder of the aforementioned default sketchbook location.
Let’s download the Joystick library from GitHub and install it.
Careful though to respect the order of the subfolders: the ZIP file comes with a folder called “ArduinoJoystickLibrary-master”; if you copy this folder in your libraries your project won’t compile. So:
- open the ZIP file;
- open the “ArduinoJoystickLibrary-master” folder;
- copy the “Joystick” folder;
- Paste it into your Arduino “libraries” folder.
A couple of friends had to install the “keypad” folder as well. This library can be installed in a different and faster way. Go to Sketch→Include Library→Manage Libraries and look for “keypad”. Scroll until you find the library I have selected in the following screenshot and install it.
Lord of the boards
Last step is selecting the correct board and the relative port. Depending on which board you have bought, select either “Arduino Leonardo” or “Arduino/Genuino Micro” from the Tools→Board: “xyz”. Then, in a similar way, select the correct port from the “Port” menu: Tools→Port: “xyz”.
Both entries report the last option selected.
Quick troubleshooting
Always try to isolate the issue. Since we are using a source code that definitely work you should fairly easily found the issue, at this stage is either a library problem or missing or a connectivy issue. The IDE suggests you where the problem is. The following, for instance, is caused by the selection of an incorrect Port.
FlyAndWire 