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YOU ARE HERE: HOME / ARDUINO / ARDUINO PULSE WIDTH MODULATION (PWM)

Arduino Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)

NOVEMBER 20, 2016 BY ADMINISTRATOR — 2 COMMENTS

In the previous tutorial, we have seen the concept of Serial Communication and how to
transfer data between Arduino UNO and computer by using some prede ned functions. In this
tutorial, we will discuss about a new concept called PWM and how can this concept be used
to control di erent devices like LEDs, motors etc.

For the purpose of the tutorial, we need to build a small circuit. The components required for
this circuit are listed below.
 Arduino UNO
LED
1 KΩ Resistor
100 KΩ Potentiometer
Breadboard (Prototyping board)
Connecting wires

In this project, we will control the brightness of an LED connected to the Arduino UNO board
with the help of PWM technique. The schematic required for the implementation of the project
is shown in the below image.

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In this circuit, the anode of an LED must be connected to any of the PWM pin of the Arduino
UNO. Hence, it is connected to pin 11 of the Arduino through a 1 KΩ current limiting resistor.
The cathode of the LED is connected to ground on the breadboard.

The 5V supply and ground of the Arduino UNO are connected to positive and negative rail of
the breadboard.
The end terminals of the potentiometer are connected to 5V and ground terminals on the
breadboard respectively. The wiper terminal of the potentiometer must be connected to any
of the analog input pin of the Arduino UNO.

By adjusting the potentiometer in either direction (clockwise or anti clockwise), a variable

voltage i.e. between 0 to 5V will be given to the analog input pin of the Arduino. The analog to
digital conversion feature of the Arduino UNO is used to convert these voltages to a digital
range of 0 to 1023 (as Arduino has a 10 – bit ADC). With the help of this converted values, we
can control the brightness of the LED.

Now that we have successfully designed the circuit, the next step is to write a suitable
program for the circuit. Before going to the programming part, we need to get an idea about
what PWM signal is.

Pulse Width Modulation

Pulse Width Modulation or simply PWM is a digital technique using which the amount of
power delivered to a device can be varied. It provides a means of providing analog results with
digital signals.

In PWM technique, a square wave is switched between on and o state. By changing the time
the signal spend on “on” state versus the time the signal spends on “o ” state, we can simulate
a range of voltages between 0V and 5V. When this switching between on and o state is very
fast, then the result is as if the output signal is at a stable voltage level between 0V and 5V.

One important term we need to discuss when dealing with PWM is Duty Cycle. It is de ned as
the ratio of the time for which the signal stays in HIGH state (on time) to that of the total time
period of the signal (on time + o time).

In Arduino, there are 6 pins that are capable of generating such PWM signals. The following
graph shows a comparison of di erent duty cycles and their corresponding voltage levels.
From the graph, it is clear that when the duty cycle is increased, the output voltage (or power
delivered) is also increased. For 100% duty cycle, the voltage available is 5V and for 50% duty
cycle, the voltage is 2.5V.

Coming to our tutorial, in order to generate a PWM signal, we need to learn about two
functions in Arduino library: analogRead and analogWrite.

analogRead is a function which is used read the analog values from the analog pins of the
Arduino. Arduino UNO board has 6 – channel, 10 – bit analog – to – digital converter (ADC).
This means that the ADC in Arduino UNO will map the input voltages between 0 – 5V in to an
integer value between 0 and 1023.

Hence, the analogRead function will return any value between 0 and 1023. The syntax of
analogRead function is analogRead (analog pin no);

Since we are reading the analog voltages from the potentiometer at A0 pin, we need to write
analogRead (A0); in the sketch. As it returns an integer value, a temporary variable of integer
data type is created with it.

The next function is the analogWrite. It is a function which is used to set the duty cycle of the
PWM signal for any given PWM pin.

The syntax of analogWrite function is analogWrite (PWM pin no, value);

The value indicates the duty cycle and must be a value between 0 (0V) and 255 (5V).

Coming to the actual sketch of the circuit for brightness control of the LED. The nal sketch is
shown in the following image.

From the above sketch, we can easily understand that the value returned by the analogRead
function is stored in the temp variable. This value will be used to control the duty cycle of the
PWM signal using analogWrite function.

But the range of values accepted by the analogWrite function is between 0 and 255. Hence,
we need to perform some mathematical calculations to put suitable value in the analogWrite
function.

Finally, the calculated value is put in the analogWrite function along with the PWM pin to
produce a PWM signal.
When the circuit is built and sketch is uploaded to the Arduino, we can see that by changing
the position of the potentiometer, the brightness of the LED is also varied.

FILED UNDER: ARDUINO

Comments

Anser Waseem says

OCTOBER 2, 2017 AT 12:10 PM

I have 10k potentiometer.

So, which resistor should i use with led?
And, is there any change in code
Please mention all…
Thanks in advance.

Reply

Lautaro Labarca says

SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 AT 2:24 PM

Thanks a lot¡ very easy to follow, really helped me out getting started¡
(I used a 10k Potentiometer, and a 10k resistance between LED and PIN 11. )

Reply
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