Process

This connecting assignment is part of our prototype process. We started by connecting a basic pressure sensor to an LED light to test input-output functionality. After achieving reliable lighting control, we connected two devices via Particle Photon microcontrollers. When one user pressed the sensor on their device, the paired device lit up in real time, successfully achieving synchronized emotional communication.

During development, I ensured each light pattern for the weather states was separated into its own event. This allowed us to publish and test each event individually. However, when the same code was uploaded to the second device and tested, the devices failed to respond to each other. We suspected the issue was tied to the way events were titled and attempted to simplify the titles to numerical names for easier debugging. With assistance from our TA, we were able to successfully network the devices and ensure real-time communication. However, we encountered an additional issue with the sunny and cloudy patterns: they would only flash momentarily at the start of each event. To resolve this, we introduced millis() for timing control and added delays to simulate a longer-lasting light pattern. This approach successfully created the desired behavior for these two states, while the rain and thunderstorm effects required no further adjustment due to their existing functionality.