# Crack the Code

Crack the Code is the NSW Technology Mandatory 7–8 design project, rebuilt as a self-paced course on Little Bird. You'll go from your first `digitalWrite(LED, HIGH)` to a complete alarm/alert system using a real Arduino + ThinkerShield kit. By the end you'll be reading buttons, potentiometers and light sensors, driving LEDs and piezos, and writing real Arduino C++ — the same code your kit ships with.

[Course reader](https://littlebirdelectronics.com.au/courses/crack-the-code)

## 1. Understanding control technologies

- [1.1 Inputs → Processing → Outputs](https://littlebirdelectronics.com.au/courses/crack-the-code/lessons/ipo.md) — 15 minutes
- [1.2 Your kit · Arduino + ThinkerShield](https://littlebirdelectronics.com.au/courses/crack-the-code/lessons/hardware-tour.md) — 20 minutes

## 2. First code — Blink, the IDE & binary

- [2.1 Blink](https://littlebirdelectronics.com.au/courses/crack-the-code/lessons/blink.md) — 25 minutes
- [2.2 Why HIGH and LOW?](https://littlebirdelectronics.com.au/courses/crack-the-code/lessons/binary.md) — 15 minutes

## 3. Inputs, outputs & the PRP activities

- [3.1 Buttons & digitalRead](https://littlebirdelectronics.com.au/courses/crack-the-code/lessons/button.md) — 25 minutes
- [3.2 Analog input · pots & light sensors](https://littlebirdelectronics.com.au/courses/crack-the-code/lessons/analog.md) — 25 minutes
- [3.3 The piezo buzzer](https://littlebirdelectronics.com.au/courses/crack-the-code/lessons/buzzer.md) — 15 minutes

## 4. Designing your alarm

- [4.1 Read the brief](https://littlebirdelectronics.com.au/courses/crack-the-code/lessons/brief.md) — 20 minutes
- [4.2 Prototype it](https://littlebirdelectronics.com.au/courses/crack-the-code/lessons/prototype.md) — 35 minutes