My son needs help with his homework and I know nothing about coding , he is trying to get a RGB strip to light up with increasing intensity as more pressure is applied to sensor while also randomizing a series of colors .(llike a light up shoe)
this is what he has which he knows is horribly wrong i am pretty sure this is C/C+, this is his hisrt ever coding class so his knowledge is fairly limited.
I also know it is in french but it might still make sense to some of you
int valeur1 = 0; //variable de type integer pour enregistrer analog A0
int valeur2 = 0; //variable de type integer pour enregistrer analog A0
int valeur3 = 0;
int valeur4 = 0;
int valeur5 = 0;
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600); //commence le serial pour ecrire les données
pinMode(A0,INPUT_PULLUP); //prepare A0 pour le pressure sensor
pinMode(3,OUTPUT); //prepare pin 3 pour output de 5V
pinMode(5,OUTPUT);
pinMode(6,OUTPUT);
}
Do you have any specs on the RGB strip and how the host system is connected to it (what are the three output pins connected to on the RGB strip)?
Edit: I guess it doesn't really matter.
I'd start by just reading the analog input and putting that value on the three outputs and verify that he can see a color change based off the pressure input.
I think it's been said a few times in this thread already but he needs to break it down into smaller chunks. [Reply]
Originally Posted by stanleychief:
Very true for the real world. For Arduino sketches though, it's pretty simplified. OO design here would likely be overkill. For a sketch file, you essentially have two methods that execute: setup and loop.
In setup, you initialize your variables, pins, etc. In loop, you put in the code that will repeatedly execute in a loop.
Considering the stated objectives, I'd solve the problem in the loop code like so:
* Read the pressure sensor value and convert that to a decimal value between 0 and 1.
* Generate random values for red, green and blue LEDs and store those values into three variables.
* Multiply each of those three variables by the converted pressure sensor value.
* Write the three values to the RGB LED output pins.
Well explained with a great algorithm added! Rep! [Reply]
Originally Posted by Monticore:
Appreciate the help guys , not sure if he figured it out i went to bed but will let you know
I think the question is mostly answered in here already, but just an aside as to coding style...he needs to give useful names to his variables. Just saying x, y, z equals something makes it difficult to follow the logic, even in his own head.
Also (and I've never worked with this Arduino stuff), since he already is setting up the serial port for comms, will Serial.print work as someone suggested? Or will that output over the current serial port link? [Reply]
Originally Posted by kepp:
I think the question is mostly answered in here already, but just an aside as to coding style...he needs to give useful names to his variables. Just saying x, y, z equals something makes it difficult to follow the logic, even in his own head.
Also (and I've never worked with this Arduino stuff), since he already is setting up the serial port for comms, will Serial.print work as someone suggested? Or will that output over the current serial port link?
Yep, Serial.print should work as well. I recommended Serial.println, which simply tacks on a linefeed as a convenience.
When doing Arduino programming and debugging, the serial line is how you write and read data from the device as it is operating. In essence, your IDE compiles down the C++ sketch file into a binary, uploads that over the serial line to the Arduino device, and then resets it. The reset makes it execute your code. The serial connection remains open, and any messages from the Arduino are sent across. [Reply]
Originally Posted by kepp:
I think the question is mostly answered in here already, but just an aside as to coding style...he needs to give useful names to his variables. Just saying x, y, z equals something makes it difficult to follow the logic, even in his own head.
Also (and I've never worked with this Arduino stuff), since he already is setting up the serial port for comms, will Serial.print work as someone suggested? Or will that output over the current serial port link?
I have no idea what anybody is talking about lol but he was trying some of the stuff suggested , not sure where he is at with it , he is working on it at school .
Normally I would spend the next few months and hundreds of hours learning some coding to be able to help him out but I have absolutely no interest . [Reply]
I’m not a coder, (although I am an engineer by education) but I do know Arduino the company extremely well.
Where you want to go is the Arduino forum https://forum.arduino.cc/
There are 1M members and you are likely to find plenty of good ideas and assistance. [Reply]
This is a little difficult given the lack of context to the code. I'm assuming the outputs 3,5 & 6 are in relation to RGB color. If not disregard this message. I don't see how you would add intensity based on the pressure sensor unless it is saying pin 3 determines power. IF that is the case we want to tie that to valuer1 and I would have to have more info on how the colors are determined.
I rewrote the loop for what I think would give you a random changing light every second, but without more information on the board with regard to setting intensity, I can't help you there.
void loop() {
valeur1 = analogRead(A0);
delay(1000);
valeur2 = (200 / valeur1); //need context on what these are for
valeur3 = (valeur2 * valeur2); //need context on what these are for
valeur4 = random(255); // three random values. One for each RGB. If you use only one you will be limited to 255 colors.
valeur5 = random(255);
valeur6 = random(255);
I just hope this kid renames the variables before turning in the code. If I were grading the assignment, I'd be raising an eyebrow if the variables were French. :-)
I once worked on some client's code, which was apparently written by a guy named Eric. Every variable in his code was prefixed with 'eric'. So the SQL DB connection was 'ericDbConn', and the result set was 'ericDbResult', the datarow object was 'ericDbRow', etc.
I thought that was pretty damned hilarious! [Reply]
