Help with LED Lamp concept.

Ok, I think I see the problem.

With PNP transistors the output will be inverted, ie. The LEDs switch on when the Arduino pin is LOW. This is the opposite of when you connect it directly.

Try changing all your analogWrite(X,Y) to analogWrite(X,255-Y).

fungus:
Try changing all your analogWrite(X,Y) to analogWrite(X,255-Y).

I get a bunch of Code errors .

That shouldn't create any errors. What are you seeing?

Are these the three analogWrite I should change

analogWrite(R_PIN, v.x);
analogWrite(G_PIN, v.y)
analogWrite(B_PIN, v.z);

Yes

But the Code is v.x ,so I am not sure what to do.

There's a few easy ways to do it. You can do it in the calculations that construct the values you're outputting, you can change the values you define for the maximum and minimum (and change the direction of your traverse) or you can do it in the analogWrite() like was outlined above:

    // set the colour in the LED
    analogWrite(R_PIN, 255-v.x);
    analogWrite(G_PIN, 255-v.y);
    analogWrite(B_PIN, 255-v.z);

All compiles. Should work.

Geoff

And we have a winner. Works Great. I have to try to get it to do one more thing.

I am going to try to do it on my own. But will most likely need some help.

Will fill you in soon.

Thanks once more guys

Ok, I am down to the last piece of the puzzle.

I have now added a switch and 5 more functions.

What I am looking to make it do is ...

At power up all ls off.

Press Button : All RGB on to make white.

Press Button : only RED

Press Button : only Green

Press Button : only Blue

Press Button : Transition.

Press Button : All off.

I got it to work up until the transition.

Once it is in transition mode I cant turn it off. It also does not Loop once it is in Transition Mode

Now I know it has to do with the Delays in the code, And I looked at the blink with out Delay example to see if I could figure it out, but had no luck.

//RGB w/Tarnistion

#define RED 4
#define GREEN 0
#define BLUE 1
#define delayTime 70

int switchPin = 3;         
long previousMillis = 0;        
long interval = 0;          
int val;
int val2;
int buttonState;
int mode = 0;

/*
 RGB LED - Automatic Smooth Color Cycling

 Marco Colli
 April 2012 
 Uses the properties of the RGB Colour Cube
 The RGB colour space can be viewed as a cube of colour. If we assume a cube of dimension 1, then the 
 coordinates of the vertices for the cubve will range from (0,0,0) to (1,1,1) (all black to all white).
 The transitions between each vertex will be a smooth colour flow and we can exploit this by using the 
 path coordinates as the LED transition effect. 
*/
// Tranistion Setup


// Constants for readability are better than magic numbers
// Used to adjust the limits for the LED, especially if it has a lower ON threshold
#define  MIN_RGB_VALUE  10   // no smaller than 0. 
#define  MAX_RGB_VALUE  255  // no bigger than 255.



// Slowing things down we need ...
#define  TRANSITION_DELAY  70   // in milliseconds, between individual light changes
#define  WAIT_DELAY        500 // in milliseconds, at the end of each traverse
//
// Total traversal time is ((MAX_RGB_VALUE - MIN_RGB_VALUE) * TRANSITION_DELAY) + WAIT_DELAY
// eg, ((255-0)*70)+500 = 18350ms = 18.35s

// Structure to contain a 3D coordinate
typedef struct
{
  byte  x, y, z;
} 
coord;

static coord  v; // the current rgb coordinates (colour) being displayed


const coord vertex[] = 
{
  //x  y  z      name
  {
    0, 0, 0    }
  , // A or 0
  {
    0, 1, 0    }
  , // B or 1
  {
    0, 1, 1    }
  , // C or 2
  {
    0, 0, 1    }
  , // D or 3
  {
    1, 0, 0    }
  , // E or 4
  {
    1, 1, 0    }
  , // F or 5
  {
    1, 1, 1    }
  , // G or 6
  {
    1, 0, 1    }  // H or 7
};

const byte path[] =
{
  0x01, 0x23, 0x76, 0x54, 0x03, 0x21, 0x56, 0x74,  // trace the edges
  0x13, 0x64, 0x16, 0x02, 0x75, 0x24, 0x35, 0x17, 0x25, 0x70,  // do the diagonals
};

#define  MAX_PATH_SIZE  (sizeof(path)/sizeof(path[0]))  // size of the array





void setup() {

  pinMode(switchPin, INPUT);
  digitalWrite(switchPin, HIGH); 

  pinMode(GREEN, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(BLUE, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(RED, OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(GREEN, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(BLUE, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(RED, HIGH);
  buttonState = digitalRead(switchPin);
}



void Red(){
  digitalWrite(GREEN, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(BLUE, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(RED, LOW);
}

void Green(){
  digitalWrite(GREEN, LOW);
  digitalWrite(BLUE, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(RED, HIGH);
}

void Blue(){
  digitalWrite(GREEN, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(BLUE, LOW);
  digitalWrite(RED, HIGH);
}

void White(){
  digitalWrite(GREEN, LOW);
  digitalWrite(BLUE, LOW);
  digitalWrite(RED, LOW);
}  

void off(){
  digitalWrite(GREEN, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(BLUE, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(RED, HIGH);
}  

void traverse(int dx, int dy, int dz)
// Move along the colour line from where we are to the next vertex of the cube.
// The transition is achieved by applying the 'delta' value to the coordinate.
// By definition all the coordinates will complete the transition at the same 
// time as we only have one loop index.
{
  if ((dx == 0) && (dy == 0) && (dz == 0))   // no point looping if we are staying in the same spot!
    return;

  for (int i = 0; i < MAX_RGB_VALUE-MIN_RGB_VALUE; i++, v.x += dx, v.y += dy, v.z += dz)
  {
    // set the colour in the LED
    analogWrite(RED, 255-v.x);
    analogWrite(GREEN, 255-v.y);
    analogWrite(BLUE, 255-v.z);

    delay(TRANSITION_DELAY);  // wait fot the transition delay
  }

  delay(WAIT_DELAY);          // give it an extra rest at the end of the traverse
}


void RGB()
{
  int    v1, v2=0;    // the new vertex and the previous one

  // initialise the place we start from as the first vertex in the array
  v.x = (vertex[v2].x ? MAX_RGB_VALUE : MIN_RGB_VALUE);
  v.y = (vertex[v2].y ? MAX_RGB_VALUE : MIN_RGB_VALUE);
  v.z = (vertex[v2].z ? MAX_RGB_VALUE : MIN_RGB_VALUE);

  // Now just loop through the path, traversing from one point to the next
  for (int i = 0; i < 2*MAX_PATH_SIZE; i++)
  {
    // !! loop index is double what the path index is as it is a nybble index !!
    v1 = v2;
    if (i&1)  // odd number is the second element and ...
      v2 = path[i>>1] & 0xf;  // ... the bottom nybble (index /2) or ...
    else      // ... even number is the first element and ...
    v2 = path[i>>1] >> 4;  // ... the top nybble

    traverse(vertex[v2].x-vertex[v1].x, 
    vertex[v2].y-vertex[v1].y, 
    vertex[v2].z-vertex[v1].z);
  }
}



void loop(){
  val = digitalRead(switchPin);      // read input value and store it in val
  delay(10);                         // 10 milliseconds
  val2 = digitalRead(switchPin);

  if (val == val2){
    if (val != buttonState){
      if (val == LOW){

        if (mode == 0){
          White ();
          mode = 1;
        }
        else if (mode == 1){
          Red();
          mode = 2;
        }
        else if (mode == 2){
          Green();
          mode = 3;
        }
        else if (mode == 3){
          Blue();
          mode = 4;
        }
        else if (mode == 4){
          RGB ();
          mode = 5;
        }
        else if (mode == 5){
          off();
          mode = 0;
        }
      }


      buttonState = val;
    }
  }

}

Hi

Let's see if I can tell you this in a way that makes sense. Apologies if I fail first time :slight_smile:

The problem isn't the delay, the problem is the for loop that's in the RGB function. What happens with all the other states is you test the switch and do something then immediately return to loop(). With RGB though, there's that for loop which traverses from one colour to the other. While the code is in that loop, you're not testing the state of the switch so it gets ignored. When the traverse is complete it will come back to loop() to start testing the switch again. There may be more wrong with this logic, but that's the first that hits me.

One solution would be to check for the button state each time around that for loop, but that's not the way I'd do it. Rather than duplicating the switch testing code, make RGB not complete the entire loop before returning, but just complete one more step in the traverse. That way your logic will return to loop() to test your switch value and exit from the traverse if needed in between each step.

Hope that makes sense, Geoff

Geoff,

Thanks for the reply, I now understand why its not working. But because I am still learning I have no clue how to fix it.

So far in this little project I have learned a lot. I now know more about running LED's In parallel, in series and in series/parallel. I have learned about PNP and NPN transistors. I have played with the code to do a few different things. But because I did not wright the code I really don't fully understand it. That all being said I have no clue how to fix it.

I am thinking once I get this project done and see how it all works it will help me with future projects.

I have just spent a grand on a laser engraver and upgrades to is. I have planes to incorporate the Laser and the wood working that I do with some of the lighting I have been playing with using the Arduino.

I know I am asking a lot, but if someone is willing to not only show me how to fix it but explain to it me so I can learn. I would be willing to make it worth their time

Thanks

Hi,

I took a quick look at your code and noticed that your "traverse" process uses a nested for-loop structure. Currently, there are no conditions in place to "break out" of these loops when the buttons are pressed.

Since you've already declared your button state variables globally, I would suggest making a new function that you can call that checks the states of those buttons. Creating this function would make it re-usable and accessible by other parts of your program. I would call this new function at the top of the loop()-(replace the button checking code already there). Then you can also call this new function from within those for-loops to check if the buttons have been pressed, and "break;" out of the loop as needed. Keep in mind you would want to break out of both loops on a single button press so you may want to create new variable to manage this cascading breaking so that it completes before the button is released.

http://arduino.cc/en/Reference/Break

Skorn

I really appreciate your input but I have no clue on what I am doing. Like I said I did not write the code that transition the colors.

On a side note, Anyone know of any clubs in the West Palm area of Florida. I have gotten a few books and have been reading all I can online. But I learn better by seeing it done and then trying to do it.

Am I on on the right path.

It now will turn off, but its also not transitioning the colors

//RGB w/Tarnistion

#define RED 4
#define GREEN 0
#define BLUE 1
#define delayTime 70

int switchPin = 3;         
long previousMillis = 0;        
long interval = 0;          
int val;
int val2;
int buttonState;
int mode = 0;

/*
 RGB LED - Automatic Smooth Color Cycling

 Marco Colli
 April 2012 
 Uses the properties of the RGB Colour Cube
 The RGB colour space can be viewed as a cube of colour. If we assume a cube of dimension 1, then the 
 coordinates of the vertices for the cubve will range from (0,0,0) to (1,1,1) (all black to all white).
 The transitions between each vertex will be a smooth colour flow and we can exploit this by using the 
 path coordinates as the LED transition effect. 
*/
// Tranistion Setup


// Constants for readability are better than magic numbers
// Used to adjust the limits for the LED, especially if it has a lower ON threshold
#define  MIN_RGB_VALUE  10   // no smaller than 0. 
#define  MAX_RGB_VALUE  255  // no bigger than 255.



// Slowing things down we need ...
#define  TRANSITION_DELAY  70   // in milliseconds, between individual light changes
#define  WAIT_DELAY        500 // in milliseconds, at the end of each traverse
//
// Total traversal time is ((MAX_RGB_VALUE - MIN_RGB_VALUE) * TRANSITION_DELAY) + WAIT_DELAY
// eg, ((255-0)*70)+500 = 18350ms = 18.35s

// Structure to contain a 3D coordinate
typedef struct
{
  byte  x, y, z;
} 
coord;

static coord  v; // the current rgb coordinates (colour) being displayed


const coord vertex[] = 
{
  //x  y  z      name
  {
    0, 0, 0    }
  , // A or 0
  {
    0, 1, 0    }
  , // B or 1
  {
    0, 1, 1    }
  , // C or 2
  {
    0, 0, 1    }
  , // D or 3
  {
    1, 0, 0    }
  , // E or 4
  {
    1, 1, 0    }
  , // F or 5
  {
    1, 1, 1    }
  , // G or 6
  {
    1, 0, 1    }  // H or 7
};

const byte path[] =
{
  0x01, 0x23, 0x76, 0x54, 0x03, 0x21, 0x56, 0x74,  // trace the edges
  0x13, 0x64, 0x16, 0x02, 0x75, 0x24, 0x35, 0x17, 0x25, 0x70,  // do the diagonals
};

#define  MAX_PATH_SIZE  (sizeof(path)/sizeof(path[0]))  // size of the array





void setup() {

  pinMode(switchPin, INPUT);
  digitalWrite(switchPin, HIGH); 

  pinMode(GREEN, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(BLUE, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(RED, OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(GREEN, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(BLUE, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(RED, HIGH);
  buttonState = digitalRead(switchPin);
}



void Red(){
  digitalWrite(GREEN, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(BLUE, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(RED, LOW);
}

void Green(){
  digitalWrite(GREEN, LOW);
  digitalWrite(BLUE, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(RED, HIGH);
}

void Blue(){
  digitalWrite(GREEN, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(BLUE, LOW);
  digitalWrite(RED, HIGH);
}

void White(){
  digitalWrite(GREEN, LOW);
  digitalWrite(BLUE, LOW);
  digitalWrite(RED, LOW);
}  

void off(){
  digitalWrite(GREEN, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(BLUE, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(RED, HIGH);
}  

void Button(){
   val = digitalRead(switchPin);      // read input value and store it in val
  delay(10);                         // 10 milliseconds
  val2 = digitalRead(switchPin);
}

void traverse(int dx, int dy, int dz)
// Move along the colour line from where we are to the next vertex of the cube.
// The transition is achieved by applying the 'delta' value to the coordinate.
// By definition all the coordinates will complete the transition at the same 
// time as we only have one loop index.
{
  if ((dx == 0) && (dy == 0) && (dz == 0))   // no point looping if we are staying in the same spot!
    return;

  for (int i = 0; i < MAX_RGB_VALUE-MIN_RGB_VALUE; i++, v.x += dx, v.y += dy, v.z += dz)
  {
    // set the colour in the LED
    analogWrite(RED, 255-v.x);
    analogWrite(GREEN, 255-v.y);
    analogWrite(BLUE, 255-v.z);

    delay(TRANSITION_DELAY);  // wait fot the transition delay
  }

  delay(WAIT_DELAY);          // give it an extra rest at the end of the traverse
}


void RGB()

{
  int    v1, v2=0;    // the new vertex and the previous one

  // initialise the place we start from as the first vertex in the array
  v.x = (vertex[v2].x ? MAX_RGB_VALUE : MIN_RGB_VALUE);
  v.y = (vertex[v2].y ? MAX_RGB_VALUE : MIN_RGB_VALUE);
  v.z = (vertex[v2].z ? MAX_RGB_VALUE : MIN_RGB_VALUE);

  // Now just loop through the path, traversing from one point to the next
  for (int i = 0; i < 2*MAX_PATH_SIZE; i++)
  {
    // !! loop index is double what the path index is as it is a nybble index !!
    v1 = v2;
    if (i&1)  // odd number is the second element and ...
      v2 = path[i>>1] & 0xf;  // ... the bottom nybble (index /2) or ...
    else      // ... even number is the first element and ...
    v2 = path[i>>1] >> 4;  // ... the top nybble

    traverse(vertex[v2].x-vertex[v1].x, 
    vertex[v2].y-vertex[v1].y, 
    vertex[v2].z-vertex[v1].z);
   break;
   Button();
  }
 
}



void loop(){
 Button();

  if (val == val2){
    if (val != buttonState){
      if (val == LOW){

        if (mode == 0){
          White ();
          mode = 1;
        }
        else if (mode == 1){
          Red();
          mode = 2;
        }
        else if (mode == 2){
          Green();
          mode = 3;
        }
        else if (mode == 3){
          Blue();
          mode = 4;
        }
        else if (mode == 4){
          RGB ();
          mode = 5;
        }
        else if (mode == 5){
          off();
          mode = 0;
        }
      }


      buttonState = val;
    }
  }

}

Kculm,

It looks like you're on the right track. Im going to suggest some preliminary changes to try a few things and we could take it from there...

BTW, strykeroz, I didn't mean to hijack this thread. I've been lurking on this forum for a long time now and have gleened much, I would like to give back to this community...

It looks as though you've implimented variables val and val2 as some kind of debouncing routine, which is fine. This leads me to ask what the buttonstate variable is meant to do or handle? Perhaps it is redundant now?

I don't want to make assumptions so please confirm that you would like each button press switch to the next mode. If thats the case you could consider that the button() function can incriment the mode++ for you. If you impliment this, you can simplify your loop() function to directly execute a mode based on the variable mode value.

To break out of a loop you would need to call the button() function, then evaluate if mode has changed, if so break;:

// within a for loop where 4 is the mode you want to break out from
button();
if(mode!=4) break;

(looks like we were both posting at the same time Skorn - FWIW here's my thoughts)

Kculm,

You have a break statement inside your loop now and it's not tied to a result from a switch read - it just breaks the loop each time - therefore that loop won't have a chance to complete the transition. What Skorn posted was that you could have a function to read the switch and act on it, that would also fire off the break statement if a switch press were detected. Since val and val2 are global in your code, you can do this by giving your button function a return value, something like this:

boolean Button() {
   val = digitalRead(switchPin);      // read input value and store it in val
  delay(10);                         // 10 milliseconds
  val2 = digitalRead(switchPin);

  if(val == val2 && val == LOW) return true; 
  else return false;
}

Then, in your traverse loop it looks something like this:

  // Now just loop through the path, traversing from one point to the next
  for (int i = 0; i < 2*MAX_PATH_SIZE; i++)
  {
    // !! loop index is double what the path index is as it is a nybble index !!
    v1 = v2;
    if (i&1)  // odd number is the second element and ...
      v2 = path[i>>1] & 0xf;  // ... the bottom nybble (index /2) or ...
    else      // ... even number is the first element and ...
    v2 = path[i>>1] >> 4;  // ... the top nybble

    traverse(vertex[v2].x-vertex[v1].x, 
    vertex[v2].y-vertex[v1].y, 
    vertex[v2].z-vertex[v1].z);
   if (Button()) break;      // <-- this replaces the two lines currently at the end 
  }

Can't vouch for the rest of the logic, but this should step you forward some.

Cheers ! Geoff

(strykeroz, I'll back out of this discussion to avoid creating any confusion.)

Just a final thought. Kculm, Since your RGB() function calls the traverse function every iteration in a for-loop. You'll need to add another conditional break statement there.

Skorn:
(strykeroz, I'll back out of this discussion to avoid creating any confusion.)

Please don't. There's always multiple ways to skin a cat in code :slight_smile:

strykeroz:

Skorn:
(strykeroz, I'll back out of this discussion to avoid creating any confusion.)

Please don't. There's always multiple ways to skin a cat in code :slight_smile:

I also ask that you keep adding your input, every little bit helps.

I am getting to the point where I feel that Arduino Programming is not for me. I have been playing with the Arduino for almost 3 months and I am not as far a long as I would like to be. Not that I have not been trying.

I put a side at a minimum 2hr (More on the weekend) each night to mess with the Arduion. I Search the Web, watch YouTube and read this forum a long with a few others. I picked up a few books a long the way. But nothing helps me as much as the input I get from this Forum and it members. So please keep the post coming.

But guys I do ask one thing. I am nowhere on the same level as you all and some of the things that are said go over my head.

So to Fungus, Skorn and Strykeroz

Learning to code is something that needs proper study, not just hacking around.

If you're serious about Arduino you're going to have to read some non-Arduino coding tutorials.