Blink LED without delay with stepper motor

Question

Based on a previous question I modified the script to use blink without delay.

Unfortunately, it does not work, any idea why?

I am using SparkFun RedBoard Plus, Qwiic LED Stick - APA102C, Adafruit Stepper motor - NEMA-17 size - 200 steps/rev and Adafruit Motor Shield V2.

Modified code (based on @Michel Keijzers, see below):

#include <Wire.h>
#include <Adafruit_MotorShield.h>
#include "Qwiic_LED_Stick.h" // Click here to get the library: http://librarymanager/All#SparkFun_Qwiic_LED_Stick
// Variables will change:
int ledState = LOW; // ledState used to set the LED
unsigned long previousMillis = 0; // will store last time LED was updated
// constants won't change:
const long interval = 500; // interval at which to blink (milliseconds)
LED LEDStick; //Create an object of the LED class
Adafruit_MotorShield AFMS = Adafruit_MotorShield();
Adafruit_StepperMotor *myMotor = AFMS.getStepper(200, 2);
void setup() {
 Wire.begin();
 Serial.begin(115200);
 while (!Serial);
 Serial.println("Stepper test!");
 if (!AFMS.begin()) {
 // if (!AFMS.begin(1000)) {
 Serial.println("Could not find Motor Shield. Check wiring.");
 while (1);
 }
 Serial.println("Motor Shield found.");
 myMotor->setSpeed(50); // 50 rpm
 //Start up communication with the LED Stick
 if (!LEDStick.begin()) {
 Serial.println("Qwiic LED Stick failed to begin. Please check wiring and try again!");
 while (1);
 }
 Serial.println("Qwiic LED Stick ready!");
// LEDStick.setLEDColor(255, 0, 0);
 LEDStick.setLEDBrightness(1);
}
void loop() {
 unsigned long currentMillis = millis();
 if (currentMillis - previousMillis >= interval) {
 // save the last time you blinked the LED
 previousMillis = currentMillis;
 ledState = !ledState;
 // set the LED with the ledState of the variable:
 uint8_t intensity = ledState == HIGH ? 255 : 0;
 LEDStick.setLEDColor(intensity, intensity, intensity);
 }
 Serial.println("Single coil steps");
 myMotor->step(200, FORWARD, SINGLE);
}

Code:

#include <Wire.h>
#include <Adafruit_MotorShield.h>
#include "Qwiic_LED_Stick.h" // Click here to get the library: http://librarymanager/All#SparkFun_Qwiic_LED_Stick
// Variables will change:
int ledState = LOW; // ledState used to set the LED
unsigned long previousMillis = 0; // will store last time LED was updated
// constants won't change:
const long interval = 1000; // interval at which to blink (milliseconds)
LED LEDStick; //Create an object of the LED class
Adafruit_MotorShield AFMS = Adafruit_MotorShield();
Adafruit_StepperMotor *myMotor = AFMS.getStepper(200, 2);
void setup() {
 Wire.begin();
 Serial.begin(115200);
 while (!Serial);
 Serial.println("Stepper test!");
 if (!AFMS.begin()) {
 // if (!AFMS.begin(1000)) {
 Serial.println("Could not find Motor Shield. Check wiring.");
 while (1);
 }
 Serial.println("Motor Shield found.");
 myMotor->setSpeed(50); // 50 rpm
 //Start up communication with the LED Stick
 if (LEDStick.begin() == false) {
 Serial.println("Qwiic LED Stick failed to begin. Please check wiring and try again!");
 while (1);
 }
 Serial.println("Qwiic LED Stick ready!");
}
void loop() {
 unsigned long currentMillis = millis();
 if (currentMillis - previousMillis >= interval) {
 // save the last time you blinked the LED
 previousMillis = currentMillis;
 // if the LED is off turn it on and vice-versa:
 if (ledState == LOW) {
 ledState = HIGH;
 } else {
 ledState = LOW;
 }
 // set the LED with the ledState of the variable:
 LEDStick.setLEDColor(50, 50, 50);
 }
 Serial.println("Single coil steps");
 myMotor->step(200, FORWARD, SINGLE);
}

• jsotola: it does not work is a useless description of a problem ... what actually happens?
• hsi100: It does not blink properly
• jsotola: that is just as cryptic ... what were you expecting to happen? ... what actually happened?

Answer 1

You only set (assign) ledState, but you never use it.

I think the following fragment

// set the LED with the ledState of the variable:
LEDStick.setLEDColor(50, 50, 50);

Should be something like:

// set the LED with the ledState of the variable:
uint8_t intensity = ledState == HIGH ? 255 : 0;
LEDStick.setLEDColor(intensity, intensity, intensity);

This 'converts' the ledState into white (RGB values 255) when HIGH or black/off (RGB values 0) when LOW.

Also you can change the line

if (LEDStick.begin() == false) {

into

if (!LEDStick.begin()) {

and change the lines

// if the LED is off turn it on and vice-versa:
if (ledState == LOW) {
 ledState = HIGH;
} else {
 ledState = LOW;
}

into

// if the LED is off turn it on and vice-versa:
ledState = ledState == LOW ? HIGH : LOW;

or even

ledState = !ledState;

• hsi100: Thanks a lot. I did the modified code and updated it in the question, it seems to blink but longer than 1sec. Can it be related to the board frequency. How can I control different light colors based on this code: uint8_t intensity = ledState == HIGH ? 255 : 0; LEDStick.setLEDColor(intensity, intensity, intensity)
• Michel Keijzers: Please upvote and accept the answer if it helped and is the solution for your problem. I don't see directly why it blinks longer than 1 sec, you can print out variables to find out the exact times. About the colors, you can transform LOW/HIGH into any value between 0 and 255 for both red, green and blue, just play a bit with the arguments inside the LEDStick.setLEDColor statement.