Built-in project · Arduino Uno R3

Warm-hands meter on an Arduino Uno

A TMP36 on A0 and three LEDs: hold the sensor and the LEDs light one by one as it warms two, four and six degrees over the room. The whole build, an Arduino Uno and 7 more parts, runs here in your browser on the firmware below; open it in the editor to change the wiring or the code and run it again.

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Warm-hands meter · Arduino Uno R3live0.000 s 0.00x
Click to open it in the editor
The circuit itself, running here on the simulator. Press what can be pressed; click anything else to open it in the editor.

The code

The firmware exactly as the editor opens it. Change a line there and press Run: it compiles in the browser.

sketch.ino · Arduino Uno R3
// Warm-hands meter: a TMP36 temperature sensor and three LEDs that light one
// by one as the sensor warms up.
//
//   TMP36   left leg (flat side toward you) -> 5V, middle -> A0, right -> GND
//   pin 2, 3, 4   the three LEDs, each through 220 ohm to GND
//
// The TMP36 gives 0.5 V at 0 C and 10 mV more for every degree, so
//   volts   = reading * 5.0 / 1024
//   celsius = (volts - 0.5) * 100
//
// The room is the baseline: 22 C here. Set BASELINE to what the serial
// monitor reads in your room before you touch the sensor. Then squeeze the
// sensor between your fingers and it climbs toward skin temperature: two
// degrees over the baseline lights the first LED, four the second, six the
// third.

const int SENSOR = A0;
const float BASELINE = 22.0;  // the room: change it to what yours reads

const int LEDS[3] = {2, 3, 4};

void setup() {
  for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) pinMode(LEDS[i], OUTPUT);
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Serial.println("Mokxi Uno: warm-hands meter");
}

void loop() {
  int reading = analogRead(SENSOR);
  float volts = reading * 5.0 / 1024.0;
  float celsius = (volts - 0.5) * 100.0;

  Serial.print("reading ");
  Serial.print(reading);
  Serial.print(", volts ");
  Serial.print(volts, 2);
  Serial.print(", degrees C ");
  Serial.println(celsius, 1);

  int lit = 0;
  if (celsius >= BASELINE + 2) lit = 1;
  if (celsius >= BASELINE + 4) lit = 2;
  if (celsius >= BASELINE + 6) lit = 3;
  for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) digitalWrite(LEDS[i], i < lit ? HIGH : LOW);

  delay(250);
}

Parts list

9 parts, plus the jumper wires. Every one is in the editor's parts bin.

How it is wired

9 connections, pin by pin, read from the circuit itself. Each line is one set of pins joined together, by a jumper wire or a breadboard strip.

  • Ground: Arduino Uno R3 pin GND; Temperature sensor pin GND; LED, red (1) pin C; LED, red (2) pin C; LED, red (3) pin C
  • Arduino Uno R3 pin 4; Resistor, 220 Ω (3) pin 1
  • Arduino Uno R3 pin 3; Resistor, 220 Ω (2) pin 1
  • Arduino Uno R3 pin 2; Resistor, 220 Ω (1) pin 1
  • Arduino Uno R3 pin 5V; Temperature sensor pin VS
  • Arduino Uno R3 pin A0; Temperature sensor pin VOUT
  • Resistor, 220 Ω (1) pin 2; LED, red (1) pin A
  • Resistor, 220 Ω (2) pin 2; LED, red (2) pin A
  • Resistor, 220 Ω (3) pin 2; LED, red (3) pin A

Change it and keep it

Open it in the editor, change the circuit or the code, and keep your version in a free account.