Interactive LED Circuit

 This week I applied some of the in-class coding lessons to an interactive LED Circuit. My main idea was to create a system where half the LEDs go off and once interaction happens the other half would go off. In the simple example, I created this week, the 1st, 3rd, and 5th light go off together in a row, then the 2nd and 4th go off together once the potentiometer changes reading.

I found success in creating what I wanted to for this week, though I certainly see the potential for similar code to be used on a larger and more complex scale. For more on that see the end of the post. The challenges I encountered were mainly associated with knowing how to order the code for it to work properly. I knew all the pieces necessary for this idea to function, but I wasn't sure what had to happen first. Once I was able to figure that out, the code worked well. The only problem that remains is the last LED in each light sequence doesn't fade in and out, it just flashes on. I still don't know why this is only happening to one of the lights. The other problem I had was more of an issue with the hardware, I wanted to make this with 6 lights, but it seems like there is a small piece of metal jammed into 'pin 8' of my Aurdino. I hope to figure out how to remove it or get a new one for next week.

Here is the code for the circuit:

// These constants won't change. They're used to give names to the pins used: const int lowestPin = 9; const int highestPin = 13; int sensorValue = 0; // variable to store the value coming from the sensor int sensorPin = A0; // select the input pin for the potentiometer void setup() { // set pins 9 through 12 as outputs: for (int thisPin = lowestPin; thisPin <= highestPin; thisPin++) { pinMode(thisPin, OUTPUT); } Serial.begin(9600); } void loop() { sensorValue = analogRead(sensorPin); if(sensorValue < 150){ // iterate over the pins: for (int thisPin = lowestPin; thisPin <= highestPin; thisPin+=2) { // fade the LED on thisPin from off to brightest: for (int brightness = 0; brightness < 255; brightness++) { analogWrite(thisPin, brightness); delay(2); } // fade the LED on thisPin from brightest to off: for (int brightness = 255; brightness >= 0; brightness--) { analogWrite(thisPin, brightness); delay(2); } // pause between LEDs: delay(100); } }else{ for (int thisPin = lowestPin+1; thisPin <= highestPin; thisPin+=2) { // fade the LED on thisPin from off to brightest: for (int brightness = 0; brightness < 255; brightness++) { analogWrite(thisPin, brightness); delay(2); } // fade the LED on thisPin from brightest to off: for (int brightness = 255; brightness >= 0; brightness--) { analogWrite(thisPin, brightness); delay(2); } // pause between LEDs: delay(100); } } Serial.println(sensorValue); }

Here is a top view of the circuit:

Here is a front view of the circuit:

Here is the video of the circuit working:

This circuit could be used for any art piece that has two different focuses, or pieces in the same work that need to be highlighted separately. Taking inspiration from neon signs that create the illusion of motion with different lights flashing on and off, my idea is that an LED sign would read the word “Why?” but instead of switching on its own, the sign would only switch to the second version of itself when interacted with. Though the current circuit is working with a potentiometer, this idea would be more effective with something that picks up the sound of someone asking “Why?” out loud. This is because once the sign is ‘activated’ by the viewer the question mark would disappear and a second line would appear so the sign now reads “Why not?”

The sign would need to be placed in a fairly dark room to keep the second part hidden, or it could be hidden behind paper. The words would be written on a dark background and they could be framed in a weirdly ornate frame, for some juxtaposition to the simplified sans-serif type. The word “why” would be static, the first question mark would fade in and out, and once interacted with the word “not.” The second question mark would fade in and out as well. I would want the “not” part to flash on and off for a few seconds and then revert back to the first version, so the timing of this would also need to be adjusted in the code.

Here is a quick sketch of my application idea: