Group Actions
Engagement
  • Author Author: ilvyanyatka
  • Date Created: Date Created
  • Views 4119 views
  • Likes 12 likes
  • Comments 24 comments
Related
Recommended

Electronic Art app controlled by Arduino Uno

ilvyanyatka

My project is an electronic Art App controlled by Arduino Uno.

The app connects to Arduino port. goes full screen, and starts drawing abstract geometrical figures based on parameters it reads from the Arduino. The user can can control what the app is drawing using potentiometers, switches, and a push button. Everything can be controlled by Arduino, there is no need for keyboard and mouse (after connecting to Arduino port). App can be used for meditation, or just to relax. Drawings can be saved in real time using push button.

 

Push button 1 – clears app screen

Push button 2 - save the screenshot of the drawing

Switch 1 – Start/Stops drawing

Switch 2 – controls line type. Line type can be an Arc (Bezier curve) or a straight line

Potentiometer 1 – controls line width

Potentiometer 2 – controls an angle for a drawing

Potentiomenter 3 - controls drawing speed

 

The app itself is written in C#.NET. To communicate between .NET and Arduino I used open source Sharer library, it is awesome and it can be found here:

https://github.com/Rufus31415/Sharer

 

Fun fact: When testing the board I ran into a problem that all analogRead() functions returned incorrect values. I could not figure out why, it was driving me crazy. I was sure that I fried both of my Arduinos somehow. But finally I figured out that connections on my $1 breadboard were not wired properly. I changed the breadboard and everything started working right away.

 

 

Schematics (updated):

image

 

 

Demo video: (can also be found on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DOUr6JplXHg )

 

 

 

Additional demo video for using save screenshots and changing drawing speed

 

 

Couple of screenshots:

image

 

and

image

 

 

and

image

 

 

This is how the board looks like:

image

Arduino code, and NET main module with math and Arduino communication code will be attached soon.

Update: Code on Github: https://github.com/ilvyanyatka/ElectronicArtWithArduino

Before I added "Save screenshot" functionality, the code was cross platform. Now .NET code is Windows specific. To make it cross platform again one need to remove all the functionality related to "Select Windows Dialog" and "Take Screenshot". I am planning to come back to it later.

Attachments:
Electronic_Art.ino.txt.zip
Parents

  • Victoria,

     

    This produces some good art effects. Do you have a method for printing out to make permanent copies? Also, it would be interesting to try diffeerent shapes, perhaps more rectangular as well as circles/ovals.

     

    A good project.

     

    Dubbie

  • in reply to dubbie

    Dubbie

    Thank you for the ideas!

    To print the screenshots I used the "Print Screen" button, but it will be pretty easy to add to the app a hot key for printing (I am trying to avoid menus, because I want to use the whole area of a screen).

     

    Adding other geometrical figures could be fun. I will just need something like a 4-positions switch for it. Btw, what is the correct term for it it in English?

  • in reply to ilvyanyatka

    Victoria,

     

    A four position switch is pretty much a suitable term.

     

    Dubbie

  • in reply to ilvyanyatka

    "...Adding other geometrical figures could be fun. I will just need something like a 4-positions switch for it..."

    You may find that at some point 4 positions won't be enough. You perhaps may need to use an up/down & select method using three push button switches to select the geometrical figure from a list.

     

    You can also get rotary encoders with built-in pushbutton that can work well for this task

    https://www.adafruit.com/product/377

  • in reply to beacon_dave

    Hello Dave,

     

    Thank you. Rotary encoders look like very useful components. I never heard of them before.

     

    For Up/Down/Select controls, I am trying to avoid any UI elements on the screen. Trying to keep it completely black.

    I coded a prototype using just .NET code, no Arduino. But UI controls make part of the screen unusable and make graphics look not so fun, not so relaxing.

    With Arduino it is easier to control the data. In this case used don't need a mouse and keyboard at all, and can change the angle from, for example, 30 degree to 179 degree in split second. When using UI controls, like track bar, it takes several seconds to change the value; and graphics code picks up the values in between that I am also trying to avoid.

  • in reply to ilvyanyatka

    Hi Victoria,

     

    Yes, the rotary encoder technique tends to rely on some other means of displaying the options list. It doesn't have to be on the main display screen though, you could have LEDs with text labels indicating the currently selected geometry, or a 2-line LCD display panel on the controller device.

     

    However, yes, as you point out, the speed of being able to change the value could be an issue with a rotary encoder solution.

     

    It is all part of the fun of user interface design. image

Comment
  • in reply to ilvyanyatka

    Hi Victoria,

     

    Yes, the rotary encoder technique tends to rely on some other means of displaying the options list. It doesn't have to be on the main display screen though, you could have LEDs with text labels indicating the currently selected geometry, or a 2-line LCD display panel on the controller device.

     

    However, yes, as you point out, the speed of being able to change the value could be an issue with a rotary encoder solution.

     

    It is all part of the fun of user interface design. image

Children
No Data