LED Pixel Police Siren

Code

The code in the editor below is ready to run! Plug Buzz in to your computer's USB port with the cable and hit 'Upload Your Code!' to see what it does. Change something in the code, like a delay or pin number. Try to add something new to the program - it's yours to tinker with! You can always press the 'Restore' button to return the code to the working example.

/* Turn Buzz's wings red, then blue, while he chirps a tone like a police siren */ #include "LEDStrip.h" //The LEDStrip.h library gives your code access to special functions exclusive to the LED wings LEDStrip wings = LEDStrip(16, A4, A5); //Set up the wings by defining how many pixels (16) and where they connect to the microcontroller (always A4 and A5 for Buzz) void setup() { pinMode(2,OUTPUT); //Speaker } void loop() { wings.setPixel(wings.All, 100); //use wings.All to set all the pixels one color, then set the color value (100 is red) tone(2,500); //Play a tone of 500 hertz wings.draw(); //Send the setPixel values to Buzz's wings delay(1000); //Wait 1000 milliseconds (1 second) with the tone of 500 playing wings.setPixel(wings.All, 299); //A color value of 299 is blue on the LED wings tone(2,100); //Play a tone of 100 hertz wings.draw(); //Send the setPixel values to the LED wings delay(1000); //Wait 1000 milliseconds before restarting the loop } //(c)2023 Let's Start Coding. License: www.letsstartcoding.com/bsdlicense

Walkthrough Video

Watch the video for a line-by-line explanation of how the example program works. Then you'll be ready to make some changes of your own!

Buzz’s LED Pixel Color Spectrum

Use this spectrum to estimate the color values you'll need for your 'setPixel' arguments to achieve your favorite color!

Challenges

Can you complete the challenges? Change the code in your code editor above. Upload your code to see the effect when you're finished. Complete a challenge? Check it off the list!

Change the siren colors using the setPixel( ) function.

Change the delays to change how fast the siren toggles back and forth. Which delays make the siren the most realistic? How fast can the code run and still show the siren change color?

Change the tones that the siren plays. What tone values sound the most realistic? What tone values sound like an alien siren?

Add a third siren tone and a third color that shows on the LED pixels. Hint: Look for the pattern in the code. There are different 'sections' broken up by blank lines in the void loop.

Concepts

These are the new code concepts covered in this example program. To become a great coder, read through these concepts to learn new vocabulary.

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