Pixel Motion

Difficulty: ● ● ○ ○ ○

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  • Did you know ?

    The first LED-based video displays were used in stadium scoreboards in the early 1990s—today, even a tiny 5×5 LED matrix can be used to build interactive games with just a button and a few lines of code!

Parts Required

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How It Works ?

D-pad button → reads analog signal
Direction press → moves pixel on 5×5 matrix
Center press → changes pixel color randomly
LED update → lights up the new position instantly for smooth, responsive control

GENESIS

Connection Guide

Snap your modules as shown above, copy the code into the Arduino IDE and Click upload

example.ino 
#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>

#define DPAD_PIN 2
#define MATRIX_PIN 16
#define MATRIX_SIZE 25

int debounce = 150;
int x = 2, y = 2;
uint32_t currentColor = 0xFF0000;

Adafruit_NeoPixel matrix(MATRIX_SIZE, MATRIX_PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);

void setup() {
  matrix.begin();
  matrix.clear();
  matrix.show();
  randomSeed(analogRead(0));
}

void loop() {
  int button = readAnalogButton();

  switch(button) {
    case 1:  // UP
      y = max(0, y - 1);
      delay(debounce);
      break;
    case 2:  // DOWN
      y = min(4, y + 1);
      delay(debounce);
      break;
    case 3:  // LEFT
      x = max(0, x - 1);
      delay(debounce);
      break;
    case 4:  // RIGHT
      x = min(4, x + 1);
      delay(debounce);
      break;
    case 5:  // CENTER
      currentColor = matrix.Color(random(0,256), random(0,256), random(0,256));
      delay(debounce);
      break;
    case 0:
      break;
  }

  displayPixel(x, y, currentColor);
}

int readAnalogButton() {
  int val = analogRead(DPAD_PIN);

  if (val < 100)          return 4;  // RIGHT (~0)
  else if (val < 900)     return 2;  // DOWN (~747)
  else if (val < 1900)    return 1;  // UP (~1525)
  else if (val < 2600)    return 5;  // CENTER (~2295)
  else if (val < 3500)    return 3;  // LEFT (~3127)
  else                    return 0;
}

void displayPixel(int x, int y, uint32_t color) {
  matrix.clear();
  int index = x * 5 + (4 - y);  // 90° clockwise rotation mapping
  matrix.setPixelColor(index, color);
  matrix.show();
}