Project Summary:

The primary objective of my project was to create an ambient alert system that visually notifies upcoming Google Calendar events using an Argon microcontroller and Neopixel LED strip. As such, the system fades the strip to red as a calendar event approaches and back to white after the event begins, with integration through IFTTT for the Google Calendar webhook trigger.

Process:

For this setup, a Neopixel LED strip was connected to an Argon microcontroller connected to the D2 pin. The Particle functions CalEvent enabled triggering via IFTTT linked with Google Calendar. The CalEvent function triggers the fade-to-red sequence 15 minutes prior to an event, and after the event starts, a fade back to white is triggered. I added the turnOff function for testing purposes so that I could end, or close, the previously run function.

Initially, the Neopixel strip was programmed to reach full brightness in both red and white colors. However, I found the brightness level too high, or distracting, so I adjusted the code to test different brightness levels, eventually settling on a 20% brightness setting for both colors. I achieved this by adjusting the RGB values in the fadeToColor function.

Outcome:

My project achieved its goal of providing ambient Google Calendar notifications while utilizing IFTTT to handle communication between Google Calendar and the Argon microcontroller.

*alertDuration was shortened considerably for the video to demonstrate the fade from Red to White compared to the used code which is set to 15 minutes. 

Video, IFTTT Log, Code Below