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Inputs let your board feel — outputs let it act! Light up LEDs, spin fans, pump water, click relays, open locks, ring bells, turn servos and paint rainbows. Meet every output module in Circuit Connections and what each one does with ON, OFF and PWM.
A part on an output pin (o1–o8) that the board switches: a light, motor, relay, buzzer… Picked on the pin in Circuit Connections.
A switch worked by an electromagnet. A small signal from the board clicks it ON or OFF to control a separate circuit.
A motor that turns to an exact angle from 0° to 180° and holds it. It gets a start angle in Circuit Connections.
An active buzzer makes one beep sound when ON. A passive buzzer can play tunes with buzzer_play().
One LED with red, green and blue inside — mixed, they make any colour. Comes as a board with 1, 2 or 3 LEDs or as a strip.
Pick an output and see what it does with ON, OFF and pwm().
Sort each output: ON/OFF only, ON/OFF plus PWM levels, or its own functions.
Output module ON / OFF pwm(0-100) Setup extra Import ---------------- --------- -------------- ------------------- ----------- LED yes brightness - - Bulb yes brightness - - Laser yes no - - Relay yes no - - DC motor yes speed - - Fan yes speed - - Water pump yes speed - - Door lock yes no - - Vibration motor yes strength - - Buzzer beep no active / passive buzzer Servo no no start angle 0-180 servo RGB LED no no how many LEDs rgb_... Every output module goes on any output pin o1-o8 (Mini and Mega).
Every output module in Circuit Connections: what ON / OFF and pwm() do, what extra you choose in Circuit Connections, and which import line it adds. Robot motors and GSM (send) are special — see chapter 12.
# Give your pins easy-to-remember names i1 = set_name("open_button") o1 = set_name("door_lock") o2 = set_name("green_light") # ===== Smart door ===== # This code block executes only once setup: open_button = set_input(push_button, active_low) door_lock = set_output(lock) green_light = set_output(led) # This code block executes forever loop: if open_button == ON: # when open_button is ON door_lock = ON # unlock green_light = ON # turn green_light ON wait(3000) # pause here for 3000 milliseconds before continuing door_lock = OFF # lock again green_light = OFF # turn green_light OFF
A smart door: press the button and the door lock opens (ON) with a green light for 3 seconds, then locks again. A lock only needs ON and OFF.
# Add the libraries you need import servo import buzzer # Give your pins easy-to-remember names i1 = set_name("button") o2 = set_name("gate") o3 = set_name("bell") # ===== Gate and bell ===== # This code block executes only once setup: button = set_input(push_button, active_low) gate = set_output(servo, 0) bell = set_output(buzzer, passive) # This code block executes forever loop: if button == ON: # when button is ON buzzer_play(bell, "door_bell") # play the "door_bell" tone on the buzzer (bell) — the next line waits until it ends servo_write_angle(gate, 90) # open the gate wait(3000) # pause here for 3000 milliseconds before continuing servo_write_angle(gate, 0) # close it again
Gate and bell: a servo named gate (start angle 0°) and a passive buzzer named bell. One press plays the door bell tone, opens the gate to 90°, waits 3 seconds and closes it. Picking Servo and Buzzer added import servo and import buzzer for you.
# Add the libraries you need import rgb_single # Give your pins easy-to-remember names o1 = set_name("signal") # ===== Traffic colours ===== # This code block executes only once setup: signal = set_output(rgb_led, 1) # This code block executes forever loop: rgb_color(signal, all, "green") # make all LEDs on signal green wait(3000) # pause here for 3000 milliseconds before continuing rgb_color(signal, all, "yellow") # make all LEDs on signal yellow wait(1000) # pause here for 1000 milliseconds before continuing rgb_color(signal, all, "red") # make all LEDs on signal red wait(3000) # pause here for 3000 milliseconds before continuing
A traffic signal with a single RGB LED board on o1: green, yellow, red. Picking RGB LED with 1 LED added import rgb_single for you.
When your phone is on silent it still buzzes in your pocket — that is a tiny vibration motor with an off-centre weight spinning fast.
Some festival light strings that chase and twinkle are RGB LED strips, where every LED can show its own colour.
The barrier arm at a car park or toll gate swings up and down to an exact position — your servo gate is a small model of that idea.
Plan a smart room on paper: list every output (light, fan, lock, buzzer, RGB mood light), its pin, its name and whether it needs ON/OFF, PWM or its own functions. Then set it all up in Circuit Connections and test each one in the Simulator.
🧰 You need: notebook, TinkerPy board or SimulatorMake 12 cards: 6 with output names (relay, servo, fan…) and 6 with jobs (open a gate to 90°, dim a light…). Play memory with a friend: a pair counts only if you can say the right TinkerPy line.
🧰 You need: card paper, pensA relay lets a small signal from a board pin control a much bigger circuit — the two circuits never even touch, because an electromagnet does the switching inside.
5 quick questions to check yourself — free with your TinkerPy account.
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