Arduino Relay Project

If you have ever had in mind the desire to control one of your real-world appliances with an Arduino, here is a good Arduino relay project that shows you how you can, for example, use the combination of elements shown in this post to build a bridge from the Arduino layer to any other appliances with higher power rating.

We can list a Lamp, a washing machine or a huge motor among the appliances that will best fit the description provided in the preceding lines. With the help of a relay, we can easily control those.

Using a relay, you can, for example, build a system with the Arduino board to switch the power input of the washing machine off at a certain time period of a day. For example, switching the washing machine off from 10 pm to 8 am.

Let’s start by building a simple controller to switch a lamp ON and OFF, similar to the blink LEDs project.

Arduino relay – Blinking of a lamp

Here is the list of the elements we will be using in this project.

1 x Arduino Uno board
1 x Relay board
Cable with socket and plug
Jumper wires
230V lamp

The relay is a small device that can control up to 230V devices. Inside of it, there are electromagnets with a contact that closes the circuit when you apply voltage to it.

I have a 2 channel relay module. It has two separate relays. In this project, we will need just one.

Warning! Before we begin, note that this project works with high voltage. Do it with adults and always double check before applying power. If you are not sure what you are doing, please skip this project.

Let’s start by preparing the cable and the socket. You have to take off the insulation from the cable. I will use a European plug and socket. As you can see below, you need to connect the black cable to the socket and leave the blue on the side, then you can connect a piece of the blue wire to the socket.