Helicopter animation using a Raspberry Pi

I'm posting the code produced so far. It produces the following error message on run.

pi@piheli:~/scripts $ python light_sequence.py

cabin lights on

strobe lights on

light_sequence.py:114: RuntimeWarning: No channels have been set up yet - nothing to clean up!  Try cleaning up at the end of your program instead!

  GPIO.cleanup()

The intent of the code is to thread the strobe light in a class that would provide a start and terminate method. I have spent a good six hours today, reading and trying different iterations of code to resolve the issue with no success. I indicated in my original post, I wasn't looking for someone to provide the answer. I'm wondering if I am close to a solution or I may be way off the mark.

I lack not only the programming skills but the experience to troubleshoot. Can anyone see what this is missing or is the approach not sound and I will consider starting over.

#!/usr/bin/python
#
###########
#
#Description:light_sequence.py-script to start and stop four series of lights
# on helicopter simulation
#Date: Mar.18,2020
#Revision:1.0
#
###########


import time # provides various time-related functions
import RPi.GPIO as GPIO # provides interface to input/output pins of the Pi
import random
import os
import threading            # provide concurrency between static and flashing LED




# setup GPIO
#GPIO.setwarnings(False)
GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BOARD)           # set option to reference physical pins


# GPIO pin definitions
lnd_lit = 3  # Define GPIO pin
cab_lit = 5  # Define GPIO pin
pos_lit = 7  # Define GPIO pin
IO_5 = 29 # Define GPIO pin
IO_6 = 31  # Define GPIO pin
IO_7 = 26  # Define GPIO pin
IO_8 = 24  # Define GPIO pin
IO_9 = 21  # Define GPIO pin
IO_10 = 19  # Define GPIO pin
IO_11 = 23  # Define GPIO pin
IO_12 = 32  # Define GPIO pin
IO_13 = 33  # Define GPIO pin
IO_14 = 8  # Define GPIO pin
IO_15 = 10  # Define GPIO pin
IO_16 = 36  # Define GPIO pin
IO_17 = 11  # Define GPIO pin
IO_18 = 12  # Define GPIO pin
IO_19 = 35  # Define GPIO pin
IO_20 = 38  # Define GPIO pin
IO_21 = 40  # Define GPIO pin
IO_22 = 15  # Define GPIO pin
IO_23 = 16  # Define GPIO pin
IO_24 = 18  # Define GPIO pin
IO_25 = 22  # Define GPIO pin
IO_26 = 37  # Define GPIO pin
stb_lit = 13  # Define GPIO pin


#GPIO pins in use for lights
Heli_lit_array =(
    cab_lit, pos_lit, lnd_lit
)


# Set GPIO function to output
for light in Heli_lit_array:
    GPIO.setup(light, GPIO.OUT)  # set GPIO pins for lighting output


class StrobeOnOffTask:
    def __init__(strobe, pin):
        strobe._running = True
        strobe.pin = pin
        print(strobe.pin)
        GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BOARD)
        GPIO.setup(strobe.pin, GPIO.OUT)


def terminate(strobe):
    strobe._running = False


def run(strobe):
    while strobe._running:
        GPIO.output(strobe.pin, GPIO.HIGH)  ## set HIGH (LED ON)
        time.sleep(.05)  ## wait
        GPIO.output(strobe.pin, GPIO.LOW)  ## set LOW (LED OFF)
        time.sleep(.8)  ## wait


try:
        while True:
            #helicopter lights on sequence,cab_lit,stb_lit,pos_lit,lnd_lit
            print("cabin lights on")
            GPIO.setup(cab_lit, GPIO.HIGH)
            time.sleep(3)
            print("strobe lights on")
            c = StrobeOnOffTask()
            t = threading.Thread(target = c.run, args = [stb_lit])
            t.start()
            time.sleep(3)
            print("position lights on")
            GPIO.setup(pos_lit, GPIO.HIGH)
            time.sleep(3)
            print("landing lights on")
            GPIO.setup(lnd_lit, GPIO.HIGH)
            time.sleep(3)
            # helicopter lights off sequence,lnd_lit,pos_lit,stb_lit,cab_lit
            print("landing lights off")
            GPIO.setup(lnd_lit, GPIO.LOW)
            time.sleep(3)
            print("position lights off")
            GPIO.setup(pos_lit, GPIO.LOW)
            time.sleep(3)
            print("strobe lights off")
            c.terminate()
            t.join()
            print("cabin lights off")
            GPIO.setup(cab_lit, GPIO.LOW)
            time.sleep(3)


except KeyboardInterrupt:  # if ctrl+c pressed exit cleanly
    GPIO.cleanup()
except:  # this catches ALL other exceptions including errors.
    GPIO.cleanup()
finally:  # cleanup GPIO on normal exit
    GPIO.cleanup()

Okay here we go with alpha .02 of my code.  Again, this works gloriously in my head, but I have not tested it or even compiled it...

import threading  
import RPi.GPIO as GPIO  
    
def LED2_Blinker(): 
if BlinkFlag:
     if GPIO.input (LED2_PIN): #read teh led2 pin and if it is high, set it low  
        GPIO.output (LED2_PIN, GPIO.LOW)  
    else: #was not high, set it so...  
    GPIO.output (LED2_PIN,GPIO.HIGH)  
  
LED1_PIN = XX #change XX to be proper pin number on PI  
LED2_PIN = XX #change XX to be proper pin number on PI  
LED3_PIN = XX #change XX to be proper pin number on PI  
LED4_PIN = XX #change XX to be proper pin number on PI  

BlinkFlag=0    #make sure when timer starts, the led doesn't start blinking before it should  
  
GPIO.setup (LED1_PIN, GPIO.OUT)  
GPIO.setup (LED2_PIN, GPIO.OUT)  
GPIO.setup (LED3_PIN, GPIO.OUT)  
GPIO.setup (LED4_PIN, GPIO.OUT)  
    
#set all pins low to start....  
GPIO.output (LED1_PIN,GPIO.LOW)  
GPIO.output (LED2_PIN,GPIO.LOW)  
GPIO.output (LED3_PIN,GPIO.LOW)  
GPIO.output (LED4_PIN,GPIO.LOW)  
    
#setup the timer.  Number is for amount of time between timer activating...  
timer = threading.Timer(0.25,LED2_Blinker)  
    
# and now the looping sequence...  
while True:  
GPIO.output (LED1_PIN,GPIO.HIGH)  
time.sleep(3)  
#timer.start() #starts the timer so that LED 2 will blink automagically  
BlinkFlag=1
GPIO.output (LED3_PIN,GPIO.HIGH)  
time.sleep(3)  
GPIO.output (LED4_PIN,GPIO.HIGH)  
time.sleep(3)  
#done startup sequence...  
GPIO.output (LED4_PIN,GPIO.LOW)  
time.sleep(3)  
GPIO.output (LED3_PIN,GPIO.LOW)  
time.sleep(3)  
#timer.cancel() #stops the tiemr from firing until restarted...  
BlinkFlag = 0
GPIO.output (LED2_PIN,GPIO.LOW) #ensure that LED2 is off (just in case)  
GPIO.output (LED1_PIN,GPIO.LOW)  
time.sleep(3)

Not much of a change from alpha .01, but this eliminates the timer from biting you in the *** because it never needs to be canceled.  All that needs to be done when you want to start LED2 blinking, just set BlinkFlag to 1.  When you don't want the LED to blink, set BlinkFlag to 0.  When the timer fires and it runs Led2_Blinker, it first checks to see if BlinkFlag is set to non zero.  If true, toggle the LED.  Other wise just exit and wait for next timer firing.

Thanks V² for generating some code. After some tweaks to get it running the following.

No blink on start, reguired a timer.join() to get it back at cancel. Second pass the following error.

Traceback (most recent call last):

  File "light_sequence.py", line 39, in <module>

    timer.start() #starts the timer so that LED 2 will blink automagically

  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/threading.py", line 730, in start

    raise RuntimeError("threads can only be started once")

RuntimeError: threads can only be started once

Crap, so now we are both getting bitten in the ***...  Stupid computers...  Doing exactly what I tell them to do but never what I really want them to do.  You would think that after all this time working as a programmer, I would be able to blink a simple LED when I want...

Give me a bit of time and I will come up with something that I will actually compile and do some basic testing on and then I will post it here for you...

I appreciate your assistance. I have an a semblance of code that generates the lights and the motor. It uses the gpiozero model suggested by beacon_dave . My last piece of the puzzle is audio using this code. It needs some cleanup to look pretty but I can generate light and rotor motion.

#!/usr/bin/python3
#
###########
#
#Description:light_sequence.py-script to start and stop four series of lights
# on helicopter simulation using GPIOZero to replace RPi.GPIO
#Date: Mar.23,2020
#Revision:2.0
#
###########


import time # provides various time-related functions
from gpiozero import LED, PWMLED # provides interface to input/output pins of the Pi
import random
import os


# setup GPIO
landing_light = LED(2)
cabin_light = LED(3)
position_light = LED(4)
strobe_light = PWMLED(27, initial_value = 0.1, frequency = 100)
motor_direction = LED(20)
motor_step = LED(21)




while True:
    #helicopter lights on sequence,cab_lit,stb_lit,pos_lit,lnd_lit
    print("cabin lights on")
    cabin_light.on()
    time.sleep(3)
    print("strobe lights on")
    strobe_light.pulse()
    time.sleep(3)
    print("position lights on")
    position_light.on()
    time.sleep(3)
    print("landing lights on")
    landing_light.on()
    time.sleep(3)
    print("rotor start")
    motor_step.blink(on_time=0.01, off_time=0.01)
    time.sleep(10)
    print("rotor stop")
    motor_step.off()
    # helicopter lights off sequence,lnd_lit,pos_lit,stb_lit,cab_lit
    print("landing lights off")
    landing_light.off()
    time.sleep(3)
    print("position lights off")
    position_light.off()
    time.sleep(3)
    print("strobe lights off")
    strobe_light.off()
    time.sleep(3)
    print("cabin lights off")
    cabin_light.off()
    time.sleep(3)

I appreciate your assistance. I have an a semblance of code that generates the lights and the motor. It uses the gpiozero model suggested by beacon_dave . My last piece of the puzzle is audio using this code. It needs some cleanup to look pretty but I can generate light and rotor motion.

#!/usr/bin/python3
#
###########
#
#Description:light_sequence.py-script to start and stop four series of lights
# on helicopter simulation using GPIOZero to replace RPi.GPIO
#Date: Mar.23,2020
#Revision:2.0
#
###########


import time # provides various time-related functions
from gpiozero import LED, PWMLED # provides interface to input/output pins of the Pi
import random
import os


# setup GPIO
landing_light = LED(2)
cabin_light = LED(3)
position_light = LED(4)
strobe_light = PWMLED(27, initial_value = 0.1, frequency = 100)
motor_direction = LED(20)
motor_step = LED(21)




while True:
    #helicopter lights on sequence,cab_lit,stb_lit,pos_lit,lnd_lit
    print("cabin lights on")
    cabin_light.on()
    time.sleep(3)
    print("strobe lights on")
    strobe_light.pulse()
    time.sleep(3)
    print("position lights on")
    position_light.on()
    time.sleep(3)
    print("landing lights on")
    landing_light.on()
    time.sleep(3)
    print("rotor start")
    motor_step.blink(on_time=0.01, off_time=0.01)
    time.sleep(10)
    print("rotor stop")
    motor_step.off()
    # helicopter lights off sequence,lnd_lit,pos_lit,stb_lit,cab_lit
    print("landing lights off")
    landing_light.off()
    time.sleep(3)
    print("position lights off")
    position_light.off()
    time.sleep(3)
    print("strobe lights off")
    strobe_light.off()
    time.sleep(3)
    print("cabin lights off")
    cabin_light.off()
    time.sleep(3)