Neopixel strip with blynk

Need Help With My Project
1

Hello,
I have a (adafruit) neopixel ledstrip which I connect to my ESP8266. I want to control the strip (colors and paterns) with my phone so I use Blynk.
I already can change the color of the srtip using BLYNK_WRITE(v1). I can also run the chase by blynk-connecting a button to v2 but it will only run 1 time when I push the button.
How I can repeat this “Chase” as long as the button (switch) is on?

Code:


 #include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>
 #include <ESP8266_SoftSer.h>
 #include <BlynkSimpleShieldEsp8266_SoftSer.h>

 #define PIN           6 // pin ledstrip
 #define NUMPIXELS      60 // Number of pixels in strip
 #define BLYNK_PRINT Serial    // Comment this out to disable prints and save space
 
 Adafruit_NeoPixel strip = Adafruit_NeoPixel(NUMPIXELS, PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);
 
 char ssid[] = "SSID";
 char password[] = "PASSWORD";
 char token[] = "Token";// You should get Auth Token in the Blynk App.

 // Set NanoESP Serial object
 #include <SoftwareSerial.h>
 SoftwareSerial EspSerial(11, 12); // RX, TX
 ESP8266 wifi(EspSerial);
 
 int Red;
 int Green;
 int Blue;
 
void setup(){
  Serial.begin(19200);
  EspSerial.begin(19200);
  Blynk.begin(token, wifi, ssid, password);
  strip.begin();
  strip.show();
}

BLYNK_WRITE(V1){   // change color in blynk
int R = param[0].asInt();
int G = param[1].asInt();
int B = param[2].asInt();
Red = R;
Green = G;
Blue = B;
  Serial.println(R);
  Serial.println(G);
  Serial.println(B);

for(int i=0;i<NUMPIXELS;i++){
    strip.setPixelColor(i, strip.Color(R,G,B)); //  background color leds
    strip.show(); // This sends the updated pixel color to the hardware.
}
}

BLYNK_WRITE(V2){  // Set chase on or off
  
  //chase(strip.Color(255,0,0)); // Red
  //chase(strip.Color(0,255,0)); // Green
  while (V2){ 
  chase(strip.Color(0,0,255)); // Blue
  // This runs chase 1 time
  }
}

void loop()
{
  Blynk.run();
  
}

void chase(uint32_t c) {
  for(uint16_t i=0; i<strip.numPixels()+3; i++) {
      strip.setPixelColor(i  , c); // Draw new pixel
      strip.setPixelColor(i-3, Red,Green,Blue); // set color back to background color
      strip.show();
      delay(25);
  }
}
2

I found the need to use the Blynk.syncVirtual() along with if()commands, while within the function loop. I think sticking your while() loop in the // Do Stuff Here area should work, as long as it doesn’t hold up things long enough to cause a timeout.

BLYNK_WRITE(V0) // Run this function while V0 button pressed.
{
  int pinValue = param.asInt();  // Get status of V0.
  if (pinValue == 1) {  // If status of V0 is 1 then do stuff in if().
    
// Do Stuff Here

    Blynk.run(); // Run rest of show in-between waiting for this loop to repeat or quit.
    int pinValue = 0;  // Set V0 status to 0 to quit, unless button is still pushed (as per below)
    Blynk.syncVirtual(V2); // ...Then force BLYNK_WRITE(V0) function check of button status to determine if repeating or done.
  }
}
3

Thanks Gunner,
I used your tips to further solve my project.
Here you will find my code:

 #include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>
 #include <ESP8266_SoftSer.h>
 #include <BlynkSimpleShieldEsp8266_SoftSer.h>

 #define PIN           6 // pin ledstrip
 #define NUMPIXELS      60 // Number of pixels in strip
 #define BLYNK_PRINT Serial    // Comment this out to disable prints and save space
 
 Adafruit_NeoPixel strip = Adafruit_NeoPixel(NUMPIXELS, PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);
 
 char ssid[] = "SSID";
 char password[] = "PASSWORD";
 char token[] = "Token"; // You should get Token in the Blynk App.

 // Set NanoESP Serial object
 #include <SoftwareSerial.h>
 SoftwareSerial EspSerial(11, 12); // RX, TX
 ESP8266 wifi(EspSerial);

 // colors
 int Red;
 int Red2;
 int Green;
 int Green2;
 int Blue;
 int Blue2;
 int Length; // Length of chase
 
void setup(){
  Serial.begin(19200);
  EspSerial.begin(19200);
  Blynk.begin(token, wifi, ssid, password);
  strip.begin();
  strip.show();
}

BLYNK_WRITE(V1){   // change background color in blynk
int R = param[0].asInt();
int G = param[1].asInt();
int B = param[2].asInt();
Red = R;
Green = G;
Blue = B;
  Serial.println(R);
  Serial.println(G);
  Serial.println(B);

for(int i=0;i<NUMPIXELS;i++){
    strip.setPixelColor(i, strip.Color(R,G,B)); //  background color leds
    strip.show(); // This sends the updated pixel color to the hardware.
}
}

BLYNK_WRITE(V2){   // change color chase in blynk
  int R2 = param[0].asInt();
  int G2 = param[1].asInt();
  int B2 = param[2].asInt();
  Red2 = R2;
  Green2 = G2;
  Blue2 = B2;
    Serial.println(R2);
    Serial.println(G2);
    Serial.println(B2);
}

BLYNK_WRITE(V3){  // change length of chase in blynk
  Length = param.asInt();
}

BLYNK_WRITE(V0) // set chase on or off
{
  int pinValue = param.asInt();  // Get status of V0.
  if (pinValue == 1) {
      
    chase(strip.Color(Red2,Green2,Blue2));

    Blynk.run(); // Run rest of show in-between waiting for this loop to repeat or quit.
    int pinValue = 0;  // Set V0 status to 0 to quit, unless button is still pushed (as per below)
    Blynk.syncVirtual(V0); // ...Then force BLYNK_WRITE(V0) function check of button status to determine if repeating or done.
    Blynk.syncVirtual(V1); // check color background
    Blynk.syncVirtual(V2); // check color chase
    Blynk.syncVirtual(V3); //check length of chase
  }
}

void loop()
{
  Blynk.run();
   
}

void chase(uint32_t c) {
  for(uint16_t i=0; i<strip.numPixels()+Length; i++) {
      strip.setPixelColor(i  , c); // Draw new pixel
      strip.setPixelColor(i-Length, Red,Green,Blue); // set color back to background color
      strip.show();
      delay(25);
  }
}
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