nodesummit2016

Hardware Day Zero information. Today we will walk through getting everyone started, and then you will be doing one of two builds!

Getting Started

Connecting the particle

Go to: Particle build site and create and account. Keep this page open once an account is created as we will be using it to do all of our development
Go to the Particle.io docs and click on SETUP MY PHOTON and follow step 1
Navigate to Connecting over USB and follow the instructions for your operating system.
Plug your Photon into your computer and make sure it is blinking blue. If it is node, hold down the "mode" button for 5 seconds until it blinks blue.
Run the command particle setup. A series of questions will pop up:
- Would you like to continue with this one? Yes
- Found "Photon-****". Would you like to perform setup on this one now? Yes
- Would you like to manually enter your Wi-Fi network configuration? No
- Please select the network to which your Photon should connect: //pick your network
- Please enter your network password: //type the password
- Would you like to continue with the information shown above? Yes

Once connected, you should see a color change on the photon from flashing blue to breathing cyan.

Hello World

Next, let's get the DotStar LED strips to light up.

Set up the circuit as such:
Go back to the Particle build page
You should see your Photon listed under the "Devices" section
Go to the "Libraries" section and search for dotstar under "Community Libraries"
Select "Use This Example"
Modify line 47 so that it says:

Adafruit_DotStar strip = Adafruit_DotStar(NUMPIXELS);

On the upper left hand corner, click on flash
You're pixels should now be flashing!

Builds

Choose one of the two builds below, or do both if you're ambitious!

To make calls to the Particle API, first install the SDK:

npm install particle-api-js@5.3.0

Then call it with:

const DEVICE_ID = 'Your Device ID';
const ACCESS_TOKEN = 'Your Access Token';

const Particle = require('particle-api-js');
const particle = new Particle();

var fnPr = particle.callFunction({
  deviceId: DEVICE_ID,
  name: 'set_color',
  argument: '00255000255',
  auth: ACCESS_TOKEN
}).then(
  (data) => {
    console.log('Function called succesfully:', data);
  },
  (err) => {
    console.log('An error occurred:', err);
  }
);

Game Scoreboard

For this build, we will be creating a visual scoreboard. The scoreboard will keep track of points in two player games in the form of a bar graph.

To start, load your photon with the scoreboard firmware by copying the code into your Particle Build window (overwriting the Hello World sample), and flashing it to your Photon.

Each player will be represented by a different color and assigned to one side of the DotStar Strip. As players gain points, another dot will light up, starting from their side of the strip and moving toward the center. The first player to get to the center wins!

This basic scorekeeping can be used for a variety of games implemented in the browser. The first game you will implement is Tic-Tac-Toe to keep things simple. When a player wins, the browser will send an AJAX request to a Node.js server.

This Node.js server will use the Particle Javascript SDK to call a function named set_color. This method takes a specially formatted string of the form LLRRRGGGBBB, where LL is the number of the LED you want to light up, RRR is the red color channel, GGG is the green color channel, and BBB is the blue color channel. All of these numbers are in decimal.

Stretch goals

Add support for multiple games that can be switched between using a button wired up to the Photon. The button can be wired up as:
Modify the firmware to add a new Particle API method called set_flash that will flash the lights at a set rate.

Animation Control

For this build, we will be created an animated light stick that can be controlled remotely.

To start, load your photon with the animation firmware by copying the code into your Particle Build window (overwriting the Hello World sample), and flashing it to your Photon.

This firmware comes preloaded with two animations: "flash" and "pulse". These can be switched between by calling an Particle API endpoint.

For this build, we will create a Node.js app that switches between animations at a preset interval.

This Node.js app will use the Particle Javascript SDK to call a function named preset. This method takes a single number that corresponds to the preset to use. 1 is the "fade" preset and 2 is the "pulse" preset. All of these numbers are in decimal.

*Stretch Goals

In the firmware there is a method called set_value that allows you to control various aspects of the animations. This method takes two numbers, the first is which value to set, and the second is what to set the value to, like a key-value pair in a JavaScript object. See the constants under Settable Values in the firmware for details. Expose this method to the Particle cloude so it can be called remotely.
Add your own animation! Take a look at the "fade" animation for an example
Add a button to switch between animations. Wire up the button as such:
Create a web frontend to control the animation

License

The MIT License (MIT)

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

nebrius / nodesummit2016