Michael Barretta
Published

Programmable Stranger Things Light Wall Costume

An Arduino powered Stranger Things light wall costume that can be controlled via Bluetooth serial connection to a cell phone.

IntermediateShowcase (no instructions)6 hours6,451

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Arduino Nano R3
Arduino Nano R3
×1
12V Tenergy 2000mAh NiMH Battery Pack
×1
Adafruit 12mm Diffused Flat Digital RGB LED Pixels (Strand of 25) - WS2801
×1
Hobbywing 5V-6V-3A Switch-mode-UBEC
×1
KEDSUM Arduino Wireless Bluetooth Transceiver Module
×1
RadioShack Dual Mini Board
×1

Software apps and online services

Arduino IDE
Arduino IDE

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Soldering iron (generic)
Soldering iron (generic)

Story

Read more

Custom parts and enclosures

Electronics Enclosure

Enclosure to house Arduino, BT receiver, UBEC and interconnections.

Lid

Lid for enclosure

Code

Light Wall Costume Arduino Code

Arduino
This code is used to handle character inputs over serial terminal to the Arduino. Based on the input the lights will run a variety of functions or add the characters to a buffer to spell out. **Input currently has to be lower case character strings** The following are commands sendable from a serial terminal:

'char string' = add string to buffer and spell out on each loop
'*' = clear character buffer
'%' = constant rate 3 blinks
'&' = increasing rate blink
'$' = random blinks
'#' = cascade
/* Prototype for haloween costume 2016, read input string from serial and perfrom action character by character with delay */
// Built from StringLength Arduino example and Adafruit StrandTest example

#include "Adafruit_WS2801.h"
#include "SPI.h" // Comment out this line if using Trinket or Gemma

#define ONDELAY 750
#define OFFDELAY 500

String txtMsg = "welcome";    // Initialize default string for incoming text
uint8_t dataPin  = 3;    // Yellow wire on Adafruit Pixels
uint8_t clockPin = 2;    // Green wire on Adafruit Pixels
Adafruit_WS2801 strip = Adafruit_WS2801(25, dataPin, clockPin);

// Array to handle colors of alphabet, 3 element subarrays represent rgb
const int colors[26][3] {
  {255, 100, 0}, // a
  {0, 100, 255}, // b
  {255, 0, 100}, // c
  {100, 255, 0}, // d
  {0, 100, 255}, // e
  {255, 100, 0}, // f
  {255, 0, 100}, // g
  {100, 255, 0}, // h
  {0, 100, 255}, // i
  {255, 0, 100}, // j
  {0, 100, 255}, // k
  {100, 255, 0}, // l
  {255, 100, 0}, // m
  {255, 0, 100}, // n
  {255, 0, 100}, // o
  {100, 255, 0}, // p
  {255, 0, 100}, // q
  {100, 255, 0}, // r
  {255, 100, 0}, // s
  {255, 100, 0}, // t
  {0, 100, 255}, // u
  {255, 0, 100}, // v
  {0, 100, 255}, // w
  {255, 100, 0}, // x
  {255, 0, 100}, // y
  {255, 0, 100}, // z
};

// Array to transpose incoming ascii positions to corresponding positions in light fixture
const int charPos[25] {
  19, //A
  20, //B
  21, //C
  22, //D
  23, //E
  24, //F
  18, //G
  17, //H
  16, //I
  15, //J
  14, //K
  13, //L
  12, //M
  5, //N
  6, //O
  7, //P
  8, //Q
  9, //R
  10, //S
  11, //T
  4, //U
  3, //V
  2, //W
  1, //X
  0, //Y
};

void setup() {
  
  // Open serial communications and wait for port to open:
  Serial.begin(9600);
  while (!Serial) {
    ; // wait for serial port to connect. Needed for native USB port only
  }

  strip.begin();

  // Update LED contents, to start they are all 'off'
  strip.show(); // write all pixels out
}

// Create a 24 bit color value from R,G,B
uint32_t Color(byte r, byte g, byte b) {
  uint32_t c;
  c = r;
  c <<= 8;
  c |= g;
  c <<= 8;
  c |= b;
  return c;
}

// Program to step through string character by character and perform an action 
void printChar(String input) {

  for (int i = 0; i < input.length(); i++) {
    int pos = (((int)input[i]) - 97);
    // Get color from colors array 
    // Subtract one from pos to properly index charPos Array
    strip.setPixelColor(charPos[pos], Color(colors[pos][0], colors[pos][1], colors[pos][2]));
    strip.show();
    delay(ONDELAY);
    strip.setPixelColor(charPos[pos], Color(0, 0, 0));
    strip.show();
    delay(OFFDELAY);
  }
}

// Function to blink all lights at constant speed
void blinkConst(void) {
  
  int blinkCount = 0;
  int i;
  
  while (blinkCount < 3) {
    for (i = 0; i < strip.numPixels(); i++) {
      strip.setPixelColor(i, Color(colors[i][0], colors[i][1], colors[i][2]));
    }
    strip.show();
    delay(ONDELAY);
    for (i = 0; i < strip.numPixels(); i++) {
      strip.setPixelColor(i, Color(0, 0, 0));
    }
    strip.show();
    delay(OFFDELAY);
    blinkCount++;
  }
}

// Function to blink all lights at variable speed
void blinkVar(int speed) {

  int i;
  
  for (i = 0; i < strip.numPixels(); i++) {
     strip.setPixelColor(i, Color(colors[i][0], colors[i][1], colors[i][2]));
  }
  strip.show();
  delay(speed);
  for (i = 0; i < strip.numPixels(); i++) {
    strip.setPixelColor(i, Color(0, 0, 0));
  }
  strip.show();
  delay(speed);
}

// Function to blink all lights randomly
void blinkRandom(int speed) {

  int i, randomNum;

  for (i = 0; i <= 50; i++) {
    randomNum = random(strip.numPixels());
    strip.setPixelColor(randomNum, Color(colors[i][0], colors[i][1], colors[i][2]));
    strip.show();
    delay(speed);
    strip.setPixelColor(randomNum, Color(0, 0, 0));
    strip.show();
    delay(speed);
  }
}

// Function to blink all lights in a row
void blinkRow(int speed) {

  int i;
  
  for (i = 0; i < strip.numPixels(); i++) {
    strip.setPixelColor(charPos[i], Color(colors[i][0], colors[i][1], colors[i][2]));
    strip.show();
    delay(speed);
  }
  for (i = 0; i < strip.numPixels(); i++) {
    strip.setPixelColor(i, Color(0, 0, 0));
  }
  strip.show();
}

// Main program body, loop checks for new serial input and runs functions based on character input or default print function
void loop() {
  
  // Set string to incoming text
  while (Serial.available() > 0) {
    delay(10);
    char inChar = Serial.read();
    if(inChar == '*'){  // Clear string using '*' input
      txtMsg = "";
    } 
    else if (inChar == '%'){  // Run other functions using specified inputs
      blinkConst();
    }
    else if (inChar == '&'){  // Run other functions using specified inputs
      for (int i = 500; i >= 50; i -= 50)
      {
        blinkVar(i);
      }
    }
    else if (inChar == '$'){  // Run other functions using specified inputs
      blinkRandom(50);
    }
    else if (inChar == '#'){  // Run other functions using specified inputs
      blinkRow(50);
    }
    else {  // Other wise add input serial character to cleared string
    txtMsg += inChar;
    }
  }

  //blinkBlink();
  printChar(txtMsg);
}

Credits

Michael Barretta

Michael Barretta

1 project • 2 followers
Engineer and tinkerer.

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