Software Setup
If this is your first time using Pro Trinket, take a look at Introducting Pro Trinket to get a guided tour.
Once you've got your Pro Trinket up and running with Arduino, you'll need to install the FastLED library.
FastLED Library
You will also need to install the FastLED library in Arduino (Sketch > Include Library > Manage Libraries...
)
Libraries? Why? What's a Library?
In a nutshell, Arduino libraries have a lot of pre-written functions that make your neopixels easy to command. You can do fancy stuff without being a code guru. Yay Libraries!
FastLED is a fast, efficient, easy-to-use Arduino library for programming addressable LED strips and pixels. It has a lot of features to get your animations up and running fast -- and it has a lot of code samples available if you're just learning to code.
All about Arduino Libraries will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about libraries, including more detailed installation instructions.
Once your curiosity is satiated and your library is installed, copy and paste the code into your Arduino window.
Go to your Tools menu and select "Pro Trinket 3V USB" from the list of boards. Plug your Pro Trinket into your computer via the onboard USB port. Press the "reset" button on your Pro Trinket and wait for the blinky red light, then click the upload button in Arduino.
This Twinkling Lights code was written by Mark Kriegsman. It slowly twinkles and fades your Neopixels on and off and gives you a variety of color palettes to choose from.
#include "FastLED.h" #define LED_PIN 9 #define LED_TYPE WS2812B #define COLOR_ORDER GRB #define NUM_LEDS 5 CRGB leds[NUM_LEDS]; CRGBPalette16 currentPalette; TBlendType currentBlending; // Twinkling 'holiday' lights that fade up and down in brightness. // Colors are chosen from a palette; a few palettes are provided. // // The basic operation is that all pixels stay black until they // are 'seeded' with a relatively dim color. The dim colors // are repeatedly brightened until they reach full brightness, then // are darkened repeatedly until they are fully black again. // // A set of 'directionFlags' is used to track whether a given // pixel is presently brightening up or darkening down. // // For illustration purposes, two implementations of directionFlags // are provided: a simple one-byte-per-pixel flag, and a more // complicated, more compact one-BIT-per-pixel flag. // // Darkening colors accurately is relatively easy: scale down the // existing color channel values. Brightening colors is a bit more // error prone, as there's some loss of precision. If your colors // aren't coming our 'right' at full brightness, try increasing the // STARTING_BRIGHTNESS value. // // -Mark Kriegsman, December 2014 #define MASTER_BRIGHTNESS 18 // change this to change overall brightness #define STARTING_BRIGHTNESS 128 // change this to change maximum brightness #define FADE_IN_SPEED 5 // lower number fades in slower #define FADE_OUT_SPEED 10 // higher number hangs around longer #define DENSITY 255 void setup() { delay(3000); FastLED.addLeds<LED_TYPE,LED_PIN,COLOR_ORDER>(leds, NUM_LEDS).setCorrection(TypicalLEDStrip); FastLED.setBrightness(MASTER_BRIGHTNESS); currentBlending = LINEARBLEND; } CRGBPalette16 gPalette; void loop() { //Un-comment the line with the colors you like best gPalette = OceanColors_p; //gPalette = RainbowColors_p; //gPalette = HeatColors_p; //gPalette = PartyColors_p; //gPalette = CloudColors_p; //gPalette = RainbowStripeColors_p; colortwinkles(); FastLED.show(); FastLED.delay(70); // change this to change overall speed } enum { GETTING_DARKER = 0, GETTING_BRIGHTER = 1 }; void colortwinkles() { // Make each pixel brighter or darker, depending on // its 'direction' flag. brightenOrDarkenEachPixel( FADE_IN_SPEED, FADE_OUT_SPEED); // Now consider adding a new random twinkle if( random8() < DENSITY ) { int pos = random16(NUM_LEDS); if( !leds[pos]) { leds[pos] = ColorFromPalette( gPalette, random8(), STARTING_BRIGHTNESS, NOBLEND); setPixelDirection(pos, GETTING_BRIGHTER); } } } void brightenOrDarkenEachPixel( fract8 fadeUpAmount, fract8 fadeDownAmount) { for( uint16_t i = 0; i < NUM_LEDS; i++) { if( getPixelDirection(i) == GETTING_DARKER) { // This pixel is getting darker leds[i] = makeDarker( leds[i], fadeDownAmount); } else { // This pixel is getting brighter leds[i] = makeBrighter( leds[i], fadeUpAmount); // now check to see if we've maxxed out the brightness if( leds[i].r == 255 || leds[i].g == 255 || leds[i].b == 255) { // if so, turn around and start getting darker setPixelDirection(i, GETTING_DARKER); } } } } CRGB makeBrighter( const CRGB& color, fract8 howMuchBrighter) { CRGB incrementalColor = color; incrementalColor.nscale8( howMuchBrighter); return color + incrementalColor; } CRGB makeDarker( const CRGB& color, fract8 howMuchDarker) { CRGB newcolor = color; newcolor.nscale8( 255 - howMuchDarker); return newcolor; } // For illustration purposes, there are two separate implementations // provided here for the array of 'directionFlags': // - a simple one, which uses one byte (8 bits) of RAM for each pixel, and // - a compact one, which uses just one BIT of RAM for each pixel. // Set this to 1 or 8 to select which implementation // of directionFlags is used. 1=more compact, 8=simpler. #define BITS_PER_DIRECTION_FLAG 1 #if BITS_PER_DIRECTION_FLAG == 8 // Simple implementation of the directionFlags array, // which takes up one byte (eight bits) per pixel. uint8_t directionFlags[NUM_LEDS]; bool getPixelDirection( uint16_t i) { return directionFlags[i]; } void setPixelDirection( uint16_t i, bool dir) { directionFlags[i] = dir; } #endif #if BITS_PER_DIRECTION_FLAG == 1 // Compact (but more complicated) implementation of // the directionFlags array, using just one BIT of RAM // per pixel. This requires a bunch of bit wrangling, // but conserves precious RAM. The cost is a few // cycles and about 100 bytes of flash program memory. uint8_t directionFlags[ (NUM_LEDS+7) / 8]; bool getPixelDirection( uint16_t i) { uint16_t index = i / 8; uint8_t bitNum = i & 0x07; // using Arduino 'bitRead' function; expanded code below return bitRead( directionFlags[index], bitNum); // uint8_t andMask = 1 << bitNum; // return (directionFlags[index] & andMask) != 0; } void setPixelDirection( uint16_t i, bool dir) { uint16_t index = i / 8; uint8_t bitNum = i & 0x07; // using Arduino 'bitWrite' function; expanded code below bitWrite( directionFlags[index], bitNum, dir); // uint8_t orMask = 1 << bitNum; // uint8_t andMask = 255 - orMask; // uint8_t value = directionFlags[index] & andMask; // if( dir ) { // value += orMask; // } // directionFlags[index] = value; } #endif
There are a number of things you can change in this code to get exactly the effect you're looking for with your necklace.
- Brightness: play with changing the MASTER_BRIGHTNESS and STARTING_BRIGHTNESS numbers
- Speed: play with the FADE_IN_SPEED and FADE_OUT_SPEED numbers
- Color Palette: Un-comment the palette featuring the colors you want, or check out the FastLED site for instructions on how to create your own palette
I used a moderate brightness so as not to blind people with Cosmic Turtle's shiny shell, and used an ocean palette since, well, Turtle.
If you encounter trouble…
Any time you hit a roadblock with a neopixel project, we’ll usually ask that you start with the “strandtest” example from our own Adafruit_NeoPixel library. This helps us narrow down whether it’s a hardware or software issue. The library is installed similarly to FastLED or any other in Arduino (Sketch > Include Library > Manage Libraries...
)
You’ll find the strandtest example under File→Sketchbook→Libraries→Adafruit_NeoPixel→strandtest
If strandtest fails to run, this suggests a hardware issue…for example, connecting to the wrong Gemma pin.
If you’re new to Arduino programming and LEDs, we usually suggest starting with the Adafruit_NeoPixel library…it’s pretty basic, the strip declaration is more conventional, and we can stay on top of keeping it compatible with our own products and the most mainstream Arduino boards.
As FastLED is a more “bleeding edge” third-party library, we can’t always guarantee compatibility across versions or with specific boards. You can find help through their community on Google+. This is potent stuff, written by people with a deep appreciation for LED art, and we wanted to showcase it.
Page last edited December 27, 2014
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