Making Things From Scraps - Kids Control Panel

readme.md

Read Me

A fun control panel built from scrap, e-waste, and excess parts. It's fairly straight-forward to adapt this project to what you have available.

BOM

• 16mm panel mount push buttons
• Vintage style toggle switch
• Potentiometer
• WS2811 addressable LED string
• ESP32
• 5mm plywood or acrylic

Software

• Arduino IDE
• FastLED library

Enclosure

If you want to customize the box use the Electronics Box template with Boxes.py to generate an enclosure for laser cutting. You can uncheck the outsidemounts option unless you plan to mount the device on something. https://www.festi.info/boxes.py/ElectronicsBox

control_panel.svg

kids_control_panel.ino

/* 
 *  A simple control panel for kids of all ages to play with. 
 *  Built from WS2811 pixels and excess switches, buttons, and knobs from the ewaste bins!
 *  Written by Dana Sniezko, Spring 2023.
 *
*/

#include <FastLED.h>

FASTLED_USING_NAMESPACE

// define all buttons
#define R_BTN 13
#define G_BTN 12
#define B_BTN 14
#define Y_BTN 27
#define U_BTN 26
#define D_BTN 25
#define KNOB 34

// LED SETUP
#define LED_PIN    15
#define LED_TYPE    WS2811
#define COLOR_ORDER RGB
#define NUM_LEDS    5
CRGB leds[NUM_LEDS];

#define BRIGHTNESS          96
#define FRAMES_PER_SECOND  100
#define GHUE_LONG 1000
int currentPattern = 0;
int gHueDelay = 30;

int pins[] = {R_BTN,G_BTN,B_BTN,Y_BTN,U_BTN,D_BTN};
int pinNum = -1;
unsigned long lastDebounceTime = 0;  // the last time the output pin was toggled
unsigned long debounceDelay = 75;    // the debounce time; increase if the output flickers
int potValue = 30;

unsigned long lastStep = 0;

void setup() {

  delay(20); // 200 ms delay

  // tell FastLED about the LED strip configuration
  FastLED.addLeds<LED_TYPE,LED_PIN,COLOR_ORDER>(leds, NUM_LEDS).setCorrection(TypicalLEDStrip);

  // set master brightness control
  FastLED.setBrightness(BRIGHTNESS);
  
  Serial.begin(115200);
  Serial.println("Here we go!");

  // setup buttons with internal pull up resistor
  pinMode(R_BTN, INPUT_PULLUP); // R
  pinMode(G_BTN, INPUT_PULLUP); // G
  pinMode(B_BTN, INPUT_PULLUP); // B
  pinMode(Y_BTN, INPUT_PULLUP); // Y
  pinMode(U_BTN, INPUT_PULLUP); // +
  pinMode(D_BTN, INPUT_PULLUP); // -
}

typedef void (*SimplePatternList[])();
SimplePatternList gPatterns = { rainbow, rainbowWithGlitter, confetti, sinelon, juggle, bpm };

uint8_t gCurrentPatternNumber = 0; // Index number of which pattern is current
uint8_t gHue = 0; // rotating "base color" used by many of the patterns


void loop() {
      // current time
      unsigned long currentMillis = millis();                     //  Update current time

      // do button check behavior
      if ((currentMillis - lastDebounceTime) > debounceDelay) {
        pinNum = checkPins(pins);
        if(pinNum != -1) {
            Serial.print("You pressed button on pin: ");
            Serial.println(pinNum);
            lastDebounceTime = currentMillis;
        }

      }
      
      // set the pattern
      choosePattern(pinNum);
      gPatterns[currentPattern]();
      //Serial.print("Current Pattern:");
      //Serial.println(currentPattern);

      // send the 'leds' array out to the actual LED strip
      FastLED.show();  
      // insert a delay to keep the framerate modest
      FastLED.delay(1000/FRAMES_PER_SECOND); 

      potValue= filter(potValue,map(analogRead(KNOB), 0, 4095, 10, 60));
      //Serial.print("Knob says:");
      //Serial.println(potValue);

      if(currentPattern == 3) {
         EVERY_N_MILLISECONDS( 1000 ) { gHue++;  }
      } else {
        EVERY_N_MILLISECONDS( potValue ) { gHue++;  } // slowly cycle the "base color" through the rainbow
      }
      

}

#define ARRAY_SIZE(A) (sizeof(A) / sizeof((A)[0]))

void nextPattern()
{
  // add one to the current pattern number, and wrap around at the end
  currentPattern = (currentPattern + 1) % ARRAY_SIZE( gPatterns);
}

void choosePattern(int pin) {
         switch (pin) {
      case D_BTN:
        currentPattern = 0; // Rainbow-enhanced theaterChase variant
        break;
      case U_BTN:
        nextPattern(); // Flowing rainbow cycle along the whole strip
        break;     
      case R_BTN:
        gHue = 0;
        currentPattern = 3;
        break;
      case Y_BTN:
        gHue = 60;
        currentPattern = 3;
        break;
      case B_BTN:
        gHue = 155;
        currentPattern = 3;
        break;
      case G_BTN:
        gHue = 95;
        currentPattern = 3;
        break;
      default:
        break;
    }
}

int checkPins(int pins[]) {
  for (int i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
    if (digitalRead(pins[i]) == LOW) {
      return pins[i];
    }
  }
  return -1;
}

int filter(int oldVal,int newVal) {
  if (abs(oldVal-newVal) > 4) {
    return newVal;
  } else {
    return oldVal;
  }
}


void rainbow() 
{
  // FastLED's built-in rainbow generator
  fill_rainbow( leds, NUM_LEDS, gHue, 7);
}

void rainbowWithGlitter() 
{
  // built-in FastLED rainbow, plus some random sparkly glitter
  rainbow();
  addGlitter(20);
}

void addGlitter( fract8 chanceOfGlitter) 
{
  if( random8() < chanceOfGlitter) {
    leds[ random16(NUM_LEDS) ] += CRGB::White;
  }
}

void confetti() 
{
  // random colored speckles that blink in and fade smoothly
  fadeToBlackBy( leds, NUM_LEDS, 10);
  int pos = random16(NUM_LEDS);
  leds[pos] += CHSV( gHue + random8(64), 200, 255);
}

void sinelon()
{
  // a colored dot sweeping back and forth, with fading trails
  fadeToBlackBy( leds, NUM_LEDS, 20);
  int pos = beatsin16(potValue, 0, NUM_LEDS-1 );
  leds[pos] += CHSV( gHue, 255, 192);
}

void bpm()
{
  // colored stripes pulsing at a defined Beats-Per-Minute (BPM)
  uint8_t BeatsPerMinute = 62;
  CRGBPalette16 palette = PartyColors_p;
  uint8_t beat = beatsin8( BeatsPerMinute, 64, 255);
  for( int i = 0; i < NUM_LEDS; i++) { //9948
    leds[i] = ColorFromPalette(palette, gHue+(i*2), beat-gHue+(i*10));
  }
}

void juggle() {
  // eight colored dots, weaving in and out of sync with each other
  fadeToBlackBy( leds, NUM_LEDS, 20);
  byte dothue = 0;
  for( int i = 0; i < 8; i++) {
    leds[beatsin16( i+7, 0, NUM_LEDS-1 )] |= CHSV(dothue, 200, 255);
    dothue += 32;
  }
}


int checkButtons() {
  for(int i=0; i < 5; i++) {
      boolean buttonState = digitalRead(i);
      if(buttonState) {
        return i;
      }
  }
}