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EXPERIMENT 02 • GETTING STARTED

🔘 Push a Button, Make Something Happen

TM1638 Key → TM1638 LED

You made an output respond in Experiment 01. Now you'll give DALE a real physical input and use it to control that output.

Beginner~5–10 minutesTM1638

What You'll Build

A physical TM1638 pushbutton that controls one of the module's LEDs. Press the key and the LED responds. This is DALE's simplest real-world input → output project.

What You'll Need

  • DALE with ESP32-S3
  • TM1638 module from Experiment 01
TM1638 display, LED and pushbutton module
TM1638 display, LED and pushbutton module

What You'll Learn

  • What an input is.
  • How a physical pushbutton becomes a Boolean TRUE/FALSE signal.
  • How one input can directly control an output.
  • How DALE separates what you sense from what you control.

Connect It

Keep the same TM1638 connection from Experiment 01. The module already contains both the pushbuttons and the LEDs we need for this lesson, so there is no new breadboard circuit to build.

One module, two directions: a TM1638 key sends information into your logic; a TM1638 LED shows a result out in the real world.

Try It in DALE

1. Open the TM1638 Lab

Confirm that the module is connected and responding.

2. Press a key

Press and release one of the TM1638 keys and watch DALE report the change.

3. Test the LED

Turn one of the TM1638 LEDs on and off just as you did in Experiment 01.

Test the pieces first. You now know the input works and the output works. Next we'll connect the two with logic.

What Just Happened?

The pushbutton is an input: it tells the controller something happened. The LED is an output: it lets the controller make something happen. Logic connects those two ideas.

Build It in Logic Builder

Add a TM1638 Key (TM Key) block and select the key you tested. Add a TM1638 LED (TM LED) block and select the LED you tested. Connect the TM1638 Key Boolean output directly to the TM1638 LED input.

Run it. Press the selected TM1638 key → TRUE → LED ON. Release it → FALSE → LED OFF.

BUILD IT VISUALLY. SEE THE REAL CODE.

Show Me The Code

Open Show Me The Code and find the readable variables for the TM1638 Key and TM1638 LED. Follow the generated code from reading the physical key state to updating the LED. You have just turned a visual connection into a real program.

Try This Next

Add a NOT block between the TM1638 Key and TM1638 LED. Run it again. The hardware has not changed at all—but the behavior has. That is your first hint of what Logic Builder can do.

← Your First OutputNext: Two Buttons, One Decision →