See this guide for instructions on installing the library: Arduino Libraries | All About Arduino Libraries | Adafruit Learning System
About the code:
The code below will run on most models of Arduino. It has been tested on the Uno, Mega and Leonardo. To get up and running quickly, just compile and upload the code. But when you get a chance, take a closer look to see how it is put together.This code makes use of a couple of very useful programming techniques:
- Object Oriented Programming - Each pair of eyes is modeled using the "blinker" class to simplify management of multiple independent pairs. To add another pair of eyes, simply change maxEyes.
-
State Machines - The "blinker" class is implemented as a state machine. It does not use delays for timing. You just need to call the 'step()' member on a regular basis to update its state. This means that the phase and timing of one pair of eyes is completely independent of the other pairs, and your code can do other useful work in-between calls to 'step()'.
/*****************************************************************************
Random Eyes sketch for WS2801 pixels
W. Earl 10/16/11
For Adafruit Industries
Creates randomized pairs of WS2801 led pixels that look like eyes peering
from the darkness.
Blinking is implemented as an array of state machines so that multiple pairs
of eyes can be active concurrently, but in different phases of a blink.
*****************************************************************************/
#include "SPI.h"
#include "Adafruit_WS2801.h"
int dataPin = 2;
int clockPin = 3;
const int numPixels = 24; // Change this if using more than one strand
const int maxEyes = 3; // maximum number of concurrently active blinkers
// dead-time between lighting of a range of pixels
const int deadTimeMin = 50;
const int deadTimeMax = 500;
// interval between blink starts - independent of position
const int intervalMin = 10;
const int intervalMax = 300;
const int stepInterval = 10;
long lastStep = 0;
Adafruit_WS2801 strip = Adafruit_WS2801(numPixels, dataPin, clockPin);
/*****************************************************************************
Blinker Class
Implements a state machine which generates a blink of random duration and color.
The blink uses two adjacent pixels and ramps the intensity up, then down, with
a random repeat now and again.
*****************************************************************************/
class blinker
{
public:
boolean m_active; // blinker is in use.
int m_deadTime; // don't re-use this pair immediately
int m_pos; // position of the 'left' eye. the 'right' eye is m_pos + 1
int m_red; // RGB components of the color
int m_green;
int m_blue;
int m_increment; // ramp increment - determines blink speed
int m_repeats; // not used
int m_intensity; // current ramp intensity
public:
// Constructor - start as inactive
blinker()
{
m_active = false;
}
// Create a 24 bit color value from R,G,B
uint32_t Color(byte r, byte g, byte b)
{
uint32_t c;
c = r;
c <<= 8;
c |= g;
c <<= 8;
c |= b;
return c;
}
// Initiate a blink at the specified pixel position
// All other blink parameters are randomly generated
void StartBlink(int pos)
{
m_pos = pos;
// Pick a random color - skew toward red/orange/yellow part of the spectrum for extra creepyness
m_red = random(150, 255);
m_blue = 0;
m_green = random(100);
m_repeats += random(1, 3);
// set blink speed and deadtime between blinks
m_increment = random(1, 6);
m_deadTime = random(deadTimeMin, deadTimeMax);
// Mark as active and start at intensity zero
m_active = true;
m_intensity = 0;
}
// Step the state machine:
void step()
{
if (!m_active)
{
// count down the dead-time when the blink is done
if (m_deadTime > 0)
{
m_deadTime--;
}
return;
}
// Increment the intensity
m_intensity += m_increment;
if (m_intensity >= 75) // max out at 75 - then start counting down
{
m_increment = -m_increment;
m_intensity += m_increment;
}
if (m_intensity <= 0)
{
// make sure pixels all are off
strip.setPixelColor(m_pos, Color(0,0,0));
strip.setPixelColor(m_pos+1, Color(0,0,0));
if (--m_repeats <= 0) // Are we done?
{
m_active = false;
}
else // no - start to ramp up again
{
m_increment = random(1, 5);
}
return;
}
// Generate the color at the current intensity level
int r = map(m_red, 0, 255, 0, m_intensity);
int g = map(m_green, 0, 255, 0, m_intensity);
int b = map(m_blue, 0, 255, 0, m_intensity);
uint32_t color = Color(r, g, b);
// Write to both 'eyes'
strip.setPixelColor(m_pos, color);
strip.setPixelColor(m_pos +1, color);
}
};
// An array of blinkers - this is the maximum number of concurrently active blinks
blinker blinkers[maxEyes];
// A delay between starting new blinks
int countdown;
void setup()
{
Serial.begin(9600);
// initialize the strip
strip.begin();
strip.show();
countdown = 0;
}
void loop()
{
if (millis() - lastStep > stepInterval)
{
lastStep = millis();
--countdown;
for(int i = 0; i < maxEyes; i++)
{
// Only start a blink if the countdown is expired and there is an available blinker
if ((countdown <= 0) && (blinkers[i].m_active == false))
{
int newPos = random(0, numPixels/2) * 2;
for(int j = 0; j < maxEyes; j++)
{
// avoid active or recently active pixels
if ((blinkers[j].m_deadTime > 0) && (abs(newPos - blinkers[j].m_pos) < 4))
{
Serial.print("-");
Serial.print(newPos);
newPos = -1; // collision - do not start
break;
}
}
if (newPos >= 0) // if we have a valid pixel to start with...
{
Serial.print(i);
Serial.print(" Activate - ");
Serial.println(newPos);
blinkers[i].StartBlink(newPos);
countdown = random(intervalMin, intervalMax); // random delay to next start
}
}
// step all the state machines
blinkers[i].step();
}
// update the strip
strip.show();
}
}
