Custom Playback Logic

Using the built-in features of the Bottango application and firmware, you can trigger animations:

On startup
As an idle animation
On button press
On pin state (digital or analog read)

Creating Your Own Playback Logic

If you want to create your own animation triggering logic, you can modify the firmware to meet your needs. The documentation for the open source firmware introduces how to structure animation triggering code in the Bottango firmware.

Exported Playback Custom Logic Firmware Guide

Combined with the changes in the previous page to configure the firmware for these control boards, you can modify the callbacks file to implement your own logic, then reflash onto the Bottango control boards.

Using the guide linked above, you can implement any kind of custom C++ animation triggering logic. Some examples given in the guide above are creating an animation playlist or playing a random animation on a button press.

Using Bottango Nova’s GPIO

Bottango Nova has eight exposed GPIO male header pins. You can connect sensors, buttons, etc. to the GPIO pins for your own logic. Of note, there are no physical pull-up or pull-down resistors on the GPIO pins. You will either need to supply them if needed, or use INPUT_PULLUP or INPUT_PULLDOWN when setting pin mode to use the microcontroller’s internal resistors.

Using the Qwiic Connector

There is a Qwiic connector on the back of each board. You could use a Qwiic peripheral to add sensors, etc. to a control board for animation triggering logic. See the page for using Qwiic peripherals for more details, limitations, etc.

Using the Built-In Buttons

If you want to modify the behavior of the built-in “A/B/C” buttons, you can create your own logic. You can also extend the built-in buttons using your own external buttons.

Bottango Nova Buttons

Button A is on pin 34
Button B is on pin 35
Button C is on pin 36

Each button has an external pull-up resistor. Set pin mode to INPUT and digitalRead() will return LOW when pressed and HIGH when unpressed.

Bottango Solar Buttons

Bottango Solar buttons are on a “button ladder” on pin 39. You will need to check an analog voltage range on pin 39. Set pin mode to INPUT and check with analogRead().

Button A will be an analog read value on pin 39 between 2350 and 3650
Button B will be an analog read value on pin 39 between 1250 and 2250
Button C will be an analog read value on pin 39 between 550 and 1150