[03.) BLerG POST: MILESTONE PROJECT 1: STUPID PET TRICK]

 Jurassic Paper

Brainstorming:

* Using lights and a sensor (motion? light?) to activate an addressable light strip in sequence and music and sounds; cast against cutouts of dinos and environment. 

Materials:
*LEDs

*Speaker

*spot light

*fake plant? 

To test:

*make sure that each of the cut outs are sized correctly

* Test light movement to simulate real movement
* choose a proper sensor that will work for the project

* Choose a location to stage and document

Strip lights to move and simulate light

MY CODE

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h> #ifdef __AVR__ #include <avr/power.h> #endif // what pin are the neopixels on? #define PIN 10 // how many pixels? #define NUMPIXELS 10 int counter = -1; //declare a neopixel (software) object Adafruit_NeoPixel pixels = Adafruit_NeoPixel(NUMPIXELS, PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800); void setup() { pinMode(9, INPUT); digitalRead(9); pixels.begin(); // This initializes the NeoPixel library. pixels.show(); // start with all pixels off Serial.begin(9600); } void loop() { Serial.println(digitalRead(12)); if (digitalRead(9) == 1) { pixels.show(); delay(900); pixels.setPixelColor(counter, pixels.Color(255, 255, 255)); //turning off the pixel before pixels.setPixelColor(counter - 1, pixels.Color(0, 0, 0)); counter++; //looping the counter variable and beginning again if (counter >= 10) { pixels.setPixelColor(9, pixels.Color(255, 255, 255)); } pixels.show(); delay(1500); } if (digitalRead(9) == 0) { counter = 0; pixels.show(); pixels.setPixelColor(9, pixels.Color(0, 0, 0)); } //} }

Video Proof that it worked xD

My Circuit

Reflection:

When I first thought of and planned this idea, I had a clear picture in my head of how the code needed to be planned out. I immediately started adding way too many extra lights and features that I got lost in my code and couldn't figure out how to code my original idea. 

So I restarted the project several times, and broke down the two main parts of what I was attempting. 

1. making sure the sound was working and triggering with a button press

2. making sure the led strip was cycling lights and pausing at the 9th led before turning off

It took many tries to get it working again and almost some anger tears and table flips... but in the end I got it working to a level that was satisfactory to me. If I had more time I would go back and polish, setup in a larger area, add extra LEDS that change colour as well and time things better with the sound. 

For the life of me, I could not figure out why the 9th LED did not want to turn off and only would reset with a button press. 

All in all, im actually super happy that I got it working to a basic level and my original idea was still showcased. Even without all the bells and whistles.

This project was super cool and I really appreciate being able to explore these ideas without the pressure of creating a work with a deep context. It was a nice break mentally and allowed me to have some fun (and anger) with coding.

Even though coding is complicated and I always seem to understand it better in the moment, I value the practice and want become more fluent in the language.