Week 7 - Journal

This week's assignment idea was to design and program a "Smart Device" : GAME KIT. (2 fun games will be programmed).

My inspiration for this idea was the game kit given to us in week 1. The game kit which i programmed was customized to perform 2 fun games (1- counter 2- Piano), moreover, instead of tilt sensor i used ultrasonic sensor to control the speed of the counter.

I cared a lot about this idea as i wanted to challenge myself to program complex functions, and at the same time design and program a smart device that perform a certain function: to program Arduino UNO to read signals from multiple inputs components (i used ultrasonic sensor, keypad, slide switch and push button) to control multiple action components.( i used LCD I2C, buzzer and LED)

This week i was taken in dept in programming "Arduino IDE", so we can write the program more efficiently and does not consume more space. examples:

1) Creating new function: is it simple task to create a separate set of conditions and commands that the Arduino boards only reads it when its necessary.
2) For and while loop: it orders the Arduino board to perform certain commands or conditions repeatedly and does not have to wait till the full program is read and then it starts to repeat.
3) LCD I2C: it is the display where the Arduino board is instructed to give OUTPUT on it. there are many types of displays in the world. i explored 16x2 address 0x27, for which i had to download certain library for programming.
4)Libraries: these are like tools which help any programmer to help them write the code for a certain component easily and understand is completely with examples given. like for the LCD i installed (Liquidcrystal_I2C) library . this is the website which helped me more understand how and what is LCD.
5) Basic and compound conditions: to build a smart device which includes multiple input and output components, therefore, programming must be done efficiently to deal multiple inputs and outputs.
6) Open recitation advance electronics, i was introduced to new components capacitors, transistors, OP AMP and 555timer. i had the pleasure to learn it practically in the lab- offline sessions are more effective in learning advance knowledge.

Last but not the least, 3 case studies of smart devices where explored, which gave me confidence on designing and building new customized smart device of my own.

For this week's assignment i used "Arduino Text Code".

A- Opened the application and into new page.
B- Saved As new project.
C- The journey of programming started step by step, i started by programming the LCD as and output in pins A4 ,A5, 5V and ground( which included library and also setting cursor commands)
also defining every pin to save time and space. also creating integers before void setup()
D- Then to program the counter feature by using "For loop" so that this command must be repeated every certain amount of time.
used the math equation (value = 0 ; value <= 50; value += 1) for counter feature.
E- Added the push button as an input at pin 11 , so that the game can be played using it. This input was written as INPUT_PULLUP in void setup() (with all other input and output pinModes) so that when it indicated low the Arduino will check which number is on counter. and if the the number given matches the user is winner and if not then the user loser lost and the game starts again.
F- I explored new command "GOTO" : so that if i have multiple conditions i can command to go to certain function directly by skipping some if all is fulfilled( like i used GOTO command after the 2 conditions related to push button above so that after every step it can start a new game.
G- Then i added buzzer and LED as an OUTPUT at pins 10 and 13 , so that at every milestone indicates that milestone, like if winner then the buzzer will play tune for 1 second as well as the LED will light up. Both components were placed on bread board.
H-Instead of "Tilt sensor" from the original game kit i used ultrasonic sensor, which was programmed that if any thing is from range 0 to 100 cm the counter time will be slow(1000 milliseconds), and if from 101 to 200 cm range the counter time will be fast (750 milliseconds) and if 201 and above cm range the counter timer will speed up till (500 milliseconds).
I-To perform another game i used a slide switch as an INPUT at pin 12, so that it can switch between the 2 games according to the signal High or Low received.
J- Added keypad (3x4) as in input at pins 2 to 8 , and programmed it by adding keypad library , so that if any key is pressed it is displayed on LCD.
K- Programmed each keys with tunes (by the help of new customized library called tones) and used new function where each digit/ character of keypad is given specified tone. so that whatever number is pressed the buzzer will play that tone for 500 milliseconds. Also by adding manually library which has tone set in it by clicking control + shift+ N , write any name for that library in ".h" format. and include it on top of my codes by include "tones.h" before void setup().
L- Compiled and then uploaded it on Arduino UNO board.

Note: after every step i used to check by compiling and uploading on my Arduino UNO board to check whether the code is correct or not.
also while writing code i was cautious enough not to make any silly mistake like { and ; but still whenever any error came up i rechecked that error line and corrected it.