Arduino Tutorial - Potentiometer

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Arduino - Potentiometer

In this tutorial, we are going to learn:

  • How potentiometer works.
  • How to connect the potentiometer to Arduino.
  • How to program Arduino to read the value from the potentiometer and convert it to another controlable values.

Hardware Required

1×Official Arduino Uno
1×Alternatively, DIYables STEM V3, Fully Compatible with Arduino Uno R3
1×USB 2.0 cable type A/B (for USB-A PC)
1×USB 2.0 cable type C/B (for USB-C PC)
1×Potentiometer
1×Alternatively, 10k Ohm Trimmer Potentiometer
1×Alternatively, Potentiometer Kit
1×Alternatively, Potentiometer Module with Knob
1×Breadboard
1×Jumper Wires
1×Recommended: Screw Terminal Block Shield for Arduino Uno
1×Recommended: Breadboard Shield for Arduino Uno
1×Recommended: Enclosure for Arduino Uno
1×Recommended: Prototyping Base Plate & Breadboard Kit for Arduino UNO

Or you can buy the following kits:

1×DIYables STEM V3 Starter Kit (Arduino included)
1×DIYables Sensor Kit (30 sensors/displays)
1×DIYables Sensor Kit (18 sensors/displays)
Disclosure: Some links in this section are Amazon affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.Additionally, some links direct to products from our own brand, DIYables .

About Potentiometer

Rotary potentiometer (also called rotary angle sensor) is used to manually adjust the value of something (e.g volume of the stereo, the brightness of lamp, zoom level of oscilloscope...)

Potentiometer Pinout

Pinout

Potentiometer usually has 3 pins:

  • GND pin: needs to be connected to GND (0V)
  • VCC pin: needs to be connected to VCC (5V or 3.3v)
  • Output pin: outputs the voltage to Arduino's input pin.
Potentiometer Pinout

※ NOTE THAT:

GND pin and VCC pin are interchangeable

How It Works

The shaft of the potentiometer is rotatable from 0° (nearest by GND) to an upper bound angle (nearest by VCC pin), called ANGLE_MAX.

The voltage at the output pin ranges from GND's voltage to VCC's voltage. The output voltage is in direct proportion to the rotated angle of the shaft.

  • If the angle is 0°, output pin'S voltage is 0v
  • If the angle is ANGLE_MAX, output pin'S voltage is VCC's voltage
  • If the angle is in between 0° and ANGLE_MAX, output_voltage = angle × VCC / ANGLE_MAX

※ NOTE THAT:

ANGLE_MAX value is depended on manufacturers. In practice, we usually do NOT care about the value of ANGLE_MAX, except when we need to calculate the rotated angle (see use cases part).

How Potentiometer Works

Arduino - Rotary Potentiometer

Arduino's pin A0 to A5 can work as analog input. The analog input pin converts the voltage (between 0v and VCC) into integer values (between 0 and 1023), called ADC value or analog value.

By connecting an output pin of the potentiometer to an analog input pin, we can read the analog value from the pin, and then converts it to a meaningful value.

The value Arduino get is NOT angle, NOT voltage. It is integer value ranges from 0 to 1023.

After getting the integer value from the analog input pin, we rescale this value into another value. Let's see the use cases.

Use Cases

  • Rescale to potentiometer's angle.
  • Rescale to potentiometer's voltage:
  • Rescale to the controllable value (e.g volume of stereo, brightness, speed of DC motor... ). This is the most common-used case.

Rescale Range

FROM TO
Anglerotated by user 0° → ANGLE_MAX
Voltagefrom potentiometer's pin 0V → VCC
ADC valueread by Arduino 0 → 1023
Other valueconverted by Arduino VALUE_MIN → VALUE_MAX

Wiring Diagram

Arduino Potentiometer Wiring Diagram

This image is created using Fritzing. Click to enlarge image

How To Program For Potentiometer

  • Read the value from an input pin, which connected to the output pin of the potentiometer by using analogRead() function.
analogValue = analogRead(A0);
  • Rescale to the potentiometer's angle by using map()function.
angle = map(analogValue, 0, 1023, 0, ANGLE_MAX);
  • Rescale to the potentiometer's voltage:
voltage = map(analogValue, 0, 1023, 0, VCC);
  • Rescale to the controllable value (e.g volume of stereo, brightness, speed of DC motor... )
value = map(analogValue, 0, 1023, VALUE_MIN, VALUE_MAX);
  • For example, rescaling to the brightness of LED. As mentioned in this tutorial, the brightness of LED can be controlled by using PWM value from 0 (always OFF) to 255 (always ON). Therefore, we can map the analog value to the brightness of LED (from OFF to the brightest) as follows:
brightness = map(analogValue, 0, 1023, 0, 255);

If you want to dim LED from the nightlight to the brightest,

nightlight = 100; // depending on your desired brightness brightness = map(analogValue, 0, 1023, nightlight , 255);

※ NOTE THAT:

The map() function can only be used to rescale the analog value to the int or long type value. If the controllable value is float type, you need to use the floatMap() function instead of the map() function.

floatMap() function:

float floatMap(float x, float in_min, float in_max, float out_min, float out_max) { return (x - in_min) * (out_max - out_min) / (in_max - in_min) + out_min; }

Arduino Code

/* * Created by ArduinoGetStarted.com * * This example code is in the public domain * * Tutorial page: https://arduinogetstarted.com/tutorials/arduino-potentiometer */ float floatMap(float x, float in_min, float in_max, float out_min, float out_max) { return (x - in_min) * (out_max - out_min) / (in_max - in_min) + out_min; } // the setup routine runs once when you press reset: void setup() { // initialize serial communication at 9600 bits per second: Serial.begin(9600); } // the loop routine runs over and over again forever: void loop() { // read the input on analog pin A0: int analogValue = analogRead(A0); // Rescale to potentiometer's voltage (from 0V to 5V): float voltage = floatMap(analogValue, 0, 1023, 0, 5); // print out the value you read: Serial.print("Analog: "); Serial.print(analogValue); Serial.print(", Voltage: "); Serial.println(voltage); delay(1000); }

Quick Steps

  • Copy the above code and open with Arduino IDE
  • Click Upload button on Arduino IDE to upload code to Arduino
Arduino IDE Upload Code
  • Open Serial Monitor
  • Rotate the potentiometer
  • See the result on Serial Monitor
COM6 Send Analog: 0, Voltage: 0.00 Analog: 0, Voltage: 0.00 Analog: 126, Voltage: 0.62 Analog: 281, Voltage: 1.37 Analog: 517, Voltage: 2.53 Analog: 754, Voltage: 3.69 Analog: 906, Voltage: 4.43 Analog: 1023, Voltage: 5.00 Analog: 1023, Voltage: 5.00 Autoscroll Show timestamp Clear output 9600 baud   Newline  

Video Tutorial

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Challenge Yourself

Use the potentiometer to do one of the following projects:

  • Controlling position of the servo motor. Hint: Refer to arduino - Servo Motor.
  • Changing the brightness of LED. Hint: Refer to Arduino - Fade Led.

Additional Knowledge

  • GND pin and VCC pin are interchangeable. The is no convention about these two pins. If you select a pin as the GND pin, the other is the VCC pin. There is only one thing you need to pay attention to. The voltage value at the output pin is inverted when we interchange these pins.

Function References

  • analogRead()
  • map()
  • Serial

The Best Arduino Starter Kit

  • See the best Arduino kit for beginner

See Also

  • Arduino - Potentiometer fade LED
  • Arduino - Potentiometer Triggers LED
  • Arduino - Potentiometer Triggers Relay
  • Arduino - Potentiometer Triggers Piezo Buzzer
  • Arduino - Potentiometer Triggers Servo Motor
  • Arduino - Servo Motor controlled by Potentiometer

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

  • Hardware Required
  • About Potentiometer
  • Wiring Diagram
  • How To Program For Potentiometer
  • Arduino Code
  • Video
  • Challenge Yourself
  • Additional Knowledge
  • Function References
  • The Best Arduino Starter Kit
  • See Also
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