Chapter 3: Digital Inputs -

Pushbuttons

Presentation based on:

"What's a Microcontroller ?"
By Andy Lindsay
Parallax, Inc

Presentation developed by:

Martin A. Hebel
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
College of Applied Sciences and Arts
Electronic Systems Technologies
9/02/03

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Presentation Index
 Use and Copyright
 Pushbuttons
 Activity #1: Testing a Pushbutton/LED
Circuit
 Activity #2: Reading a Pushbutton
 Activity #3: Pushbutton Controlled LED
 Activity #4: 2 Pushbuttons, 2 LEDs
 Logical Operators – AND, OR, XOR
 Activity #5: Reaction Timer
 Using the PIN and CON commands
 Real World Testing
 Chapter 3 Review
 Links
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Use and Copyright
This presentation supplements "What's a
Microcontroller" by Andy Lindsay. (Link to text at
Parallax)
 This presentation is not a replacement for the text.
 Important concepts of the text are highlighted.
 In some cases, additional material has been added
to augment the text. Denoted by titles colored
gold.
gold
 Full program listings are generally not provided in
the presentation.

Distribution:
This presentation may be freely distributed without
modifications. Modifications are permitted by
schools and organizations for internal use only.
Credits, use and copyright slides must remain.
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COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS
This documentation is Copyright 2003 by Parallax, Inc. By downloading or
obtaining a printed copy of this documentation or software you agree that it
is to be used exclusively with Parallax products. Any other uses are not
permitted and may represent a violation of Parallax copyrights, legally
punishable according to Federal copyright or intellectual property laws. Any
duplication of this documentation for commercial uses is expressly
prohibited by Parallax, Inc. Check with Parallax for approval prior to
duplicating any of our documentation in part or whole for any use.

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name BASIC Stamp on your web page or in printed material, you must state
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and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective holders.

DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY
Parallax, Inc. and Southern Illinois University are not responsible for special,
incidental, or consequential damages resulting from any breach of
warranty, or under any legal theory, including lost profits, downtime,
goodwill, damage to or replacement of equipment or property, or any costs
of recovering, reprogramming, or reproducing any data stored in or used
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products. You take full responsibility for your BASIC Stamp application, no
matter how life threatening it may be.

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Pushbuttons
Pushbuttons are virtually everywhere
interactions with an electronics
device are required.

In Chapter #2, the BASIC Stamp was

used for output control of a device
– an LED. In this chapter the BASIC
Stamp will be used to read the state
of an input from a simple device –
the pushbutton.

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Activity #1: Testing a PushButton/LED
Circuit
The pushbuttons supplied with the kits are
normally-open, momentary contact.
That is, the switch does not make contact
until the button is pressed. Once released,
it returns to the open position.
Open State: The pins on either side are
electrically the same point. With the
button released, there is no path for
electrons between pins 1,4 and 2,3.

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Closed State: With the button
pressed, a conductive material
bridges the gap allowing electrons,
and thus current, to flow.

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Pushbutton Test Circuit
This circuit demonstrates how the
push-buttons switch allows current
to flow when closed.
Not pressed -
Open: No
current flow, LED
is not-lit.

Pressed –
Open: Current
flows lighting the
LED.

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This circuit demonstrates how the
switch can create a short-circuit
around the LED. Current will take
the easiest path and not flow
through the LED.
Shorts are
usually not
desirable. Note
that resistor is
still in the path
either way to
ensure excessive
current is not
drawn.

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Activity #2: Reading a Pushbutton
Construct the circuit. Pay attention
to the values/colors of the resistors.

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Enter and test the code by
occasionally pressing the pushbutton
and monitoring the state in the
DEBUG Window.

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DEBUG ? IN3 displays the value of I/O
P3 in the DEBUG Window. Which
state relates to 1? Pressed or not
pressed?

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When the switch is
pressed, Vdd
(+5V) is sensed at
the input of P3.

When the switch

is released, Vss
(0V) is sensed
at the input of
P3.

The 10K resistor

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In this configuration, the 10K is said
to be a Pull-Down resistor since it is
pulling the input down to ground or
Vss when the button is not active
(not pressed).

The switch is said to be Active-High

since activating it (pressing it) will
cause the input of P3 to be High.

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This configuration shows a Pull-Up
resistor to Vdd, with an Active-Low
button.
When the same code is ran with this
configuration, when will IN3 be a
value of 1?

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A BASIC Stamp input must always be
pulled high or low. If not connected to
either, it is said to be floating and
produce erratic readings as voltages
at the pin fluctuate around 1.4V.
<1.4V = Low
>1.4V = High

The majority of switches on devices are

configured for Active-Low. This is due
to input current-draw considerations
of most semi-conductor devices.

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Activity #3: Pushbutton Controlled
LED
Now that you can work with both
outputs and inputs, a pushbutton
will be used as control for an LED.
We know
how to blink
Pseudo-code: an LED:
On, pause,
1. If button is pressed: Off, Pause.
To reduce
• Blink LED quickly at 20mSec our design
work, 'Blink'
2. Or else, if not pressed: will suffice.

• Keep LED off for 100mSec

3. Loop back to Step 1
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Flowchart:
Start Flow
Connectors
are used to
Display connect points
A
Value without having
to draw flow
lines all
False True around.
Button is
Pressed

Pause Blink LED

100mSec at 20mSec

A A

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Code for Pushbutton controlled LED Control:

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The IF…THEN…ELSE is a decision
making structure.

If the condition is True, then perform

this code:

If false, then perform this code:

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Other forms of IF…THEN:
IF (condition) THEN code

IF (condition) THEN
code
ENDIF

IF (condition) THEN
code
ELSEIF (condition) THEN
code
ENDIF
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Activity #4: 2 Pushbuttons, 2 LEDs
In this activity 2 buttons are used to
control 2 LEDs.

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Fragments of decision code and flow :

F PB on 3 T
Pressed
LED on
14 ON
F PB on 4 T
Pressed Pause

PAUSE LED on
15 ON B

B Pause

What happens when B

both buttons are Both
B
pressed? LEDs OFF
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Logical Operators – AND, OR, XOR
With both pressed, only one LED blinks
because the flow path for the other
was not met.

With the use of the logical operators,

two or more conditions can be
checked for a single statement. This is
called Boolean Algebra.

IF (condition1) AND (condition2) THEN

IF (condition1) OR (condition2) THEN

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AND: BOTH conditions have to be true
for the overall statement to be true.
It needs this AND that to be true.

OR: EITHER condition or both have to

be true. It needs this OR that to be
true.

XOR (Exclusive OR): This OR that

must be true, but BOTH cannot be
true. It needs this OR that, but NOT
both to be true.
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What values of X would cause 'True' to
be printed for each of the IF…THEN's
below?
(click for answer)

1st : X is 4 or 5
2nd: X is 0,1,2,3 or 9,10,11….
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For the LED
control, logical
operators can be
used to make
both LED's
operate when
both buttons are
pressed.

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Activity #5: Reaction Timer
The Reaction Timer game tests how
quickly a person can react to the
LED changing colors.

The player must let go of the button

as quickly as possible when the LED
turns green. The time is measured
in milliseconds.

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29
The game brings out some real world
examples of problems involved.

 The nested loop to measure reaction

time (nested means a loop within a loop)
only measures half as long as the actual
time held because instructions take time
to process adding to the loop time limiting
counts.
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 After playing a few rounds, a player starts
to expect when the LED will turn green.

The RANDOM command can be used to

provide a pseudo-random number
generator based on a seed Value.

Seed values provide a starting point.

Pseudo-Random generators always follow
a repeating sequence of 'randomness'. By
changing the seed, the sequence
changes.

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 The RANDOM instruction
'randomizes' the value of the
variable.

Finally, it is noted if the button is

released too soon, the player is able
to cheat and get a score of 1mS.
IF…THEN conditionals can be added
to check for that event.
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Using the PIN and CON commands
The PIN command is used to name
I/O. Use of the command can
greatly improve the readability of
code.

The CON command is used to name

static values – constants.

Take for example the Pushbutton

control of LEDs on the next slide.
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With those numbers
for I/O devices and
states, it can
become a little
confusing what is
being referred to.

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PIN is used to name the I/O:

LED_Green PIN 14
LED_RED PIN 15
PB1 PIN 3
PB2 PIN 4

CON is used to name a value:

Pressed CON 1

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The code becomes so
readable that it greatly
reduces the need for
comments to
understand what is
being performed.

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Real World Testing
Real world use of a product requires
careful testing to ensure it is
accurate and operates correctly
under ALL circumstances.

Human interaction is the most difficult

to program for because of the user's
misuse, intentional or not.

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The pushbutton switch is only one of
many devices that can be read as a
digital inputs. You will come across
many more in your explorations with
the BASIC Stamp and electronics.

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Chapter 3 Review
 What electronic action does a switch
perform?
 What is meant by: Active-High? Active-Low?
 What command is used to read the state of
an input?
 What command structure is used to make
decisions?
 AND, OR, XOR are ________ operators. What
does each require to be true?
 What does the RANDOM command do?
What is meant by the seed value?
 ____ and ____ can greatly increase code
readability.
 Why does real-world use requires extensive
testing.
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Links
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BASIC Stamp Software
BASIC Stamp Robots
BASIC Stamp Yahoo Group
Stamps In Class Yahoo Group
SIUC EST Degree

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