Love to Code:

Light Sensor
Add-on

#1
Written by Jie Qi
Illustrations by K-Fai Steele

Light Sensor 1
Before You Begin
This is an add-on booklet to the Love to Code Creative Coding Kit. We wrote
this booklet assuming you already have the reusable components included
in the Creative Coding Kit, as well as the Light Sensor Add-on Materials Kit.

Make space for this add-on booklet by removing the pages currently inside
your Chibi Book powered binder. Once you’ve slipped the add-on pages into
the binder, you’re ready to start!

If you haven’t purchased the Love to Code Creative Coding Kit or the Light
Sensor Add-on Materials Kit, you can get one via
chibitronics.com/lovetocode.

Love to Code: Light Sensor Copyright © 2018 by Jie Qi

Some rights reserved.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons

Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Publisher: Sutajio Ko-Usagi Pte Ltd

dba Studio Kosagi, in Singapore
[email protected]

Illustrator: K-Fai Steele

Editor: Andrew “bunnie” Huang
Technical Editor: Natalie Freed

ISBN: 978-981-11-6339-5 9 789811 163395

2
 Love to Code:
Light Sensor

“Look! When I put my leaf over your circuit, nothing happens because your
circuits are not light sensitive,” said George.

“Well then, how do we make it light sensitive?” asked Fern.

“With a light sensor, of course! Do I have to explain everything?” sighed

George.

Fern grumbled. “Yes, George.”

Light Sensor LS-1

Program a Light sensor
In Chapter 3 of Love to Code Volume 1, we learned how to make our
circuit detect the press of a button. Just as our bodies have many different
senses such as sight, hearing, and touch, circuits can also sense the world
in different ways. In this activity, we will use a light sensor to make our
projects react to light!
You will need:

Chibi Chip cable programming Internet USB Power

device connection

copper tape conductive LED sticker light sensor

fabric patch

1. Make the light sensor circuit on page LS-4. Instead of sticking the light
sensor permanently to the page as with the LED stickers, leave the wax
paper backing on. Place (don’t stick!) the light sensor over the copper tape.
Then, use three conductive fabric patches to stick it in place. This way the
light sensor sticker can be reused in future projects!

2. Upload the Basic Light Sensor example code to your Chibi Chip! Visit
ltc.chibitronics.com and select
Examples > Sensors > Basic Light Sensor

Tah-Dah! When the light sensor (the little bump inside the sun shape) is
made dark by covering it, pin 0 will turn on. Likewise, if it’s exposed to light,
pin 0 will turn off.
LS-2
light sensor circuit not responding? First, check if the code uploaded properly:

Was the PROG Make sure the No orange sound bar

button pressed volume is all the animation? Refresh
before uploading? way up! the browser and try
uploading again
If the code upload looks good, let’s try checking the circuit:

Make sure the stripes on Is the LED over pin 5 not turning
the Chibi Chip line up and on? Try going to a brighter spot
contact the copper tape in or shining a brighter light on the
the circuit. light sensor!

Is pin 5 not turning off when it’s Is the LED over pin 0 turning on,
dark? Check the fabric patch but not the LED sticker on the
connections and make sure the page? Press harder on the LED
light sensor is securely connected. sticker for a stronger connection.

circuit Still not working? Check out the debugging Chapter from
Love to Code Volume 1 for more tips!

Light Sensor LS-3

Light Sensor Template
2. Place the light sensor
1. Stick copper tape over the footprint, but
over the gray lines. do not remove the wax
paper backing!

+
-
S

3. Stick conductive fabric patches over

the copper tape and the light sensor’s
4. Stick golden metal pads, like this:
down LED
+

- This holds the light sensor in place

while connecting it to the circuit!
5. Clip the
Chibi Chip

Connecting a light sensor with

fabric patches lets us reuse the
sensor sticker in other circuits!
Just peel off the old fabric patches
and use new patches to connect the
light sensor to a new circuit.

LS-4
Fabric patches can be used to connect other stickers,
like LEDs, making them reusable too! This trick
also works to recycle old LED stickers that have lost
their stickiness. Be careful when peeling off old LED
stickers, though! The stickers won’t work if they are
bent too much.

Light Sensor LS-5

When you shine a light at George, something fades away! What is it?

LS-6
Decode the code
Let’s look at the example code for the light sensor to see how it works:

// Love to Code
// Volume 1: Basic Light Sensor

int lightLevel = 0;

void setup() {
outputMode(0); // pin 0 turns on and off the LED
inputMode(5); // pin 5 connects to our light sensor
}

void loop(){
lightLevel = read(5); // read light sensor from pin 5

if(lightLevel == 1) {
off(0); // if bright, turn OFF pin 0
} else {
on(0); // otherwise, turn ON pin 0
}
}

It works just like the switch code from page 3-7 of Love to Code Volume 1!
We read the light sensor like a switch. When it’s bright, the sensor reads 1
and when it’s dark, the sensor reads 0. With this information, we can use the
lightLevel variable and an if() statement to control the light on pin 0.

Light Sensor LS-7

The cool thing about a light sensor is that unlike a switch, which can only
sense fully on and fully off, a light sensor can sense light levels in between.
One way to think about it is that a switch can only see black and white, while
a light sensor can see black, white and shades of gray in between.

Switch sees only black and white

Light sensor sees shades of gray

To see this in action, upload the Fade With

Sensor example code to your Chibi Chip! Go to
Examples > Sensors > Fade With Sensor.

Then, clip the Chibi Chip to the circuit on page

LS-4.

Now the more the light sensor is

covered, the dimmer pin 0 becomes.
Alternatively, shining a light at the
sensor will make pin 0 become
brighter!
LS-8
Let’s take a look at the loop() function of our Fade With Sensor example
code to see how it works:

void loop () {
lightLevel = readLevel(5); // read sensor level at pin 5
setLevel(0, lightLevel); // then set pin 0 to
// the same “brightness”
pause(10); // tiny pause for the brightness to show
}

First we read the voltage from the light sensor on pin 5 with readLevel()
and then set the variable lightLevel to that value:

sets the value

lightLevel = readLevel(5);
variable that we save pin that we are
our sensor reading to reading from: in
this case, pin 5
readLevel() gives us a number from 0 when it’s completely dark to 100
when it’s completely bright. To get information from the sensor, we use
readLevel(5), since the light sensor is connected to pin 5.

dark medium bright

readLevel(5) is 0 readLevel(5) is 50 readLevel(5) is 100

Then we set the brightness of pin 0 to the same brightness as the

light sensor using setLevel(0, lightLevel). Finally, we wait 10
milliseconds for the new brightness level to show.

Light Sensor LS-9

Play with code
Time to mess around with the light sensor code! We’ve already tried making
pin 0 brighter with more light. How do we make a pin brighter with less light,
so that it lights up when surroundings are dark? We just need a little math to
do this! Try editing the loop() function code like this:

void loop(){
lightLevel = 100 - readLevel(5);
setLevel(0, lightLevel);
pause(10);
}

After uploading this new code, the darker the light sensor gets, the brighter
the light on pin 0 becomes! That’s because now we set the light level to the
opposite of the light sensor reading by subtraction:

dark:
readLevel(5) is 0
lightLevel is 100 minus 0
so, lightLevel is 100

medium:
readLevel(5) is 50
lightLevel is 100 minus 50
so, lightLevel is 50

bright:
readLevel(5) is 100
lightLevel is 100 minus 100
so, lightLevel is 0

LS-10
Cool huh? Try making your own light patterns by playing with the light
sensor! Can you get multiple pins to respond to the light sensor?

You’re not bad

for a beginner!

Light sensor readings can also be put inside if() conditions. Give this a try
with the Light-o-meter activity on page LS-12!

For this activity, first load the Light-o-meter example code in

Examples > Sensors > Light-o-meter. Then, complete the circuit template
on page LS-12 by reusing your light sensor from page LS-4 with new fabric
patches.
When peeling up the light sensor sticker, gently
peel off the old fabric tape, and be careful not
to bend the sticker too much, as that will break
connections inside the sticker! Also, use fresh pieces
of fabric tape for every project to ensure a reliable
connection.

Yep! Nope.

Light Sensor LS-11

 Light-o-Meter
The brighter the light sensor’s reading, the more LEDs will light up!

+ Reuse your light sensor from page LS-4 and

-
S

connect it to this circuit using new fabric patches!

+ -

+ -

+ -

+ -

+ -

Turn copper tape

at corners with this
folding trick:
1. Fold tape back, so 2. Flip and turn 3. Flatten
LS-12 the sticky side faces up the tape the corner!
Light Sensor LS-13
LS-14 What grows when you shine light on the sun? Draw it above!
Sensing the Environment
The cool thing about a light sensor is that not only can it be triggered by
covering it with hands or shining a light on it, the sensor also responds to
light level changes in the environment!

Where’s a sunny spot for growing plants? Try taking your circuit to different
places to find out! For example:

near a window underneath a table

in the bathroom outdoors

Try checking the same places both at night, and in the afternoon! What
differences do you notice?
Light Sensor LS-15
Decode the code
Let’s take a look at how our Light-o-meter code works! Here’s the loop()
function of our example code:

void loop(){
lightLevel = readLevel(5); // read light level
if(lightLevel > 0) { // if level is greater than 0,
on(0); // turn on pin 0
} else {
off(0); // otherwise turn off pin 0
}
if(lightLevel > 20) { // if level is greater than 20,
on(1); // turn on pin 1
} else {
off(1); // otherwise turn off pin 1
}
if(lightLevel > 40) { // if level is greater than 40,
on(2); // turn on pin 2
} else {
off(2); // otherwise turn off pin 2
}
if(lightLevel > 60) { // if level is greater than 60
on(3); // turn on pin 3
} else {
off(3); // otherwise turn off pin 3
}
if(lightLevel > 80) { // if level is greater than 80,
on(4); // turn on pin 4
} else {
off(4); // otherwise turn off pin 4
}
}

LS-16
We use if() statements and the > “greater than” operator to create a light
level threshold for each LED pin. An operator is a symbol that tells the Chibi
Chip to do some kind of math or logical operation. In this case, the light level
needs to be greater than the threshold number in order for the pin to turn
on. The higher the threshold, the brighter the light level must be before that
pin will turn on.

light greater than 80 light not greater than 40

It’s just like the height limit at a scary ride in the amusement park. In order
to go on the ride, you have to be taller than the threshold height.

Light Sensor LS-17

There are lots of ways to make comparison conditions for if() statements,
not just with == equals to and > greater than. Here’s a list of comparison
operators, also known as relational operators:

== !=

== equal to != not equal to

(in height)

> <

> greater than < less than

>= <=

>= greater than or equal to <= less than or equal to

LS-18
Play with code
Can you make the plant on page LS-14 grow taller the darker it gets? Try
changing your code so that the light meter goes higher the less light there
is!

Here’s a hint: try playing around with the comparison operators and the
thresholds so that pins turn on when light levels are below the threshold
number.

Still stumped? Check out the

Dark-O-Meter example code!

Light Sensor LS-19

Let’s Play!
Time to create your own light-reactive artwork! First, draw a scene on page
LS-22 and then build a light-reactive circuit for your artwork here!

LS-20
Light Sensor LS-21
Draw a light-reactive scene here!

LS-22
Think outside the booK
Nice work! You’ve learned so many cool circuits and programs. Now you’re
ready to take your skills to the next level by taking your projects off the page
and outside of this book. Here are some fun things to try!

A fabulous hat that

sparkles light patterns
when a bright light shines
at it!

A spooky haunted
house that comes to
life when it gets dark!

A magic wand that triggers a circuit from far away, like a remote control.
Hint: send signals with a light on the wand, and receive it on the other side
with a light sensor!

Light Sensor LS-23

 Down the rabbit hole:
Digital And Analog

Light sensors are pretty nifty, huh? Let’s dig into how they work!

First, the light sensor has to be connected to GND and +3V so that it has
power. Once powered, the light sensor produces a voltage depending on the
light level and sends it to the S pad. The S stands for signal.

Light-sensitive area

Similar to a switch, a light sensor sends a changing voltage to an input pin

that tells the Chibi Chip information about the world. However, with a switch
the voltage depends on whether someone is pressing or not, while with the
light sensor the voltage changes depending on the amount of light that hits
the light sensor.
LS-24
A big difference between a switch and a light sensor is that a switch can only
be 0V or 3V, while a light sensor can be 0V, 3V or any voltage in between.
A switch can only read 0 for OFF and 1 for ON, which is called a digital
reading. Digital means that we can only work reliably with values that are
fully on (3V) or fully off (0V), and nothing in between.

0V 3V

read(5) is 0 read(5) is 1

using read(pin) for digital readings

Meanwhile the light sensor can read any brightness level from 0 for
completely dark to 100 for fully bright, which is called an analog reading.
Analog means that we can work with values that are in between fully on and
fully off — in this case, voltages that anywhere in between 0V and 3V.

0V 1.5V 3V

readLevel(5) is 0 readLevel(5) is 50 readLevel(5) is 100

using readLevel(pin) for analog readings

The terms digital and analog aren’t just for sensors and inputs. on() and
off() are digital output functions: they turn LEDs either fully on, or fully off.
Likewise, setLevel() is an analog output function because it can make an
LED appear to be at various light levels, not just fully on or fully off.

Light Sensor LS-25

The fun thing about working with analog values and functions is that it gives
us more information about the world. For example, the light sensor tells us
not only that there’s light, but also how much light.

As we learn about more types of circuits and programs, we’ll be using analog
functions more and more because we can use the additional information
along with neat math tricks to make more complex interactions. In other
words, analog values allow us to make our projects do even more cool stuff!

LS-26
“This is so cool,” said Fern. “Thanks for showing us how to use light
sensors, George! See ya later!”

“Are you leaving already?” asked George, “We’re just getting started! Can we
please keep hanging out?”

Fern thought for a second. George wasn’t always the sunniest flower to be
around, but once they started to learn things together he was actually pretty
cool. She glanced at her friends, and then knew her answer.

“Sure!” Fern declared.

Light Sensor LS-27

 Happy making and see you again soon!

LS-28
Stay tuned!

Thanks for joining us on this adventure! Stay tuned to

chibitronics.com/lovetocode for new chapters on even more
circuits and programming techniques with Fern and friends!

Light Sensor LS-29

9 LS-30
789811 163395