A VERY complex LED Blink Sketch

Other Hardware LEDs and Multiplexing
1

I've spent a couple hours putting this together. Here's what it is supposed to do:
Blink 5 LEDs; Each LED will blink at a different rate. Each LED will blink X number of times (a number 1 thru 9). There is a 4 second delay at the end of the sequence, and then it will repeat it's blinking value.
I've tested it with 1 LED, and it seems to be working, except the delay/pause at the end of the sequence is not working. I can't figure out why, if someone could take a look I'd sure appreciate it.

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>
#ifdef __AVR__
#include <avr/power.h>
#endif

#define neopixelPIN 4
#define pixelCount 5

Adafruit_NeoPixel pixels = Adafruit_NeoPixel(pixelCount, neopixelPIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);

unsigned long pixelMillis[6]; //duration since last blink of each pixel
unsigned long pixelDelay[] = {500, 1200, 800, 650, 1500}; //delay between individual blinks
unsigned long sequenceDelay = 4000; //delay before starting a new blink sequence
boolean pixelIsActive[6]; //used to track if the pixel should blink
boolean pixelOn[6]; //used to track if the pixel is currently on
int pixelBlinkCount[6] = {5, 6, 8, 4, 2}; //number of times each pixel should blink
int pixelCurrentBlink[6]; //used to track the current number of blinks for each pixel

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  pixels.begin();
  pixels.show(); // Initialize all pixels to 'off'
  pixelIsActive[0] = true; //Testing with the first pixel
}

void loop() {
  for (int i = 0; i < 6; i++) { //loop thru the 6 LEDs
    if (millis() - pixelMillis[i] > pixelDelay[i]) { //is it time to blink this pixel?
      pixelMillis[i] = millis(); //reset the timer for the current pixel
      if (pixelIsActive[i]) { //is the pixel is active?
        pixelOn[i] = !pixelOn[i];  //toggle it's state
        if (pixelOn[i]) { //is the pixel now on?
          pixels.setPixelColor(i, pixels.Color(0, 150, 0)); // Moderately bright green color.
          pixelCurrentBlink[i] += 1; //increase the blink count by one
        }
        else { //the pixel should not be on right now
          pixels.setPixelColor(i, pixels.Color(0, 0, 0)); //Turn off the pixel.
          if (pixelCurrentBlink[i] == pixelBlinkCount[i]) { //have we reached the last blink in the sequence?
            pixelCurrentBlink[i] = 0; //reset the sequence
            pixelMillis[i] = millis() + sequenceDelay; //this should make it wait before starting up again, but it doesn't work
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
  pixels.show();
}
2

To clarify, even though I have the sequence delay set to 4 seconds, it seems to just pause at the end of the sequence for 1 extra cycle of the normal blink delay. Something is wrong with the line:
pixelMillis = millis() + sequenceDelay; //sequenceDelay is 4000 or 4 seconds
It seems to me that this would set the LED's timer 'ahead' 4 seconds, and thus it wouldn't come back on until this line is true:
if (millis() - pixelMillis > pixelDelay*) { //is it time to blink this pixel?*
...but it doesn't wait the 4 seconds to repeat, it starts blinking again after the LED's delay as set by pixelDelay[]
I must be missing something obvious.

3

Off topic, but if you are stuck try using my multiblink sketch located with my libraries. It allows basically unlimited patterns driven by a data table.

4

SouthernAtHeart:
Something is wrong with the line:
pixelMillis = millis() + sequenceDelay; //sequenceDelay is 4000 or 4 seconds
It seems to me that this would set the LED's timer 'ahead' 4 seconds, and thus it wouldn't come back on until this line is true:
if (millis() - pixelMillis > pixelDelay*) { //is it time to blink this pixel?*
[/quote]
Hi, I may have spotted your error:
pixelMillis[] is of type unsigned long. So if you set it to a future time, then millis() - pixelMillis[ i ] should go negative, but of course it can't, so instead it goes to a very large positive value, which is bound to be greater than pixelDelay[ i ].
In other words, you must never set pixelMillis[] to a future time. Instead, you must find a way change pixelDelay[ i ] to sequenceDelay for one period, then go back to its original value.
Paul

5

Thanks. I never thought of that.
I'll just add one more variable to track the end of sequence time for each LED.