W5: Tests and Concepts

Last Week’s Problem

The previous update left off on having issues with potentiometer values being all over the place and way outside of the standard 0-1023 range. The ranges of those values would fluctuate at random as well.

Turns out, it’s really helpful to be connected to the correct pin. I think I was connecting to pin 4 when the code was written for pin 3. It took so long for me to catch that because it still sort of worked as it should have - which makes no sense. Once the circuit was wired correctly and using pin 3, the potentiometer values were consistent. Now it was just a question of why were they exceeding 1023? Unlike an Arduino Uno which is 10bit, the Thing Plus is 12bit, which would yield a range of 4096. In practice, I’ve been getting 0 to ~3400. So now I have a consistent value range to work with and can finally remap them as needed.

LED Test

Now that Thing 1 and Thing 2 were communicating and the potentiometers were working, it was time to revisit the LED circuit from testing the nRF24L01 transceivers. Apart from needing some fine-tuning of the map functions, it was successful.

The next steps for code are to find a way to have Thing 1 only send data when a dial has been adjusted, rather than sending data constantly. I made an attempt at this, but I don’t think it succeeded. The other next step is to get battery-related code in. I have not selected a battery yet, so that bit is on pause for the moment.

Concept Models

Before diving into a detailed CAD model that can hold the Things and accommodate a battery, I’m starting with making solid handheld concept models. Once I’ve found a shape that makes sense to further develop, then I’ll refine it and be able to choose a battery that fits the space available.