This project is a party button meant to help celebrate the smaller wins in life, making them feel more momentous. The party button can be pressed to trigger a celebratory sequence, including a fun light show, music, and a small confetti popper.

First run of the party button being pressed after full assembly.

This video shows the final run of the party button sequence when pressed, including the confetti launch and light effects. (Turn up the volume to hear the music.)

Process

When creating and designing this device, I chose to approach it by first figuring out all of the coding and electrical components. I tested the lights, then the sound, and finally the confetti mechanism. After confirming that each component worked individually, I integrated everything into the housing.

I was able to experiment extensively with the light colors and also decided to create a custom audio file for the music. For the confetti mechanism, I initially built a small-scale version to hold the popper and test its functionality. Once that was successful, I moved on to designing the full housing.

While designing the housing, I intentionally included space for the lighting system as well as diffusing covers to enhance the overall visual effect.

Discussion

Address all of the prompts below. It is best to address all of these topics in a natural piece of prose. However, if you prefer, you may write four disjoint paragraphs, each of which is addressing a prompt. (The first way is better.) In total, this section should be ~300–500 words.

A reminder that as outlined in the course syllabus, you are strictly prohibited from using any generative AI service or writing assistant in your reflection/discussion.

• Response to comments gathered during the in-class crit. Quote (verbatim) from *at least* two written critiques that you received (positive, negative, or otherwise) from the in-class crit, and respond to them. (You may agree or disagree—in either case, explain your position.) You can access the written critique feedback by going to the class's Shared Drive and opening "11/5/25 Project 2 Final Critique feedback".

• Self critique pertaining to the project. Are you happy with how the project came out? Did it satisfy your own goals? This *should not* simply be a recital of your process, but rather a meaningful reflection.

• What you learned about your own abilities and/or limitations through the process of working on this project. These could be technical in nature (i.e. "I found that coding this particular behavior was surprisingly difficult"), or not (i.e. "I enjoyed making cardboard forms very much, and I think it will be a useful prototyping medium for me in the future"). What would you do differently next time? What would your advice to your past self be? Did you get hung up at a particular point in progress, or fail to see an easy workaround to a problem? Did you find a creative spark you didn't anticipate? Etc.?

• Next steps. Do you expect to build another iteration of this project? If so, describe what you're planning to do. If not, describe what you *would* do if you were to build another iteration, based on the experience you had with this first one.

Technical information

/*

Party Button

The party button plays music, does a fun light show, and sets off a confetti 

popper using a DC motor when a button is pressed, and triggers the sequence. 

This device uses an Adafruit music shield, two speakers, a button, a DC motor,

a 24-light RGBW neopixel light ring, and an RGB LED strip.  

pin mapping:

    Arduino pin | role  | details

    ------------------------------

    2             input   button 

    5             output   DC motor

    8             output   NeoPixle ring

    9             output   LED strip

    13             output  music maker shield

12             output  music maker shield

11             output  music maker shield

7             output  music maker shield

6             output  music maker shield

4             output  music maker shield

3             output  music maker shield

Sophie Heap, sheap@andrew.cmu.edu

*/

#include <SPI.h>

#include <Adafruit_VS1053.h>

#include <SD.h>

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>

#include <Servo.h>

// ---------------- VS1053 SETUP ----------------

#define SHIELD_RESET -1

#define SHIELD_CS    7   // VS1053 CS

#define SHIELD_DCS   6

#define DREQ         3

#define CARDCS       4

// ---------------- BUTTON ----------------

#define BUTTON_PIN 2

// ---------------- NEOPIXELS ----------------

#define RING_PIN 8

#define STRIP_PIN 9

#define NUMPIXELS_RING 24

#define NUMPIXELS_STRIP 40

// ---------------- DC MOTOR ----------------

#define MOTOR_PIN 5  // Arduino pin to control transistor/MOSFET

bool motorRunning = false;

unsigned long motorStartTime = 0;

// VS1053 player object

Adafruit_VS1053_FilePlayer musicPlayer(SHIELD_RESET, SHIELD_CS, SHIELD_DCS, DREQ, CARDCS);

// NeoPixel objects

Adafruit_NeoPixel ring(NUMPIXELS_RING, RING_PIN, NEO_GRBW + NEO_KHZ800);

Adafruit_NeoPixel strip(NUMPIXELS_STRIP, STRIP_PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);

int position = 0;

void setup() {

 Serial.begin(9600);

 pinMode(BUTTON_PIN, INPUT_PULLUP);

 pinMode(MOTOR_PIN, OUTPUT);   // control pin for motor

 digitalWrite(MOTOR_PIN, LOW); // motor off at start

 // ----- VS1053 -----

 if (!musicPlayer.begin()) {

   Serial.println("Couldn't find VS1053!");

   while(1);

 }

 Serial.println("VS1053 ready!");

 if (!SD.begin(CARDCS)) {

   Serial.println("SD card failed or not present");

   while(1);

 }

 Serial.println("SD card ready!");

 musicPlayer.setVolume(0, 0);  // Loudest

 musicPlayer.useInterrupt(VS1053_FILEPLAYER_PIN_INT);

 // ----- NeoPixels -----

 ring.begin(); ring.show();

 strip.begin(); strip.show();

}

void loop() {

 // Check if button pressed

 if (digitalRead(BUTTON_PIN) == LOW) {

   // Start music (non-blocking)

   musicPlayer.startPlayingFile("/TRACK002.MP3");

   // --- Start motor ---

   digitalWrite(MOTOR_PIN, HIGH);

   motorStartTime = millis();

   motorRunning = true;

   Serial.println("Button pressed! Playing music and lights...");

   // Light show duration (match song length or set time)

   unsigned long startTime = millis();

   unsigned long showDuration = 17000; // 18 seconds light show

   while (millis() - startTime < showDuration) {

     // ---- Motor auto shutoff after 2 seconds ----

     if (motorRunning && millis() - motorStartTime >= 500) {

       digitalWrite(MOTOR_PIN, LOW);

       motorRunning = false;

       Serial.println("Motor OFF after 2 seconds");

     }

     rainbowFlash();

     spiralRainbow(2, 10);

   }

   // Wait for music to finish if still playing

   while(musicPlayer.playingMusic) {

     // Could add idle lights here if desired

     delay(50);

   }

   Serial.println("Playback and light show finished.");

   // Wait for button release to prevent retrigger

   while(digitalRead(BUTTON_PIN) == LOW) { delay(10); }

 }

 // Idle red fade trail

 redFadeTrail();

}

// ---- Idle red fading trail ----

// ---- Smooth idle red fade trail (brightness 10-255) ----

void redFadeTrail() {

 static float phase = 0;      // continuous phase for smooth movement

 float speed = 0.2;           // adjust for faster/slower movement

 int minBrightness = 10;      // minimum brightness

 int maxBrightness = 255;     // maximum brightness

 for(int i = 0; i < NUMPIXELS_RING; i++){

   float angle = (i * 2 * PI / NUMPIXELS_RING) + phase;

   int brightness = (sin(angle) * 0.5 + 0.5) * (maxBrightness - minBrightness) + minBrightness;

   ring.setPixelColor(i, brightness, 0, 0, 0);

 }

 ring.show();

 for(int i = 0; i < NUMPIXELS_STRIP; i++){

   float angle = (i * 2 * PI / NUMPIXELS_STRIP) + phase;

   int brightness = (sin(angle) * 0.5 + 0.5) * (maxBrightness - minBrightness) + minBrightness;

   strip.setPixelColor(i, brightness, 0, 0);

 }

 strip.show();

 phase += speed;

 if(phase > 2 * PI) phase -= 2 * PI; // wrap phase continuously

 delay(30); // smaller = smoother

}

// ---- Flash rainbow ----

void rainbowFlash() {

 uint32_t ringColors[] = {

   ring.Color(255, 0, 0, 0),

   ring.Color(255, 255, 0, 0),

   ring.Color(0, 255, 0, 0),

   ring.Color(0, 0, 255, 0),

   ring.Color(180, 0, 255, 0),

   ring.Color(255, 0, 120, 0)

 };

 uint32_t stripColors[] = {

   strip.Color(255, 0, 0),

   strip.Color(255, 255, 0),

   strip.Color(0, 255, 0),

   strip.Color(0, 0, 255),

   strip.Color(180, 0, 255),

   strip.Color(255, 0, 120)

 };

 for(int i=0; i<6; i++){

   ring.fill(ringColors[i]);

   strip.fill(stripColors[i]);

   ring.show();

   strip.show();

   delay(150);

   ring.clear();

   strip.clear();

   ring.show();

   strip.show();

   delay(150);

 }

}

// ---- Spiral rainbow ----

void spiralRainbow(int rotations, int shiftDelay){

 for(int r=0; r<rotations; r++){

   for(int i=0; i<NUMPIXELS_RING; i++){

     for(int j=0; j<NUMPIXELS_RING; j++){

       int colorIndex = (j + i) % NUMPIXELS_RING;

       ring.setPixelColor(j, Wheel((colorIndex * 256 / NUMPIXELS_RING) & 255));

     }

     for(int j=0; j<NUMPIXELS_STRIP; j++){

       int colorIndex = (j + i) % NUMPIXELS_STRIP;

       strip.setPixelColor(j, WheelRGB((colorIndex * 256 / NUMPIXELS_STRIP) & 255));

     }

     ring.show();

     strip.show();

     delay(shiftDelay);

   }

 }

}

// ---- Color wheels ----

uint32_t Wheel(byte WheelPos){

 WheelPos = 255 - WheelPos;

 if(WheelPos < 85) return ring.Color(255 - WheelPos*3, 0, WheelPos*3, 0);

 else if(WheelPos < 170){ WheelPos -= 85; return ring.Color(0, WheelPos*3, 255 - WheelPos*3, 0); }

 else { WheelPos -= 170; return ring.Color(WheelPos*3, 255 - WheelPos*3, 0, 0); }

}

uint32_t WheelRGB(byte WheelPos){

 WheelPos = 255 - WheelPos;

 if(WheelPos < 85) return strip.Color(255 - WheelPos*3, 0, WheelPos*3);

 else if(WheelPos < 170){ WheelPos -= 85; return strip.Color(0, WheelPos*3, 255 - WheelPos*3); }

 else { WheelPos -= 170; return strip.Color(WheelPos*3, 255 - WheelPos*3, 0); }

}