hi there!
very new to arduino and coding but i'm trying to program lights for my graduation work at art university and what i’d like it to do is (i think) not tooooo complicated but maybe i just don’t know enough lol
but basically, this is my set up:
arduino uno r3
hc-sro4 motion sensor
string of led light bulbs (5v)
external power supply
the function i need is for the arduino to program the light bulbs to slowly glow in and out on a dim brightness but when motion is detected, i need the light bulbs to either; randomly
glow brighter and stay on for 10 seconds
or
glow dimmer and turn off for 10 seconds
to then return back to the slow glow in and out until motion is detected again, continuing a loop
i hope that doesn’t sound too complicated lol
i have so far gotten the code to make my lights glow in and out but have only managed to get the lights to turn brighter when motion is detected
i’d like some help to
make the lights stay on for 10 seconds before returning to the glowing in & out
add the random factor of either glowing brighter and staying on or glowing dimmer and turning off
if this isn't possible, let me know! just trying my luck
thank u anyways for reading this!
here is the code:::
#include <NewPing.h>
// Pin connections
const int trigPin = 2; // Trigger pin of HC-SR04 connected to Arduino digital pin 2
const int echoPin = 3; // Echo pin of HC-SR04 connected to Arduino digital pin 3
const int ledPin = 9; // LED pin connected to Arduino digital pin 9
// Variables
NewPing sonar(trigPin, echoPin);
int brightness = 0;
int fadeAmount = 5; // Delay between brightness steps in milliseconds
int fadeDelay = 30;
int motionThreshold = 10; // Distance threshold for motion detection in centimeters
bool motionDetected = false;
void setup() {
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop() {
// Measure the distance using the ultrasonic sensor
unsigned int distance = sonar.ping_cm();
Serial.print("Distance: ");
Serial.print(distance);
Serial.println(" cm");
// Check if motion is detected
if (distance > 0 && distance <= 20) {
motionDetected = true;
} else {
motionDetected = false;
}
// Control the LED light
if (motionDetected) {
digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); // Turn on the LED at full brightness
} else {
analogWrite(ledPin, brightness); // Fade the LED
brightness = brightness + fadeAmount;
// reverse the direction of the fading at the ends of the fade:
if (brightness <= 0 || brightness >= 255) {
fadeAmount = -fadeAmount;
}
// wait for 30 milliseconds to see the dimming effect
delay(20);
}
}
it's a distance sensor! if i know what you mean! it uses sonic waves to measure the distance because i basically need it to be triggered when someone walks past the sensor
With any sensor it makes sense, cough, to start with a very simple sketch just to see what gets reported as you move about, in this case, the detection area.
Just get the distance and print it in a loop. Watch the numbers spill and see what it is detecting and what it is not.
The rest of the logic can be perfected using a pushbutton as a proxy for in range versus not in range.
Then combine the two working parts.
Not to throw more cabbage into the soup, so to speak, but you might take a brief moment to see if another kind of sensor would be a better fit.
PIR motion detectors work well. A similar experiment can be conducted. PIR can be aimed and constrained by use of opaque materials forming cones of "vision".
Since there are only two options when motion is detected I'd suggest you don't even need the random function. You could just check the low bit of millis() to see if it's true or false and go from there.
pseudocode:
if(motionDetected){
if(bitRead((millis(),0){
doOneThing // if bit is on
}
else doOtherThing // if bit is off
}
The randomness is introduced by the person triggering the sensor at some unknown, unpredictable time.
for my art university graduation project, i am building a light installation using an arduino uno r3, motion sensor hc-sro4 and a string of led lights.
the code is meant to make the leds pulsate/glow (bright to dark) until motion is detected and either turns the lights to full brightness or turns them off based on a random function.
the project is about the probability of luck which is why i need the randomness function to either turn the lights on / off.
the problem im having though is that sometimes when the lights come back on from being completely off, they flicker very very fast instead of pulsate?
i'm not sure if this is a coding error or if my wiring is wrong.
does anyone know why this could be happening?
because it only happens sometimes when the pulsating is meant to start again.
#include <NewPing.h>
// Pin connections
const int trigPin = 2;
const int echoPin = 3;
const int ledPin = 9;
// Variables
NewPing sonar(trigPin, echoPin);
int brightness = 0;
int fadeAmount = 5;
int fadeDelay = 30;
int motionThreshold = 50; // Adjust as necessary
bool motionDetected = false;
unsigned long motionTime;
const unsigned long interval = 7000; // 10 seconds interval
bool isDimmed = false;
void setup() {
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop() {
unsigned int distance = sonar.ping_cm();
Serial.print("Distance: ");
Serial.print(distance);
Serial.println(" cm");
if (distance > 0 && distance <= motionThreshold) {
if(!motionDetected) { // Only trigger if motion was not already detected
motionDetected = true;
motionTime = millis(); // Capture the time when motion was detected
isDimmed = random(0, 2); // Randomly decide to dim or brighten
if(isDimmed) {
brightness = 0; // Dim the light
} else {
brightness = 255; // Brighten the light
}
analogWrite(ledPin, brightness);
}
} else if (motionDetected && ((millis() - motionTime) > interval)) { // If motion was detected and 10 seconds have passed
motionDetected = false;
}
if(!motionDetected) {
brightness = brightness + fadeAmount;
analogWrite(ledPin, brightness); // Fade the LED
// reverse the direction of the fading at the ends of the fade:
if (brightness <= 0 || brightness >= 255) {
fadeAmount = -fadeAmount;
}
delay(fadeDelay);
}
}
i have this code too that i worked on with some help but it doesn't really work either
does it seem any better/worse?
#include <NewPing.h>
// Pin connections
const int trigPin = 2; // Trigger pin of HC-SR04 connected to Arduino digital pin 2
const int echoPin = 3; // Echo pin of HC-SR04 connected to Arduino digital pin 3
const int ledPin = 9; // LED pin connected to Arduino digital pin 9
// Variables
NewPing sonar(trigPin, echoPin);
int brightness = 0;
int fadeAmount = 5; // Delay between brightness steps in milliseconds
int fadeDelay = 50;
int motionThreshold = 10; // Distance threshold for motion detection in centimeters
int choise = 0; //Number for deciding wheter light gets brighter or darker
bool motionDetected = false;
void setup() {
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop() {
// Measure the distance using the ultrasonic sensor
unsigned int distance = sonar.ping_cm();
Serial.print("Distance: ");
Serial.print(distance);
Serial.println(" cm");
// Check if motion is detected
if (distance > 0 && distance <= 100) {
motionDetected = true;
} else {
motionDetected = false;
}
// Control the LED light
if (motionDetected) {
choise = random(2);
if (choise == 0) {
digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); // Turn on the LED at full brightness
delay(9000); // Light stay high for 1 second
}
else {
analogWrite(ledPin, 0); //Dimmed light(do change value difficult to know how dim this is without seeing)
delay(9000); // Light dim for 1 second before turning off
digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); //Light off
}
}
else {
analogWrite(ledPin, brightness); // Fade the LED
brightness = brightness + fadeAmount;
// reverse the direction of the fading at the ends of the fade:
if (brightness <= 0 || brightness >= 240) {
fadeAmount = -fadeAmount;
}
// wait for 30 milliseconds to see the dimming effect
delay(35);
}
}```
for my art university graduation project, i am building a light installation using an arduino uno r3, motion sensor hc-sro4 and a string of led lights.
the code is meant to make the leds pulsate/glow (bright to dark) until motion is detected and either turns the lights to full brightness or turns them off based on a random function.
the project is about the probability of luck which is why i need the randomness function to either turn the lights on / off.
the problem im having though is that sometimes when the lights come back on from being completely off, they flicker very very fast instead of pulsate?
i'm not sure if this is a coding error or if my wiring is wrong.
does anyone know why this could be happening?
because it only happens sometimes when the pulsating is meant to start again.
#include <NewPing.h>
// Pin connections
const int trigPin = 2;
const int echoPin = 3;
const int ledPin = 9;
// Variables
NewPing sonar(trigPin, echoPin);
int brightness = 0;
int fadeAmount = 5;
int fadeDelay = 30;
int motionThreshold = 50; // Adjust as necessary
bool motionDetected = false;
unsigned long motionTime;
const unsigned long interval = 7000; // 10 seconds interval
bool isDimmed = false;
void setup() {
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop() {
unsigned int distance = sonar.ping_cm();
Serial.print("Distance: ");
Serial.print(distance);
Serial.println(" cm");
if (distance > 0 && distance <= motionThreshold) {
if(!motionDetected) { // Only trigger if motion was not already detected
motionDetected = true;
motionTime = millis(); // Capture the time when motion was detected
isDimmed = random(0, 2); // Randomly decide to dim or brighten
if(isDimmed) {
brightness = 0; // Dim the light
} else {
brightness = 255; // Brighten the light
}
analogWrite(ledPin, brightness);
}
} else if (motionDetected && ((millis() - motionTime) > interval)) { // If motion was detected and 10 seconds have passed
motionDetected = false;
}
if(!motionDetected) {
brightness = brightness + fadeAmount;
analogWrite(ledPin, brightness); // Fade the LED
// reverse the direction of the fading at the ends of the fade:
if (brightness <= 0 || brightness >= 255) {
fadeAmount = -fadeAmount;
}
delay(fadeDelay);
}
}
so turning the brightness from completely off to fully on causes it to flicker? is that because of the current?
since i'm unsure of why it only does it sometimes
i have this code too that i worked on with some help but it doesn't really work either
#include <NewPing.h>
// Pin connections
const int trigPin = 2; // Trigger pin of HC-SR04 connected to Arduino digital pin 2
const int echoPin = 3; // Echo pin of HC-SR04 connected to Arduino digital pin 3
const int ledPin = 9; // LED pin connected to Arduino digital pin 9
// Variables
NewPing sonar(trigPin, echoPin);
int brightness = 0;
int fadeAmount = 5; // Delay between brightness steps in milliseconds
int fadeDelay = 50;
int motionThreshold = 10; // Distance threshold for motion detection in centimeters
int choise = 0; //Number for deciding wheter light gets brighter or darker
bool motionDetected = false;
void setup() {
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop() {
// Measure the distance using the ultrasonic sensor
unsigned int distance = sonar.ping_cm();
Serial.print("Distance: ");
Serial.print(distance);
Serial.println(" cm");
// Check if motion is detected
if (distance > 0 && distance <= 100) {
motionDetected = true;
} else {
motionDetected = false;
}
// Control the LED light
if (motionDetected) {
choise = random(2);
if (choise == 0) {
digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); // Turn on the LED at full brightness
delay(9000); // Light stay high for 1 second
}
else {
analogWrite(ledPin, 0); //Dimmed light(do change value difficult to know how dim this is without seeing)
delay(9000); // Light dim for 1 second before turning off
digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); //Light off
}
}
else {
analogWrite(ledPin, brightness); // Fade the LED
brightness = brightness + fadeAmount;
// reverse the direction of the fading at the ends of the fade:
if (brightness <= 0 || brightness >= 240) {
fadeAmount = -fadeAmount;
}
// wait for 30 milliseconds to see the dimming effect
delay(35);
}
}```
does this seem any better?
