Saiki and Elora Week 10 Assignment: RaveBot

 

Concept:

Our concept was to create an industrial DJ bot called the Rave Bot. Using an ultrasonic sensor, we aimed to create a metallic, grungy music box with a theremin-like instrument. Given its rave theme, we wanted to incorporate a strobing light effect to enhance the energetic vibe.For the theremin sound, we chose a haunted eerie techno sound, similar to the actual theremin sound.

Prototype and Modelling:

Code:

const int PIN_RED = 3;    //Red LED on pin 9
const int PIN_GREEN = 5;  //Green LED on pin 10
const int PIN_BLUE = 6;   //Blue LED on Pin 11

//variables to hold our color intensities and direction
//and define some initial "random" values to seed it

int red = 254;
int green = 1;
int blue = 127;
int red_direction = -1;
int green_direction = 1;
int blue_direction = -1;
int buttonState = 0;  // variable for reading the pushbutton status


/* This function "Set Color" will set the color of the LED
   rather than doing it over and over in the loop above. */
void setColor(int R, int G, int B) {
  analogWrite(PIN_RED, R);
  analogWrite(PIN_GREEN, G);
  analogWrite(PIN_BLUE, B);
}


#include <Ultrasonic.h>
#include <toneAC.h>

Ultrasonic ultrasonic(12, 13);

#define TONE_VOLUME 5  // 1-20 //output sound pin(positive of speaker)
int distance;

void setup() {
  pinMode(7, INPUT_PULLUP);

  Serial.begin(9600);
  //set all three pins to output mode
  pinMode(PIN_RED, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(PIN_GREEN, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(PIN_BLUE, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
  buttonState = digitalRead(7);

  red = red + red_direction;  //changing values of LEDs
  green = green + green_direction;
  blue = blue + blue_direction;
  if (buttonState == LOW) {

    //now change direction for each color if it reaches 255
    if (red >= 255 || red <= 0) {
      red_direction = red_direction * -100;
    }
    if (green >= 255 || green <= 0) {
      green_direction = green_direction * -10;
    }
    if (blue >= 255 || blue <= 0) {
      blue_direction = blue_direction * -150;
    }
    setColor(random(red), random(green), random(blue));

  } else if (buttonState == HIGH) {
    analogWrite(PIN_RED, 10);
    analogWrite(PIN_GREEN, 251);
    analogWrite(PIN_BLUE, 100);
  }

  distance = ultrasonic.read();  //reads the distance from the sensor
  if (distance < 120)            //range is about 120 cm
  {
    int freq = 1500 - distance * 10;  //calculates a corresponding freqeuncy
    toneAC(freq, TONE_VOLUME);        //plays the sound!(output through speaker- pin10)

    Serial.println(distance);  //just for monitoring if required
  } else {
    noToneAC();  //out of range
  }
}

 

Reflection:

We kept improvising on the theme we wanted to go for, and it turned out great for us. One thing we would have definitely liked is to have a better sounding or louder speaker. Currently, due to the power being split across multiple buttons, LEDs, and the speaker, the full range of volume is lost, especially once we close the box. However, we were really happy with the design of the box. We colored it black and spray painted chrome silver on it to give it an industrial look, which we thought a ravebot deserves. All in all, it was a super fun experience.