How would I program an arduino with LEDS/photocells using a relay module so that when I swiped up on a series of photocells, the LEDS would stay lit, and once the top one was activated, an external light would turn on?
First step is to forget about the program as such- at least in a formal, code sense- and list in detail exactly what the steps are. You have it in your mind I guess, and listed it in broad outline already, but now you need to list it more fully.
JimboZA:
First step is to forget about the program as such- at least in a formal, code sense- and list in detail exactly what the steps are. You have it in your mind I guess, and listed it in broad outline already, but now you need to list it more fully.
- user runs finger up a line of 6 photocell sensors paired with 6 LED's
- photocells activate each LED's
- LED's stay lit as the users finger runs over each cell
- once you reach the top (6th) LED an external light turns on [through a relay module]
- in order to turn off the external light, you must repeat the process but in reverse
... so start at top (6th) LED and swipe down- once you deactivate the bottom (1st) LED, the external light turns off
I hope this makes more sense 
The LEDs leave a "finger track"? Do they go off when the big light goes on? What if the user swipes diagonal only hitting the middle sensors?
-jim lee
jimLee:
The LEDs leave a "finger track"? Do they go off when the big light goes on? What if the user swipes diagonal only hitting the middle sensors?-jim lee
Yes, they would leave a track, and stay lit while the external light is on. If they were only to pass over the middle sensors the external light wouldn't activate.. all LED's would need to be turned on for that to happen
How many LEDs we talking about again? Just the 6?
-jim lee
jimLee:
How many LEDs we talking about again? Just the 6?-jim lee
For now, yes.
LEDs & Sensors can be thought of as matched pairs? If so I'd think along these lines..
class sensorLEDPair {
public:
sensorLEDPair(int sensPin,int LEDPin);
void loopTime(void); // Call this in your loop to see if the sensor is touched, turn on/off LED etc.
boolean isOn(void); // returns the state of the LED.
boolean LEDOnOff; // saves the state of the LED
};
in your sketch you can create one of these.
sensorLEDPair firstPair(S_PIN1,L_PIN1);
void setup(void) {
}
void loop() {
firstPair.loopTime(); // Let the fist sensor figure out what's going on etc.
if (firstPair.LEDOnOff()) {
biglightOn(); // Need to write this.
}
}
Once you get it working with one pair, just ad more pairs and adjust your loop() code accordingly.
For example
if (pair1.LEDOnOff() && pair2.LEDOnOff() && pair2.LEDOnOff()…) {
}
HOpe this helps
-jim lee
jimLee:
LEDs & Sensors can be thought of as matched pairs? If so I'd think along these lines..class sensorLEDPair {
public:
sensorLEDPair(int sensPin,int LEDPin);void loopTime(void); // Call this in your loop to see if the sensor is touched, turn on/off LED etc.
boolean isOn(void); // returns the state of the LED.boolean LEDOnOff; // saves the state of the LED
};in your sketch you can create one of these.
sensorLEDPair firstPair(S_PIN1,L_PIN1);
void setup(void) {
}
void loop() {
firstPair.loopTime(); // Let the fist sensor figure out what's going on etc.
if (firstPair.LEDOnOff()) {
biglightOn(); // Need to write this.
}
}Once you get it working with one pair, just ad more pairs and adjust your loop() code accordingly.
For example
if (pair1.LEDOnOff() && pair2.LEDOnOff() && pair2.LEDOnOff()…) {}
HOpe this helps
-jim lee
Thank you so much for taking your time to do this!!! I am still having a tough time understanding what I need to finish within that sketch...
Here is what I have currently- This sketch tells whichever photocell is triggered to light up one of the 6 LED's. I am running the first LED output to a relay module with an external light.
sensorLEDPair(int LDR, int LEDPin)
int LDR = 0;
int LDR2 = 1;
int LDR3 = 2;
int LDR4 = 3;
int LDR5 = 4;
int LDR6 = 5;
//analog pin to which LDR is connected, here we set it to 0 so it means A0
int LDRValue = 0;
int LDRValue2 = 1;
int LDRValue3 = 2;
int LDRValue4 = 3;
int LDRValue5 = 4;
int LDRValue6 = 5;
//that’s a variable to store LDR values
int light_sensitivity = 470;
int light_sensitivity2 = 450;
int light_sensitivity3 = 450;
int light_sensitivity4 = 450;
int light_sensitivity5 = 300;
int light_sensitivity6 = 300;
//This is the approx value of light surrounding your LDR
void setup()
{
{
Serial.begin(9600); //start the serial monitor with 9600 buad
pinMode(13, OUTPUT) = LEDPin; //we mostly use13 because there is already a built in yellow LED in arduino which shows output when 13 pin is enabled
pinMode(12, OUTPUT);
pinMode(11, OUTPUT);
pinMode(10, OUTPUT);
pinMode(9, OUTPUT);
pinMode(8, OUTPUT);
delay(3000);
}
}
void loop()
{
LDRValue = analogRead(LDR);
LDRValue2 = analogRead(LDR2);
LDRValue3 = analogRead(LDR3);
LDRValue4 = analogRead(LDR4);
LDRValue5 = analogRead(LDR5);
LDRValue6 = analogRead(LDR6);
Serial.println(LDRValue);
Serial.println(LDRValue2);
Serial.println(LDRValue3);
Serial.println(LDRValue4);
Serial.println(LDRValue5);
Serial.println(LDRValue6); //prints the LDR values to serial monitor //This is the speed by which LDR sends value to arduino
if (LDRValue < light_sensitivity)
{
digitalWrite(13, HIGH);
}
else
{
digitalWrite(13, LOW);
}
if (LDRValue2 < light_sensitivity2)
{
digitalWrite(12, HIGH);
}
else
{
digitalWrite(12,LOW);
}
if (LDRValue3 < light_sensitivity3)
{
digitalWrite(11, HIGH);
}
else
{
digitalWrite(11, LOW);
}
if (LDRValue4 < light_sensitivity4)
{
digitalWrite(10, HIGH);
}
else
{
digitalWrite(10, LOW);
}
if (LDRValue5 < light_sensitivity5)
{
digitalWrite(9, HIGH);
}
else
{
digitalWrite(9, LOW);
}
if (LDRValue6 < light_sensitivity6)
{
digitalWrite(8, HIGH);
}
else
{
digitalWrite(8, LOW);
}
}
What I'm pushing to towards is to break your deal down to chunks that are easily manageable. This is what the class is for. You solve everything for that one class. Pass in the pins and now I see the parameters for that certain sensor. This gives you an isolated playground you can use work out how to make this one pair run without worrying about anything else.
If you do your code right, this gives you the n-th case of a pair. You can use this to create as many pairs as you want/need/can run that take care of themselves.
Now your main program/sketch is just managing these objects that control everything.
I don't know if you've worked in c++ or anything. This could be obvious to you, or, as for as you know, I could be speaking Klingon . But, at least get the main point, to break it into pairs and manage them as sets.
Hope this helps!
-jim lee