Install CircuitPython
The Adafruit Feather M4 ships with CircuitPython, but let's go ahead and update it to the latest version. It's super easy with the circuitpython.org website. Follow the directions on the Feather M4 Express guide.
Adafruit Circuit Python Libraries
Download the CircuitPython library bundle per the Feather M4 guide instructions here. Unzip the files into a folder on your computer. Create a new folder on the CIRCUITPY drive and name it lib. The following libraries are required to run the code properly.
- adafruit_bus_device (directory)
- adafruit_lis3dh.mpy
- neopixel.mpy
Find all these files in the library bundle and copy them into the lib file you just made on your CIRCUITPY drive.
Upload Files
Click the link below to download the project zip – This contains the code and audio files. Upload the code.py file to the CIRCUITPY drive root (main) folder.
Create a new folder at the top level of the CIRCUITPY drive and name it sounds. Upload the audio files to that folder. The code will run properly when all of the files have been uploaded.
Check out the image above to see what your CIRCUITPY drive should look like when all the files are in place.
# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2019 Kattni Rembor Adafruit Industries
# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2019 Erin St Blaine for Adafruit Industries
# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2019 Limor Fried for Adafruit Industries
#
# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
"""
Prop-Maker based Burning Wizard Staff
Adafruit invests time and resources providing this open source code.
Please support Adafruit and open source hardware by purchasing
products from Adafruit!
Written by Kattni Rembor, Erin St Blaine & Limor Fried for Adafruit Industries
Copyright (c) 2020 Adafruit Industries
Licensed under the MIT license.
All text above must be included in any redistribution.
"""
import time
import random
import digitalio
import audioio
import audiocore
import board
import neopixel
import adafruit_lis3dh
# CHANGE TO MATCH YOUR RING AND STRIP SETUP
NUM_RING = 12 #12 pixel ring
NUM_STRIP = 44 # 44 pixels in my NeoPixel strip
NUM_PIXELS = NUM_STRIP + NUM_RING #total number of pixels
NEOPIXEL_PIN = board.D5 # PropMaker Wing uses D5 for NeoPixel plug
POWER_PIN = board.D10
# CUSTOMISE COLORS HERE:
COLOR = (200, 30, 0) # Default idle is orange
ALT_COLOR = (0, 200, 200) # hit color is teal
SWING_COLOR = (200, 200, 200) #swing animation color is white
TOP_COLOR = (100, 100, 0) #top color is yellow-green
YELL_COLOR = (200, 0, 200) #yell color is purple
# CUSTOMISE IDLE PULSE SPEED HERE: 0 is fast, above 0 slows down
IDLE_PULSE_SPEED = 0 # Default is 0 seconds
SWING_BLAST_SPEED = 0.007
# CUSTOMISE BRIGHTNESS HERE: must be a number between 0 and 1
IDLE_PULSE_BRIGHTNESS_MIN = 0.2 # Default minimum idle pulse brightness
IDLE_PULSE_BRIGHTNESS_MAX = 1 # Default maximum idle pulse brightness
# CUSTOMISE SENSITIVITY HERE: smaller numbers = more sensitive to motion
HIT_THRESHOLD = 1150
SWING_THRESHOLD = 800
YELL_THRESHOLD = 700
# Set to the length in seconds of the "on.wav" and "yell1.wav" files
POWER_ON_SOUND_DURATION = 3.0
YELL_SOUND_DURATION = 1.0
enable = digitalio.DigitalInOut(POWER_PIN)
enable.direction = digitalio.Direction.OUTPUT
enable.value = False
# Set up NeoPixels
strip = neopixel.NeoPixel(NEOPIXEL_PIN, NUM_PIXELS, brightness=1, auto_write=False)
strip.fill(0) # NeoPixels off ASAP on startup
strip.show()
audio = audioio.AudioOut(board.A0) # Speaker
wave_file = None
# Set up accelerometer on I2C bus, 4G range:
i2c = board.I2C() # uses board.SCL and board.SDA
# i2c = board.STEMMA_I2C() # For using the built-in STEMMA QT connector on a microcontroller
accel = adafruit_lis3dh.LIS3DH_I2C(i2c)
accel.range = adafruit_lis3dh.RANGE_4_G
COLOR_IDLE = COLOR # 'idle' color is the default for the staff handle
COLOR_HIT = ALT_COLOR # "hit" color is ALT_COLOR set above
COLOR_SWING = SWING_COLOR # "swing" color is SWING_COLOR set above
COLOR_TOP = TOP_COLOR #"top" color is idle color for the ring
def play_wav(name, loop=False):
"""
Play a WAV file in the 'sounds' directory.
:param name: partial file name string, complete name will be built around
this, e.g. passing 'foo' will play file 'sounds/foo.wav'.
:param loop: if True, sound will repeat indefinitely (until interrupted
by another sound).
"""
global wave_file # pylint: disable=global-statement
print("playing", name)
if wave_file:
wave_file.close()
try:
wave_file = open('sounds/' + name + '.wav', 'rb')
wave = audiocore.WaveFile(wave_file)
audio.play(wave, loop=loop)
except OSError:
pass # we'll just skip playing then
def power(sound, duration, reverse):
"""
Animate NeoPixels with accompanying sound effect for power on.
@param sound: sound name (similar format to play_wav() above)
@param duration: estimated duration of sound, in seconds (>0.0)
@param reverse: Reverses animation. If True, begins animation at end of strip.
"""
if reverse:
prev = NUM_PIXELS
else:
prev = 0
start_time = time.monotonic() # Save audio start time
play_wav(sound)
while True:
elapsed = time.monotonic() - start_time # Time spent playing sound
if elapsed > duration: # Past sound duration?
break # Stop animating
total_animation_time = elapsed / duration # Animation time, 0.0 to 1.0
if reverse:
total_animation_time = 1.0 - total_animation_time # 1.0 to 0.0 if reverse
threshold = int(NUM_PIXELS * total_animation_time + 0.5)
num = threshold - prev # Number of pixels to light on this pass
if num != 0:
if reverse:
strip[threshold:prev] = [ALT_COLOR] * -num
else:
strip[prev:threshold] = [ALT_COLOR] * num
strip.show()
prev = threshold
def mix(color_1, color_2, weight_2):
"""
Blend between two colors with a given ratio.
:param color_1: first color, as an (r,g,b) tuple
:param color_2: second color, as an (r,g,b) tuple
:param weight_2: Blend weight (ratio) of second color, 0.0 to 1.0
:return (r,g,b) tuple, blended color
"""
if weight_2 < 0.0:
weight_2 = 0.0
elif weight_2 > 1.0:
weight_2 = 1.0
weight_1 = 1.0 - weight_2
return (int(color_1[0] * weight_1 + color_2[0] * weight_2),
int(color_1[1] * weight_1 + color_2[1] * weight_2),
int(color_1[2] * weight_1 + color_2[2] * weight_2))
# List of swing wav files without the .wav in the name for use with play_wav()
swing_sounds = [
'swing1',
'swing2',
'swing3',
]
# List of hit wav files without the .wav in the name for use with play_wav()
hit_sounds = [
'hit1',
'hit2',
'hit3',
'hit4',
]
# List of yell wav files without the .wav in the name for use with play_wav()
yell_sounds = [
'yell1',
]
mode = 0 # Initial mode = OFF
# Setup idle pulse
idle_brightness = IDLE_PULSE_BRIGHTNESS_MIN # current brightness of idle pulse
idle_increment = 0.01 # Initial idle pulse direction
# Main loop
while True:
if mode == 0: # If currently off...
enable.value = True
power('on', POWER_ON_SOUND_DURATION, True) # Power up!
play_wav('idle', loop=True) # Play idle sound now
mode = 1 # Idle mode
time.sleep(1.0) #pause before moving on
# Setup for idle pulse
idle_brightness = IDLE_PULSE_BRIGHTNESS_MIN
idle_increment = 0.01
# lights the ring in COLOR_TOP color:
strip[0:NUM_RING] = [([int(c*idle_brightness) for c in COLOR_TOP])] * NUM_RING
# lights the strip in COLOR_IDLE color:
strip[NUM_RING:NUM_PIXELS] = [([int(c*idle_brightness) for c in COLOR_IDLE])] * NUM_STRIP
strip.show()
elif mode >= 1: # If not OFF mode...
x, y, z = accel.acceleration # Read accelerometer
accel_total = x * x + z * z #x axis used for hit and for swing
accel_yell = y * y + z * z #y axis used for yell
# Square root isn't needed, since we're
# comparing thresholds...use squared values instead.)
if accel_total > HIT_THRESHOLD: # Large acceleration on x axis = HIT
TRIGGER_TIME = time.monotonic() # Save initial time of hit
play_wav(random.choice(hit_sounds)) # Start playing 'hit' sound
COLOR_ACTIVE = COLOR_HIT # Set color to fade from
mode = 3 # HIT mode
elif mode == 1 and accel_total > SWING_THRESHOLD: # Mild acceleration on x axis = SWING
TRIGGER_TIME = time.monotonic() # Save initial time of swing
play_wav(random.choice(swing_sounds)) # Randomly choose from available swing sounds
# make a larson scanner
strip_backup = strip[0:-1]
for p in range(-1, len(strip)):
for i in range(p-1, p+2): # shoot a 'ray' of 3 pixels
if 0 <= i < len(strip):
strip[i] = COLOR_SWING
strip.show()
time.sleep(SWING_BLAST_SPEED)
if 0 <= (p-1) < len(strip):
strip[p-1] = strip_backup[p-1] # restore previous color at the tail
strip.show()
while audio.playing:
pass # wait till we're done
mode = 2 # we'll go back to idle mode
elif mode == 1 and accel_yell > YELL_THRESHOLD: # Motion on Y axis = YELL
TRIGGER_TIME = time.monotonic() # Save initial time of swing
# run a color down the staff, opposite of power-up
previous = 0
audio_start_time = time.monotonic() # Save audio start time
play_wav(random.choice(yell_sounds)) # Randomly choose from available yell sounds
sound_duration = YELL_SOUND_DURATION
while True:
time_elapsed = time.monotonic() - audio_start_time # Time spent playing sound
if time_elapsed > sound_duration: # Past sound duration?
break # Stop animating
animation_time = time_elapsed / sound_duration # Animation time, 0.0 to 1.0
pixel_threshold = int(NUM_PIXELS * animation_time + 0.5)
num_pixels = pixel_threshold - previous # Number of pixels to light on this pass
if num_pixels != 0:
# light pixels in YELL_COLOR:
strip[previous:pixel_threshold] = [YELL_COLOR] * num_pixels
strip.show()
previous = pixel_threshold
while audio.playing:
pass # wait till we're done
mode = 4 # we'll go back to idle mode
elif mode == 1:
# Idle pulse
idle_brightness += idle_increment # Pulse up
if idle_brightness > IDLE_PULSE_BRIGHTNESS_MAX or \
idle_brightness < IDLE_PULSE_BRIGHTNESS_MIN: # Then...
idle_increment *= -1 # Pulse direction flip
# light the ring:
strip[0:NUM_RING] = [([int(c*idle_brightness) for c in COLOR_TOP])] * NUM_RING
# light the strip:
strip[NUM_RING:NUM_PIXELS] = [([int(c*idle_brightness) for c in
COLOR_IDLE])] * NUM_STRIP
strip.show()
time.sleep(IDLE_PULSE_SPEED) # Idle pulse speed set above
elif mode > 1: # If in SWING or HIT or YELL mode...
if audio.playing: # And sound currently playing...
blend = time.monotonic() - TRIGGER_TIME # Time since triggered
if mode == 2: # If SWING,
blend = abs(0.5 - blend) * 3.0 # ramp up, down
strip.fill(mix(COLOR_ACTIVE, COLOR, blend)) # Fade from hit/swing to base color
strip.show()
else: # No sound now, but still SWING or HIT modes
play_wav('idle', loop=True) # Resume idle sound
mode = 1 # Return to idle mode
Customizing Your Code
The best way to edit and upload your code is with the Mu Editor, a simple Python editor that works with Adafruit CircuitPython hardware. It's written in Python and works on Windows, MacOS, Linux and Raspberry Pi. The serial console is built right in so you get immediate feedback from your board's serial output. Instructions for installing Mu is here.
Audio Files
Adafruit CircuitPython supports 16-bit, Mono, 22.050kHz .wav audio format. See this guide to help format any audio files you might want to use in this project besides the files provided.
In the main loop, the swing and hit modes randomly choose from a list of sounds. For example, swing1.wav, swing2.wav, swing3, etc. This makes the motion effects feel much more varied and less repetitive.
The yell mode plays yell1.wav. If you want more yelling sounds, you can add more files -- just call them yell2.wav, yell3.wav etc and you can integrate them into the code.
- Power on – on.wav
- Idle loop – idle.wav
- Swing 1 – swing1.wav
- Swing 2 – swing2.wav
- Swing 3 – swing3.wav
- Hit 1 – hit1.wav
- Hit 2 – hit2.wav
- Hit 3 – hit3.wav
- Hit 4 – hit4.wav
- Yell – yell1.wav
Open the code in the Mu editor (or another text editor) and look near the top. You'll see a lot of variables that you can change to customize the color palettes and sensitivity of the motion of your staff.
First, change the value of NUM_STRIP to match the actual number of pixels in your NeoPixel strip. If you're using a different sized ring, you can change that number here as well.
# CHANGE TO MATCH YOUR RING AND STRIP SETUP NUM_RING = 12 #12 pixel ring NUM_STRIP = 44 # 44 pixels in my NeoPixel strip NUM_PIXELS = NUM_STRIP + NUM_RING #total number of pixels
Colors
The default color for the handle of the staff at idle is orange. The format here is R, G, B -- so we've made orange by mixing 200 Red, 50 Green, and 0 Blue values. You can play with the numbers here to mix your own colors, but be sure to keep the values under around 200.
More about mixing colors in CircuitPython can be found here.
# CUSTOMISE COLORS HERE: COLOR = (200, 50, 0) # Default idle is orange ALT_COLOR = (0, 200, 200) # hit color is teal SWING_COLOR = (200, 200, 200) #swing animation color is white TOP_COLOR = (100, 100, 0) #top color is yellow-green YELL_COLOR = (200, 0, 200) #yell color is purple
Idle Pulse Animation Speed
Next, you can customize the speed and brightness of the idle pulse animation and the swing blast speed.
# CUSTOMISE IDLE PULSE SPEED HERE: 0 is fast, above 0 slows down IDLE_PULSE_SPEED = 0 # Default is 0 seconds SWING_BLAST_SPEED = 0.007 # CUSTOMISE BRIGHTNESS HERE: must be a number between 0 and 1 IDLE_PULSE_BRIGHTNESS_MIN = 0.2 # Default minimum idle pulse brightness IDLE_PULSE_BRIGHTNESS_MAX = 1 # Default maximum idle pulse brightness
Sensitivity
This section allows you to adjust the motion sensitivity of the staff. I have it set up so that the swing and yell thresholds trigger pretty easily, and I have to really move the staff hard to get the hit mode to trigger.
The swing mode triggers when the staff is moved along the X axis, and the yell mode triggers when the staff is moved along the Y axis. The hit mode is set up on the X axis also, but requires a firmer movement.
This means that to activate the swing animation, I move the staff left to right, and to activate the yell animation I move it front to back.
These numbers will really affect the feel and control of your staff, so don't be afraid to play around with them until it all feels just right.
# CUSTOMISE SENSITIVITY HERE: smaller numbers = more sensitive to motion HIT_THRESHOLD = 1150 SWING_THRESHOLD = 800 YELL_THRESHOLD = 700
Wav File Updates
If you change the .wav files for power-up or for the yell mode, you can adjust the animation times here.
The code will automatically adjust the animation lengths for the hit and swing modes to match the length of your .wav files.
# Set to the length in seconds of the "on.wav" and "yell1.wav" files POWER_ON_SOUND_DURATION = 3.0 YELL_SOUND_DURATION = 1.0
If you add or remove .wav files, you'll also need to update the list further down in the code (starting at line 146):
# List of swing wav files without the .wav in the name for use with play_wav()
swing_sounds = [
'swing1',
'swing2',
'swing3',
]
# List of hit wav files without the .wav in the name for use with play_wav()
hit_sounds = [
'hit1',
'hit2',
'hit3',
'hit4',
]
# List of yell wav files without the .wav in the name for use with play_wav()
yell_sounds = [
'yell1',
]
Adding your Own Wav Files
I found that even following the very specific guidelines for .wav file setup, some files would crash the Feather when triggered. If you're having this problem, head to this guide and re-crunch your files using Audacity.
This is a teeny tiny speaker, so sound files with more high-end frequencies will sound a lot better than deep, booming sounds. Sound files that have a lot of (or even any) low frequencies do not sound good when played back over small speakers. Too much low end will cause a small speaker to distort. To optimize your sound files for small speaker playback use a High Pass Filter (HPF) in your preferred audio editing software. Rolling off low frequencies below 250 Hz is a good starting point.
Audacity is great and simple audio editing app, and best of all, it’s free!
If your character doesn't resonate with the sounds included with this project, but you don't want to create your own, try using the files from the Zelda Master Sword project as an alternative. It's amazing how the personality of the staff changes with different sound effects.
Page last edited January 22, 2025
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