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  • Author Author: dubbie
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JackBox #6 : The Completed Article

dubbie

Having completed adding the sound in my last Blog I decided to improve the LED part a little bit. I took three of the LEDs white wooden snowflakes shapes and fixed them to the front and sides of the box. Rather than just these three LEDS on and off I decided to fade them on and off. To do this I just connected the three LEDs in parallel and then the positive (the anode) to the +5V from the Nano and the negative (the cathode) to the D5 output of the Nano. The LEDs will all come on when D5 is driven low. To create the fade on and off effect I used pulse width modulation implemented as next for loops, as illustrated in the code fragment below. I used a function just to make it tidier. The value input into the function controls the maximum brightness achieved by the LED, which also controls the frequency of the LED slowly pulsing.

 


void pulse_WHITE(int brightness)

{

int move_index, LED_index;

   for (move_index = 1; move_index < brightness; move_index++)
      {
        for (LED_index = 0; LED_index < LED_speed; LED_index++)
          {
           digitalWrite(LED1, LOW);
           delayMicroseconds(move_index);
           digitalWrite(LED1, HIGH);
           delayMicroseconds(252- move_index);
          } /* for */
      } /* for */
    for (move_index = brightness  ; move_index > 0; move_index--)
      {
        for (LED_index = 0; LED_index < LED_speed; LED_index++)
          {
           digitalWrite(LED1, LOW);
           delayMicroseconds(move_index);
           digitalWrite(LED1, HIGH);
           delayMicroseconds(252- move_index);
          } /* for */
      } /* for */
} /* pulse_WHITE

 

I added this to the Nano programme, adjusted when the sound should start playing back the recorded audio and tidied it up as best as I could. Below is the final video of the whole thing. I decided to add some clockwork Father Christmasses and Reindeers to provide that little bit extra enhancement and merriment(!).

 

 

It's been fun but I'm glad it's over now as the constant tuneless recorded singing was beginning to drive me mad!

 

Dubbie

  • in reply to shabaz

    Shabaz,

     

    I thought I had put the code up somewhere, but it was probably only bits of it. The full programme is listed below. It's not the prettiest code in the world, but I generally do bottom-up coding which can leave things a bit ragged. I also follow my early programming experience of laying out programmes from my Pascal and assembly days. I like to keep it simple with only one active statement on a line.

     

    Dubbie

     

    /

    * 
 Arduino Jack in the Box : Merry Boxes and LEDs
 Uses a servo to open a box from the inside and display
 some LEDs
 Dubbie

 3rd Jan'19
 Just for Fun
*/
#include <Servo.h>
#define start 1
#define end 70
#define stepdelay 50
#define playback 4
#define LED1 5
#define LED_speed 60
#define max_bright 250
Servo lidopen;
void setup() 
{
  lidopen.attach(3);  // attaches the servos
  pinMode(playback, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(LED1, OUTPUT);
}
void loop()
{
int lidvalue;
int replay;

  digitalWrite(playback, HIGH); 
  lidvalue = 5;
  lidopen.write(lidvalue); 
  pulse_WHITE(max_bright);
  
  while(1)
    { 
    digitalWrite(playback, LOW);
    delay(100);
    digitalWrite(playback, HIGH);
    delay(100);
  
  for (lidvalue = start; lidvalue <= end; lidvalue++) 
    { 
      lidopen.write(lidvalue);                    
      delay(stepdelay);                       
    } /* for */
  pulse_WHITE(max_bright/2);
    digitalWrite(playback, LOW);
    delay(100);
    digitalWrite(playback, HIGH);
    delay(100);
    
  for (lidvalue = end; lidvalue >= start; lidvalue--) 
    { 
      lidopen.write(lidvalue);                    
      delay(stepdelay);                       
    } /* for */
  } /* while */
} /* loop */

void pulse_WHITE(int brightness)
{
int move_index, LED_index;
   for (move_index = 1; move_index < brightness; move_index++)
      {
        for (LED_index = 0; LED_index < LED_speed; LED_index++)
          {
           digitalWrite(LED1, LOW);
           delayMicroseconds(move_index);
           digitalWrite(LED1, HIGH);
           delayMicroseconds(252- move_index);
          } /* for */
      } /* for */
    for (move_index = brightness  ; move_index > 0; move_index--)
      {
        for (LED_index = 0; LED_index < LED_speed; LED_index++)
          {
           digitalWrite(LED1, LOW);
           delayMicroseconds(move_index);
           digitalWrite(LED1, HIGH);
           delayMicroseconds(252- move_index);
          } /* for */
      } /* for */
} /* pulse_WHITE */

  • Awesome project! Mechanical projects are always fun : )

    I may have missed it, is the final source code going to be published somewhere?

  • in reply to balearicdynamics

    Enrico,

     

    Thank you for this support. I wasn't sure it was going to get finished at times. Trying to understand what is going on inside a closed box was quite surreal.

     

    Dubbie

  • in reply to tonydbeck

    Tony,

     

    Thanks. It put many smiles on my face, especially when the lid popped up and down for the first time, especially when it snapped shut when reset!

     

    Dubbie