I Have Heard That Success Isn't Built On Success.
- Samantha H.
- Nov 29, 2022
- 3 min read
Our mission for this week was to create a circuit and code to operate a button that should generate a random number, then display this number on a group of LEDs: simulate an actual dice roll. After watching the YouTube video that was provided it seemed like a simple enough task, so I got started on it right away! I tried several different builds, and finally settled on one that I felt was going to make the coding a bit easier. You can see in the photos that when I started the project, I did not completely understand how the LEDs were supposed to be laid out to generate the desired effect, and you will see the evolution of my (monster), creation.
From the above photos it is clear that time, effort, and pride of workmanship were put into this beautiful layout. After playing with the code for a minute I realized that there was no way for me to display the "6" side of a dice. I was disappointed that I had not planned ahead better, but I was happy to be making progress, and feeling pretty confident at this point. Easy fix...famous last words.
I made another attempt, another attempt, another attempt......ad nauseam. I had exhausted all of my current resources, so I turned to Google. I found a build and code that seemed like it was perfect! It was so perfect, and I went to work immediately. You review the results below:
So, this attempt looks like a huge mess, but I loved the concept behind it. By wiring LEDs that would need to come on at the same time together to represent the different sides, the number of pins needed was greatly reduced, and the amount of code needed was cut in half. I copy/pasted the code after carefully the building instructions, and powered it up. The moment of truth. I hit the button and the LEDs lit up!!! I expected the lights turn back off, however the program kept running, the lights didn't turn off, random "sides" of the dice were generated, and it didn't take long to figure out that the code I had used did generate truly random numbers. So, progress made, the lights were finally coming on, and responding to the button, but past that, this was NOT what I wanted to accomplish.
I played with the code for a few days, got mad, went back to Google, and got madder. So, it was back to the drawing board. I went with a build that was considerably simpler than last with the thought of K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Silly) . I was very proud of myself for building the next set-up with my code already in mind.
I am back on track, spirit renewed, and ready for my hard work to pay off. I put a couple of days, and very late nights into getting this build to work. I had some success, but then I tried to add the "print" portion of the code so that I could view the randomness of the code, and my Arduino board had an emotional breakdown. That made two of us. I spent more time working on the code and finally came up with this!!
{SPOILER ALERT}{TRIGGER WARNING}{MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR SENSITIVE VIEWERS}
I never got the code to work. There was no printing of random numbers on a serial screen (no serial screen at all), the lights stopped working properly, the RNG stopped generating random numbers, and I blew out an LED!
I finally called it quits on Sunday night around 11:45. I was defeated, frustrated, and I reiterate...if you know me, you know. I can't leave well enough alone. Things were going great, things were really working, and then I wanted to something more, and everything came to a screeching halt. (I am suffering on the inside for the passing of my red LED)
I will post the video of my final GLORIOUS end of my efforts. Prepare yourselves, hide your children.
This is the video of my "final" attempt.....
One more try....Last one I promise!
So to reflect upon this learning experience. The greatest take away is that "if it a'int broke, don't fix it!", and after trying for days and days, and finally finding a little success (it generated more than a little excitement), I broke it. Also, failure is the way that you grow as a maker, and a person in general. I will leave you with some profound images that I found during one of my Google searches.
And with that, take care and I hope you had a beautiful Thanksgiving holiday!
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