Brainstorming & Design

I knew wanted to incorporate both the sample codes and some type of song. As such, I combined the sample button codes as well as the sample piano keys codes. I was deliberating if I should keep the lights and sounds separate, but decided against  it as the combined effects were cooler. 

Step 3: Final Step 

Lastly, I combined them together by replacing the right button's function with my step 2 codes, song and lights! Now, when the left button is pressed on the circuit express, a traversal of red lights will go one round; when the right button is pressed, the notes of Gongxi Gongxi will play alongside its corresponding neopixel lighting up red. The final version can be demonstrated in the video below! :D 

Video of GongXi Gongxi 

Reflection

While planning the Gongxi Gongxi project, I heavily engaged in metacognition.  For instance, when I was brainstorming the highlight of my light show, I had the idea of the song playing simultaneously with the corresponding neopixels lighting up. However, my initial reaction to this idea was that it would be too much hassle to write the codes in that way, whereas if I already had the song, I would technically be done.  But, because of my awareness of metacognitive behaviors, I questioned my belief in the tasks' difficulty, then attempted to formulate the logic needed. It did not take as long as I thought it would nor was it very difficult, so I am grateful for my metacognition in critically analyzing my initial reactions to a challenge. 

The foundation of the project was built upon the existing sample codes of button and piano notes. The circuit playground page was very helpful in guiding my creative process and my planning. My plan was to incorporate both the light traversal in red on its own, as well as to have the traditional new year's song Gongxi faicai playing along with the light. I evaluated the functionality of my plan through continously testing the steps one by one. Whenever I added a new feature, I would test it before adding on something different. This strategy sounds simple but I see it as one of the most valuable lesson of computer science that I have learned from the CS courses I have taken here.  For example, I would play a singular note before I did the whole song etc. I did revise my plan as initially I thought I could not traverse the light at the same time as the song, but my more supportive self overpowered my doubts. 

For future project, I would focus more on the planning aspect, as I know it is my weakest point. I either under-plan, which leads to more difficulties when I encounter lots of issues while doing the project, or I am over-planning where I would feel kind of overwhelmed and take longer to start. Starting is undoubtedly the most difficult element for me, because of my task transitioning skills. I always want to prolong the starting time, even though when I do start, it feels way easier than I thought it would be. This is one thing I have been working on, and understanding how I can be more efficient with my time. Recently, I have been noticing that if I look at my phone in the morning on a weekend, it is so much harder for me to want to start working than if I went to classes in the morning and came back in the afternoon. This fact about myself shatters my long-standing self-identified belief of being a night-owl.  I am the most productive when I have enough sleep in the morning, as opposed to at night where the work time cuts into my sleep time and I wake up later. In conclusion, for future projects, I want to start as soon as I have it and leave myself adequent time to plan.