The Arduino IDE is a cross-platform application (for Windows, macOS, Linux) which provides a simple one-click mechanisms to compile and upload codes to any board supported. Simply, the Arduino IDE is a code editor with multiples features, including text cutting and pasting, searching and replacing text, automatic indenting, syntax highlighting and much more. It also provides a message area which will let you debug all the processes of firmware during construction.
For a detailed explanation of all the features that the Arduino IDE brings check out the official documentation here.
1. Arduino IDE Installation
To begin working with the Arduino IDE, first download and install the software on your computer based on your operating system (OS) using the links provided below:
2. Library Management
Ubidots along with hundreds of other software and hardware enterprises have pre-configured libraries available for your project already uploaded in the Arduino IDE software. These available libraries provide extra methods and functionality to our Arduino Projects. For example, the Ubidots Library contains multiple methods to SEND and GET data (values, contexts, and timestamps) to/from the Ubidots platform without being an advance programmer.
1. Below is a list with Ubidots Libraries supported and available in the Arduino IDE library catalogs.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Ubidots libraries available in the Arduino IDE do not warrant the full functionality of a multi-thousand device IoT solutions. If your solution will utilize 50+ devices, Ubidots recommends that you compile your own library utilizing one of the following IoT optimized communication protocols HTTP, TCP/UDP, or MQTT.
Ubidots Libraries License
Copyright (c) 2018, Ubidots.
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
2. To install a library using the Arduino IDE use the following options:
Option 1: From the Github Repository
Go to the Github repository of the desired library (List provided above) and download the library. To download the library click the green button called "Clone or download" and select "Download ZIP".
2. Now, back in the Arduino IDE, click Sketch > Include Library > Add .ZIP Library.
3. Select the .ZIP file recently saved and then “Accept” or “Choose”.
4. Close and reboot the Arduino IDE to continue working.
Option 2: From Library Manager of the Arduino IDE
Go to Sketch/Program > Include Library > Library Manager and install the library needed. To simply find the correct library, search "Ubidots" within the search bar.
Then press "Install" and wait until the installation is complete.
Close the Arduino IDE and reopen it again.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If the library is not available in the Arduino IDE Library Manager, please reference to the Option 1 to install the library needed.
3. Board & Platform Management
The Arduino IDE also supports third-party hardware platforms. Follow the steps below to learn how to include a piece of hardware or another platform in your IDE.
1. Open the Arduino IDE, select Files > Preferences and enter the URL (see below) of the hardware platform desired into Additional Board Manager URLs field.
IMPORTANT NOTE: You can add multiple URLs by separating them with commas.
Below you will find find the URLs for the different hardware platforms already supported by Ubidots:
ESP8266:
http://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_esp8266com_index.json
Adafruit:
https://adafruit.github.io/arduino-board-index/package_adafruit_index.json
Alorium:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AloriumTechnology/Arduino_Boards/master/package_aloriumtech_index.json
Mediatek:
http://download.labs.mediatek.com/package_mtk_linkit_index.json
ChipKIT:
https://github.com/chipKIT32/chipKIT-core/raw/master/package_chipkit_index.json
Controllino:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CONTROLLINO-PLC/CONTROLLINO_Library/master/Boards/package_ControllinoHardware_index.json
ESP32:
In the case of the ESP32, please reference to this link to find a detailed explanation of the installation to ensure you use the correct drivers based on your OS.
SODAQ:
http://downloads.sodaq.net/package_sodaq_samd_index.json
2. Now, based on the hardware platform included, go to Boards Manager from Tools > Board > Boards Manager and install the platform previously included. To simply find the correct device, search the brand of the respective device within the search bar.
3. Confirm if the hardware platform previously installed now exists in your list of available boards. Go to Tools > Board and note the brand of the hardware you uploaded now appears. At this point you should also select the board to continue working.
4. Verify, Upload, & Debug the Code
As we mentioned above, the Arduino IDE provides a simple one-click mechanisms to compile and upload codes to any boards supported by the Arduino IDE.
To verify/compile the code, press the "Check Mark" icon located in the top left corner of the Arduino IDE:
Once the code is verified, you will receive this response message in the Arduino IDE:
2. To upload the code into the board, press the "Right-Arrow" icon beside the check mark icon:
Once the code is uploaded, you will receive the message below in the Arduino IDE:
3. Now with the code uploaded in the board, you can debug the messages being passes on to/from the board. To do this, open the Serial Monitor of the Arduino IDE by pressing the "Magnifying Glass" icon located in the top right corner of our Arduino IDE:
