Module photo from the Joy-IT SensorKit documentation. The boards in the kit may not carry the Joy-IT print but are the same modules.
KY-034, Seven-colour flashing LED
An LED that cycles through colours on its own when powered.
How it works
Seven-colour flashing LED
What is going on
A tiny controller inside the LED steps through seven colours by itself. Give it power and it runs; there is nothing to program. It is here to show that a component can have logic inside it. Two pins only.
Connections
Wiring to the Arduino Nano on its expansion shield
The pins below match the sketch further down this page; change one and change the other.
Power off first
Unplug the USB cable before you plug in, move or remove any module.
A lead plugged in live can touch the wrong pin for a moment, and 5 V on a signal pin is how a module dies. Unplug, wire, check the letters, then plug the cable back in.
Module pinGoes to
Module SignalS row of the column marked 13, digital bank
Module -G row, ground
The Nano I/O expansion shield supplied in the kit, photographed from above for the Voltaat product listing. Column positions measured from the photo; labels added by Fix It Today.
Where it plugs in on the shield
The ringed column is the one this module uses. G on top for ground, V in the middle for 5 V, S at the bottom for the signal. A module with more than one signal wire uses one column per wire.
Read the letters on the shield
Both banks on this shield read G, V, S from the top. The letters are printed at the ends of the rows.
The module's minus or GND pin goes to G, its plus or VCC pin to V, and each signal to the S row of the numbered column.
A module in backwards puts 5 V on the signal pin. Some survive it, plenty do not.
Starter sketch
Code you can copy and upload
Every sketch on these pages is compiled for the Arduino Nano before it is published. The pin numbers at the top match the connection table above.
ky034.inoArduino C++
1const uint8_t LED = 13; // module S -> D13, module - -> G
2
3void setup() {
4 pinMode(LED, OUTPUT);
5 digitalWrite(LED, HIGH); // power it and watch
6}
7
8void loop() {
9}
Try first
Nothing to change. Watch it cycle, then try digitalWrite LOW in loop() to stop it.
The quickest way to see it respond.
1
Unplug the USB cable. Plug the module into the column shown above, minus to G, plus to V, signal to S.
2
Plug the USB cable back in. Copy the sketch, upload it, and open Tools > Serial Monitor at 9600 baud.
3
Do the thing the module senses and watch the reading, the L LED, or the sound respond.
Reference
More on this module
The Joy-IT page has the datasheet figures and examples for other boards; the repository has the original vendor files.
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