Arduino Compatible robot for £15

I was looking for a low cost way of building a vehicle controlled by an Arduino or Raspberry Pi and eBay once again came up with the solutions.

1 x Smart Robot Car Chassis Kit  - £7.60
1 x L298N - £1.86
1 x Arduino Compatible Pro Mini - £2.53

Total Cost: £11.99

The Smart Robot Chassis comes with 2 motors and wheels.  It comes with the encoding wheels for optical encoder to measure rotation, but without the electronics.

All the parts with chassis. 

The L298N is a Motor Driver Module

That's it on the right next to the battery pack

While the Pro Mini is a small Arduino compatible board that I previously blogged about programming (http://winkleink.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/programming-arduino-pro-mini-16mhz-5v.html) and soldering the headers (http://winkleink.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/soldering-up-pro-mini-arduino.html)

You need a USB to serial adaptor to program it. For this adaptor you have to solder a pin to the DTR and then attach that to the RST line on the Pro Mini when programming.

I built the Chassis and attached the L298N

All the parts

Bits for the front wheel mounting

Screw the spacers to the chassis

Attach the swivel wheel to the spacers.
Note nuts not in original picture

Parts for motor/wheel mount

Use small screws to attach pillars to chassis

Parts for connecting motors

Screw motor to the outside of the pillars.
Note: make sure to have motor connectors on the inside
for easy cable management

Add the encoder wheels if you want and the actual wheels

See in front of batter holder are the two holes where
the battery holder will be bolted to.
Use 2 of the slightly longer bolts for this.

All finished.  Still needed to solder the wires to the motors.

The L298N is then wired.

+ Battery to VCC and 5V on the L298Nand RAW on the Pro Mini. The L298N appears to be OK with 6V going to the 5V line. And the Pro Mini doesn't complain about the 6V from the batteries either.

As always connect all the GNDs together

Then for each motor connect Out1 and Out2 to one Motor and Out3 and Out4 to the other motor. Depending on which way around you do the connection will decide which way the motors spins, so if this is wrong you can either swap the wires or modify the code.

Then for control from the Pro Mini I connected

IN1 to 3

IN2 to 5

IN3 to 9

IN4 to 10

The eagle eyed will have noticed these are 4 of the PWM lines so in the future I can enable speed control by driving using PWM rather than digital.

Uploaded the following Sketch tot he Pro Mini and let it rip - see video at the bottom

// motor driver using PWM

int lb = 3;

int lf = 5;

int rb = 10;

int rf = 9;

void setup() {

  // put your setup code here, to run once:

  pinMode(lb, OUTPUT); 

  pinMode(lf, OUTPUT); 

  pinMode(rb, OUTPUT); 

  pinMode(rf, OUTPUT); 

  

  digitalWrite (lb, LOW);

  digitalWrite (lf, LOW);

  digitalWrite (rb, LOW);

  digitalWrite (rf, LOW);

}

void loop() {

  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly: 

  

    digitalWrite (lf, HIGH);

    digitalWrite (lb, LOW);

    digitalWrite (rf, HIGH);

    digitalWrite (rb, LOW);

    delay(1000);

    digitalWrite (lf, LOW);

    digitalWrite (lb, LOW);

    digitalWrite (rf, LOW);

    digitalWrite (rb, LOW);

    delay(1000);

    digitalWrite (lf, LOW);

    digitalWrite (lb, HIGH);

    digitalWrite (rf, HIGH);

    digitalWrite (rb, LOW);

    delay(600);

    digitalWrite (lf, HIGH);

    digitalWrite (lb, LOW);

    digitalWrite (rf, HIGH);

    digitalWrite (rb, LOW);

    delay(1000);

    digitalWrite (lf, HIGH);

    digitalWrite (lb, LOW);

    digitalWrite (rf, LOW);

    digitalWrite (rb, HIGH);

    delay(600);

}

All worked well.

Next I need to put in place a way of controlling it remotely.

The adventure continues.

Note: This chassis and L298N should also work with a Raspberry Pi. Need to be more careful with the power and a few other bits. 

Arduino - Web server controlled LED using serial connection between the Arduino and web server

I was chatting to a friend who was working on home automation.  Controlling lights, heating and other stuff around the house using a touch screen controller and I thought if you used a web site as the interface then connected to the Arduino over a serial link it would be possible to switch things on and off from any devlice that could display a web page and access the web server.

Personally, I would not recommend using a serial link from the server to the Arduino as the Arduino resets itself everytime something is sent over serial,  More correctly an ethernet shield would be great.  Giving more scalability as the web server can talk to mutliple Arduinos with no great extra effort.

I installed XAMPP on my netbook as the webserver and used PHP code on the server to present the web interface and send the command to the Arduino over serial.  The Arduino is waiting for a serial command and then depending on what it is will turn on or off the mounted LED.

So, not the most impressive looking demo, but as a proof of concept if I can turn on a LED I can control a relay to turn on an kind of device.

Below is the code.  Be aware I'm more about getting the Arduino to do something and so the code will be a bit rough around the edges.  It works but I definitely do not consider it best practise or even efficent code.
Use at your own risk.


PHP on the server:

<?php

exec('mode com4: baud=9600 data=8 stop=1 parity=n xon=no');

$switch1 = "";

/* Serial script for pan/tilt Camera with servos */
/* Script by Aneal Khimani, 2-12-10 */

//check the GET action SuperGlobal var to see if an
//action is to be performed

if (isset($_GET['action'])) {

$switch1 = $_GET['action'];

//Action required

switch ($switch1) {
case "on":
$fp = fopen("com4", "w");
fwrite($fp, chr(97));
fclose($fp);
break;

case "off":
$fp = fopen("com4", "w");
fwrite($fp, chr(98));
fclose($fp);
break;


}
}

?>

<html>
<body>
<center>

<p>
<font size="4">Flick Switch</font><br />
<table width="30">
<tr><td><a href="<?=$_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] . "?action=on" ?>">On</a></td><td><?php if($switch1 == 'on'){echo "<b>ON</b>";} ?></td></tr>
<tr><td><a href="<?=$_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] . "?action=off" ?>">Off</a></td><td><?php if($switch1 == 'off'){echo "<b>OFF</b>";} ?></td></tr>
</table>
</p>

</center>
</body>
</html>

Arduino Code:

/*

  Used with the PHP code
  http://localhost/arduino.php
 */

void setup() {               

  Serial.begin(9600); // initialize serial communication:

  // initialize the digital pin as an output.
  // Pin 13 has an LED connected on most Arduino boards:
  pinMode(13, OUTPUT);    
}

void loop() {

// read the serial port:

if (Serial.available() > 0) {
int inByte = Serial.read();

switch (inByte) {
case 'a':
  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // set the LED on
  Serial.println("HIGH");
 
break;

case 'b':
  digitalWrite(13, LOW);   // set the LED off
  Serial.
  println("LOW");

break;
}

}

}

8x8 LED Matrix Scrolling Message Changing In Serial Monitor

The classic scrolling message with the ability to enter a message from the serial monitor and while it is scrolling if you enter a lowercase 'a' in the monitor it stops and you can enter a new message.

To do this I created my own character set (reminds me of the olden days with my Commodore 64 - yes I am that old)

It took 3 evenings to create the character set and then 2 evening to create the code.  So, if you are looking to do something similar the code below with the character set defined may save you some time.

Below is the code.  Be aware I'm more about getting the Arduino to do something and so the code will be a bit rough around the edges.  It works but I definitely do not consider it best practise or even efficent code.
Use at your own risk.

// Control an 8x8 LED display with 2 x 74HC595 shift registers
// Using only 3 pins from the Arduino

// while condition variable
int whileVar = 0;

//Pin connected to Pin 12 of 74HC595 (Latch)
int latchPin = 8;

//Pin connected to Pin 11 of 74HC595 (Clock)
int clockPin = 12;

//Pin connected to Pin 14 of 74HC595 (Data)
int dataPin = 11;

uint8_t led[8];
uint8_t letters[672];
uint8_t currentdisplay[8];

long counter1 = 0;

// Current Character in the charMessage Array
int charMessageCurrent = 0;

// Current line in Letter
int lineLetter = 672;

//currentChar is the current character in the charMessage that is being chekced
char currentChar =32;

// Used to store the message instead of displayMessage
char charMessage[40];

// scrollMessage is array holding the message that will be displayed
uint8_t scrollMessage[480];

// Serial read Byte
int incomingByte = 0;

void setup() {

Serial.begin(9600);
 
// Seed Random Generator with noise from analog pin 0 
randomSeed(analogRead(0));
 
//set pins to output
pinMode(latchPin, OUTPUT);
pinMode(clockPin, OUTPUT);
pinMode(dataPin, OUTPUT);

// Symbol [ ] space
letters[0] =  B00000000;
letters[1] =  B00000000;
letters[2] =  B00000000;
letters[3] =  B00000000;
letters[4] =  B00000000;
letters[5] =  B00000000;
letters[6] =  B00000000;
letters[7] =  B00000000;

// Symbol !
letters[8]  =  B00000000;
letters[9]  =  B00000000;
letters[10] =  B00000000;
letters[11] =  B00000000;
letters[12] =  B11110011;
letters[13] =  B00000000;
letters[14] =  B00000000;
letters[15] =  B00000000;

// Symbol "
letters[16] =  B00000000;
letters[17] =  B00000000;
letters[18] =  B00000000;
letters[19] =  B11100000;
letters[20] =  B00000000;
letters[21] =  B11100000;
letters[22] =  B00000000;
letters[23] =  B00000000;

// Symbol #
letters[24] =  B00000000;
letters[25] =  B00100100;
letters[26] =  B11111111;
letters[27] =  B00100100;
letters[28] =  B00100100;
letters[29] =  B00100100;
letters[30] =  B11111111;
letters[31] =  B00100100;

// Symbol $
letters[32] =  B00000000;
letters[33] =  B01001110;
letters[34] =  B10010001;
letters[35] =  B10010001;
letters[36] =  B11111111;
letters[37] =  B10010001;
letters[38] =  B10010001;
letters[39] =  B01100110;

// Symbol %
letters[40] =  B00000000;
letters[41] =  B10000111;
letters[42] =  B01000101;
letters[43] =  B00110111;
letters[44] =  B00011000;
letters[45] =  B11100100;
letters[46] =  B10000010;
letters[47] =  B11100001;

// Symbol &
letters[48] =  B00000000;
letters[49] =  B01100000;
letters[50] =  B10010101;
letters[51] =  B10010011;
letters[52] =  B10010101;
letters[53] =  B10011001;
letters[54] =  B01011001;
letters[55] =  B00111110;

// Symbol '
letters[56] =  B00000000;
letters[57] =  B00000000;
letters[58] =  B00000000;
letters[59] =  B11100000;
letters[60] =  B00000000;
letters[61] =  B00000000;
letters[62] =  B00000000;
letters[63] =  B00000000;

// Symbol (
letters[64] =  B00000000;
letters[65] =  B00000000;
letters[66] =  B10000001;
letters[67] =  B01000010;
letters[68] =  B00100100;
letters[69] =  B00011000;
letters[70] =  B00000000;
letters[71] =  B00000000;

// Symbol )
letters[72] =  B00000000;
letters[73] =  B00000000;
letters[74] =  B00011000;
letters[75] =  B00100100;
letters[76] =  B01000010;
letters[77] =  B10000001;
letters[78] =  B00000000;
letters[79] =  B00000000;

// Symbol *
letters[80] =  B00000000;
letters[81] =  B10010010;
letters[82] =  B01010100;
letters[83] =  B00111000;
letters[84] =  B11111111;
letters[85] =  B00111000;
letters[86] =  B01010100;
letters[87] =  B10010010;

// Symbol +
letters[88] =  B00000000;
letters[89] =  B00010000;
letters[90] =  B00010000;
letters[91] =  B00010000;
letters[92] =  B11111111;
letters[93] =  B00010000;
letters[94] =  B00010000;
letters[95] =  B00010000;

// Symbol ,
letters[96]  =  B00000000;
letters[97]  =  B00000000;
letters[98]  =  B00000000;
letters[99]  =  B00000110;
letters[100] =  B00000001;
letters[101] =  B00000000;
letters[102] =  B00000000;
letters[103] =  B00000000;

// Symbol -
letters[104] =  B00000000;
letters[105] =  B00000000;
letters[106] =  B00000000;
letters[107] =  B00010000;
letters[108] =  B00010000;
letters[109] =  B00010000;
letters[110] =  B00000000;
letters[111] =  B00000000;

// Symbol .
letters[112] =  B00000000;
letters[113] =  B00000000;
letters[114] =  B00000000;
letters[115] =  B00000011;
letters[116] =  B00000011;
letters[117] =  B00000000;
letters[118] =  B00000000;
letters[119] =  B00000000;

// Symbol /
letters[120] =  B00000000;
letters[121] =  B10000000;
letters[122] =  B01000000;
letters[123] =  B00100000;
letters[123] =  B00011000;
letters[125] =  B00000100;
letters[126] =  B00000010;
letters[127] =  B00000001;

// Number 0 - zero
letters[128] =  B00000000;
letters[129] =  B00111100;
letters[130] =  B01000010;
letters[131] =  B10100001;
letters[132] =  B10010001;
letters[133] =  B10001001;
letters[134] =  B01000010;
letters[135] =  B00111100;

// Number 1
letters[136] =  B00000000;
letters[137] =  B00000000;
letters[138] =  B00000001;
letters[139] =  B11111111;
letters[140] =  B01000001;
letters[141] =  B00100001;
letters[142] =  B00000000;
letters[143] =  B00000000;

// Number 2
letters[144] =  B00000000;
letters[145] =  B01100001;
letters[146] =  B10010001;
letters[147] =  B10001001;
letters[148] =  B10001001;
letters[149] =  B10000101;
letters[150] =  B10000011;
letters[141] =  B01100001;

// Number 3
letters[152] =  B00000000;
letters[153] =  B01111110;
letters[154] =  B10011001;
letters[155] =  B10011001;
letters[156] =  B10011001;
letters[157] =  B10000001;
letters[158] =  B10000001;
letters[159] =  B01000110;

// Number 4
letters[160] =  B00000000;
letters[161] =  B00000100;
letters[162] =  B11111111;
letters[163] =  B01000100;
letters[164] =  B00100100;
letters[165] =  B00010100;
letters[166] =  B00001100;
letters[167] =  B00000100;

// Number 5
letters[168] =  B00000000;
letters[169] =  B10001110;
letters[170] =  B10010001;
letters[171] =  B10010001;
letters[172] =  B10010001;
letters[173] =  B10010001;
letters[174] =  B10010001;
letters[175] =  B11100010;

// Number 6
letters[176] =  B00000000;
letters[177] =  B01001110;
letters[178] =  B10010001;
letters[179] =  B10010001;
letters[180] =  B10010001;
letters[181] =  B10010001;
letters[182] =  B10010001;
letters[183] =  B01111110;

// Number 7
letters[184] =  B00000000;
letters[185] =  B11100000;
letters[186] =  B10010000;
letters[187] =  B10001000;
letters[188] =  B10000111;
letters[189] =  B00000000;
letters[190] =  B00000000;
letters[191] =  B00000000;

// Number 8
letters[192] =  B00000000;
letters[193] =  B01100110;
letters[194] =  B10011001;
letters[195] =  B10011001;
letters[196] =  B10011001;
letters[197] =  B10011001;
letters[198] =  B10011001;
letters[199] =  B01100110;

// Number 9
letters[200] =  B00000000;
letters[201] =  B01111110;
letters[202] =  B10001001;
letters[203] =  B10001001;
letters[204] =  B10001001;
letters[205] =  B10001001;
letters[206] =  B10001001;
letters[207] =  B01110010;

// Symbol :
letters[208] =  B00000000;
letters[209] =  B00000000;
letters[210] =  B00000000;
letters[211] =  B00000000;
letters[212] =  B01100110;
letters[213] =  B00000000;
letters[214] =  B00000000;
letters[215] =  B00000000;

// Symbol ;
letters[216] =  B00000000;
letters[217] =  B00000000;
letters[218] =  B00000000;
letters[219] =  B00000000;
letters[220] =  B01100110;
letters[221] =  B00000001;
letters[222] =  B00000000;
letters[223] =  B00000000;

// Symbol <
letters[224] =  B00000000;
letters[225] =  B00000000;
letters[226] =  B00000000;
letters[227] =  B10000010;
letters[228] =  B01000100;
letters[229] =  B00101000;
letters[230] =  B00010000;
letters[231] =  B00000000;

// Symbol =
letters[232] =  B00000000;
letters[233] =  B00000000;
letters[234] =  B00000000;
letters[235] =  B00100100;
letters[236] =  B00100100;
letters[237] =  B00100100;
letters[238] =  B00100100;
letters[239] =  B00000000;

// Symbol >
letters[240] =  B00000000;
letters[241] =  B00000000;
letters[242] =  B00010000;
letters[243] =  B00101000;
letters[244] =  B01000100;
letters[245] =  B10000010;
letters[246] =  B00000000;
letters[247] =  B00000000;

// Symbol ?
letters[248] =  B00000000;
letters[249] =  B00000000;
letters[250] =  B01100000;
letters[251] =  B10010000;
letters[252] =  B10001101;
letters[253] =  B10000000;
letters[254] =  B01100000;
letters[255] =  B00000000;

// Symbol @
letters[256] =  B00000000;
letters[257] =  B01111000;
letters[258] =  B10100101;
letters[259] =  B10100101;
letters[260] =  B10100101;
letters[261] =  B10011001;
letters[262] =  B10000001;
letters[263] =  B01011110;

// Letter A
letters[264] = B00000000;
letters[265] = B00111111;
letters[266] = B01001000;
letters[267] = B10001000;
letters[268] = B10001000;
letters[269] = B10001000;
letters[270] = B01001000;
letters[271] = B00111111;

// Letter B
letters[272]  = B00000000;
letters[273]  = B01110110;
letters[274] = B10001001;
letters[275] = B10001001;
letters[276] = B10001001;
letters[277] = B10001001;
letters[278] = B10001001;
letters[279] = B11111111;

// Letter C
letters[280] = B00000000;
letters[281] = B00100100;
letters[282] = B01000010;
letters[283] = B10000001;
letters[284] = B10000001;
letters[285] = B10000001;
letters[286] = B01000010;
letters[287] = B00111100;

// Letter D
letters[288] = B00000000;
letters[289] = B00111100;
letters[290] = B01000010;
letters[291] = B10000001;
letters[292] = B10000001;
letters[293] = B10000001;
letters[294] = B10000001;
letters[295] = B11111111;

// Letter E
letters[296] = B00000000;
letters[297] = B10000001;
letters[298] = B10000001;
letters[299] = B10010001;
letters[300] = B10010001;
letters[301] = B10010001;
letters[302] = B10010001;
letters[303] = B11111111;


// Letter F
letters[304] = B00000000;
letters[305] = B10000000;
letters[306] = B10000000;
letters[307] = B10010000;
letters[308] = B10010000;
letters[309] = B10010000;
letters[310] = B10010000;
letters[311] = B11111111;

// Letter G
letters[312] = B00000000;
letters[313] = B00101100;
letters[314] = B01001010;
letters[315] = B10001001;
letters[316] = B10000001;
letters[317] = B10000001;
letters[318] = B01000010;
letters[319] = B00111100;

// Letter H
letters[320] = B00000000;
letters[321] = B11111111;
letters[322] = B00001000;
letters[323] = B00001000;
letters[324] = B00001000;
letters[325] = B00001000;
letters[326] = B00001000;
letters[327] = B11111111;

// Letter I
letters[328] = B00000000;
letters[329] = B00000000;
letters[330] = B10000001;
letters[331] = B10000001;
letters[332] = B11111111;
letters[333] = B10000001;
letters[334] = B10000001;
letters[335] = B00000000;

// Letter J
letters[336] = B00000000;
letters[337] = B10000000;
letters[338] = B10000000;
letters[339] = B11111100;
letters[340] = B10000010;
letters[341] = B10000001;
letters[342] = B10000001;
letters[343] = B10000010;

// Letter K
letters[344] = B00000000;
letters[345] = B10000001;
letters[346] = B01000010;
letters[347] = B00100100;
letters[348] = B00011000;
letters[349] = B00001000;
letters[350] = B00000100;
letters[351] = B11111111;

// Letter L
letters[352] = B00000000;
letters[353] = B00000001;
letters[354] = B00000001;
letters[355] = B00000001;
letters[356] = B00000001;
letters[357] = B00000001;
letters[358] = B00000001;
letters[359] = B11111111;

// Letter M
letters[360] =  B00000000;
letters[361] =  B01111111;
letters[362] =  B10000000;
letters[363] =  B10000000;
letters[364] = B01110000;
letters[365] = B10000000;
letters[366] = B10000000;
letters[367] = B01111111;

// Letter N
letters[368] =  B00000000;
letters[369] =  B11111111;
letters[370] =  B00000010;
letters[371] =  B00000100;
letters[372] =  B00011000;
letters[373] =  B00100000;
letters[374] =  B01000000;
letters[375] =  B11111111;

// Letter 0
letters[376] =  B00000000;
letters[377] =  B00111100;
letters[378] =  B01000010;
letters[379] =  B10000001;
letters[380] =  B10000001;
letters[381] =  B10000001;
letters[382] =  B01000010;
letters[383] =  B00111100;

// Letter P
letters[384] =  B00000000;
letters[385] =  B00110000;
letters[386] =  B01001000;
letters[387] =  B10000100;
letters[388] =  B10000100;
letters[389] =  B10000100;
letters[390] =  B10000100;
letters[391] =  B11111111;

// Letter Q
letters[392] =  B00000000;
letters[393] =  B00111101;
letters[394] =  B01000010;
letters[395] =  B10000101;
letters[396] =  B10001001;
letters[397] =  B10000001;
letters[398] =  B01000010;
letters[399] =  B00111100;

// Letter R
letters[400] =  B00000000;
letters[401] =  B00110001;
letters[402] =  B01001010;
letters[403] =  B10000100;
letters[404] =  B10000100;
letters[405] =  B10000100;
letters[406] =  B10000100;
letters[407] =  B11111111;

// Letter S
letters[408] =  B00000000;
letters[409] =  B01001110;
letters[410] =  B10010001;
letters[411] =  B10010001;
letters[412] =  B10010001;
letters[413] =  B10010001;
letters[414] =  B10010001;
letters[415] =  B01100110;

// Letter T
letters[416] =  B00000000;
letters[417] =  B10000000;
letters[418] =  B10000000;
letters[419] =  B10000000;
letters[420] =  B11111111;
letters[421] =  B10000000;
letters[422] =  B10000000;
letters[423] =  B10000000;

// Letter U
letters[424] =  B00000000;
letters[425] =  B11111100;
letters[426] =  B00000010;
letters[427] =  B00000001;
letters[428] =  B00000001;
letters[429] =  B00000001;
letters[430] =  B00000010;
letters[431] =  B11111100;

// Letter V
letters[432] =  B00000000;
letters[433] =  B11111000;
letters[434] =  B00000100;
letters[435] =  B00000010;
letters[436] =  B00000001;
letters[437] =  B00000010;
letters[438] =  B00000100;
letters[439] =  B11111000;

// Letter W
letters[440] =  B00000000;
letters[441] =  B11111110;
letters[442] =  B00000001;
letters[443] =  B00000001;
letters[444] =  B00001110;
letters[445] =  B00000001;
letters[446] =  B00000001;
letters[447] =  B11111110;

// Letter X
letters[448] =  B00000000;
letters[449] =  B10000001;
letters[450] =  B01000010;
letters[451] =  B00100100;
letters[452] =  B00011000;
letters[453] =  B00100100;
letters[454] =  B01000010;
letters[455] =  B10000001;

// Letter Y
letters[456] =  B00000000;
letters[457] =  B10000000;
letters[458] =  B01000000;
letters[459] =  B00100000;
letters[460] =  B00011111;
letters[461] =  B00100000;
letters[462] =  B01000000;
letters[463] =  B10000000;

// Letter Z
letters[464] =  B00000000;
letters[465] =  B10000001;
letters[466] =  B11000001;
letters[467] =  B10100001;
letters[468] =  B10010001;
letters[469] =  B10001001;
letters[470] =  B10000101;
letters[471] =  B10000011;

// Symbol !
letters[472] =  B00000000;
letters[473] =  B00000000;
letters[474] =  B00000000;
letters[475] =  B00000000;
letters[476] =  B11110011;
letters[477] =  B00000000;
letters[478] =  B00000000;
letters[479] =  B00000000;

// Symbol "
letters[480] =  B00000000;
letters[481] =  B00000000;
letters[482] =  B00000000;
letters[483] =  B11100000;
letters[484] =  B00000000;
letters[485] =  B11100000;
letters[486] =  B00000000;
letters[487] =  B00000000;

// Symbol #
letters[488] =  B00000000;
letters[489] =  B00100100;
letters[490] =  B11111111;
letters[491] =  B00100100;
letters[492] =  B00100100;
letters[493] =  B00100100;
letters[494] =  B11111111;
letters[495] =  B00100100;

// Symbol $
letters[496] =  B00000000;
letters[497] =  B01001110;
letters[498] =  B10010001;
letters[499] =  B10010001;
letters[500] =  B11111111;
letters[501] =  B10010001;
letters[502] =  B10010001;
letters[503] =  B01100110;

// Symbol %
letters[504] =  B00000000;
letters[505] =  B00000000;
letters[506] =  B01000110;
letters[507] =  B00110000;
letters[508] =  B00011000;
letters[509] =  B00000100;
letters[510] =  B01100010;
letters[511] =  B00000001;

// Symbol &
letters[512] =  B00000000;
letters[513] =  B00000000;
letters[514] =  B00000101;
letters[515] =  B01000010;
letters[516] =  B10100101;
letters[517] =  B10101001;
letters[518] =  B01010001;
letters[519] =  B00101110;

// Symbol '
letters[520] =  B00000000;
letters[521] =  B00000000;
letters[522] =  B00000000;
letters[523] =  B11100000;
letters[524] =  B00000000;
letters[525] =  B00000000;
letters[526] =  B00000000;
letters[527] =  B00000000;

// Symbol (
letters[528] =  B00000000;
letters[529] =  B00000000;
letters[530] =  B10000001;
letters[531] =  B01000010;
letters[532] =  B00100100;
letters[533] =  B00011000;
letters[534] =  B00000000;
letters[535] =  B00000000;

// Symbol )
letters[536] =  B00000000;
letters[537] =  B00000000;
letters[538] =  B00011000;
letters[539] =  B00100100;
letters[540] =  B01000010;
letters[541] =  B10000001;
letters[542] =  B00000000;
letters[543] =  B00000000;

// Symbol *
letters[544] =  B00000000;
letters[545] =  B10010010;
letters[546] =  B01010100;
letters[547] =  B00111000;
letters[548] =  B11111111;
letters[549] =  B00111000;
letters[550] =  B01010100;
letters[551] =  B10010010;

// Symbol +
letters[552] =  B00000000;
letters[553] =  B00010000;
letters[554] =  B00010000;
letters[555] =  B00010000;
letters[556] =  B11111111;
letters[557] =  B00010000;
letters[558] =  B00010000;
letters[559] =  B00010000;

// Symbol '
letters[560] =  B00000000;
letters[561] =  B00000000;
letters[562] =  B00000000;
letters[563] =  B11000000;
letters[564] =  B00100000;
letters[565] =  B00000000;
letters[566] =  B00000000;
letters[567] =  B00000000;

// Symbol -
letters[568] =  B00000000;
letters[569] =  B00000000;
letters[570] =  B00000000;
letters[571] =  B00010000;
letters[572] =  B00010000;
letters[573] =  B00010000;
letters[574] =  B00000000;
letters[575] =  B00000000;

// Symbol .
letters[576] =  B00000000;
letters[577] =  B00000000;
letters[578] =  B00000000;
letters[579] =  B00000011;
letters[580] =  B00000011;
letters[581] =  B00000000;
letters[582] =  B00000000;
letters[583] =  B00000000;

// Symbol /
letters[584] =  B00000000;
letters[585] =  B10000000;
letters[586] =  B01000000;
letters[587] =  B00100000;
letters[588] =  B00011000;
letters[589] =  B00000100;
letters[590] =  B00000010;
letters[591] =  B00000001;

// Number 0 - zero
letters[592] =  B00000000;
letters[593] =  B00111100;
letters[594] =  B01000010;
letters[595] =  B10100001;
letters[596] =  B10010001;
letters[597] =  B10001001;
letters[598] =  B01000010;
letters[599] =  B00111100;

// Number 1
letters[600] =  B00000000;
letters[601] =  B00000000;
letters[602] =  B00000001;
letters[603] =  B11111111;
letters[604] =  B01000001;
letters[605] =  B00100001;
letters[606] =  B00000000;
letters[607] =  B00000000;

// Number 2
letters[608] =  B00000000;
letters[609] =  B01100001;
letters[610] =  B10010001;
letters[611] =  B10001001;
letters[612] =  B10001001;
letters[613] =  B10000101;
letters[614] =  B10000011;
letters[615] =  B01100001;

// Number 3
letters[616] =  B00000000;
letters[617] =  B01111110;
letters[618] =  B10011001;
letters[619] =  B10011001;
letters[620] =  B10011001;
letters[621] =  B10000001;
letters[622] =  B10000001;
letters[623] =  B01000110;

// Number 4
letters[624] =  B00000000;
letters[625] =  B00000100;
letters[626] =  B11111111;
letters[627] =  B01000100;
letters[628] =  B00100100;
letters[629] =  B00010100;
letters[630] =  B00001100;
letters[631] =  B00000100;

// Number 5
letters[632] =  B00000000;
letters[633] =  B10001110;
letters[634] =  B10010001;
letters[635] =  B10010001;
letters[636] =  B10010001;
letters[637] =  B10010001;
letters[638] =  B10010001;
letters[639] =  B11100010;

// Number 6
letters[640] =  B00000000;
letters[641] =  B01001110;
letters[642] =  B10010001;
letters[643] =  B10010001;
letters[644] =  B10010001;
letters[645] =  B10010001;
letters[646] =  B10010001;
letters[647] =  B01111110;

// Number 7
letters[648] =  B00000000;
letters[649] =  B11100000;
letters[650] =  B10010000;
letters[651] =  B10001000;
letters[652] =  B10000111;
letters[653] =  B00000000;
letters[654] =  B00000000;
letters[655] =  B00000000;

// Number 8
letters[656] =  B00000000;
letters[657] =  B01100110;
letters[658] =  B10011001;
letters[659] =  B10011001;
letters[660] =  B10011001;
letters[661] =  B10011001;
letters[662] =  B10011001;
letters[663] =  B01100110;

// Number 9
letters[664] =  B00000000;
letters[665] =  B01111110;
letters[666] =  B10001001;
letters[667] =  B10001001;
letters[668] =  B10001001;
letters[669] =  B10001001;
letters[670] =  B10001001;
letters[671] =  B01110010;


for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++){
  led[i] = letters[i];
  currentdisplay[i] = letters[i];
  }
}

void loop() {

// Clear the screen before starting
for (int i=448; i <456; i++){
  led[i-448] = letters[i];
  currentdisplay[i-448] = letters[i];;
}
screenUpdate();

// Reseting variables
whileVar = 0;
counter1 = 0;
charMessageCurrent = 0;
lineLetter = 672;
currentChar =32;

//  Start Reading the Serial Data

while (whileVar ==0){
screenUpdate();
 
// send data only when you receive data:
    if (Serial.available() > 0) {
        // read the incoming byte:
        incomingByte = Serial.read();

                // If the byte read is an 'a' stop, otherwise add the byte to the string
                if (incomingByte ==97){
                whileVar =1;
                }
                else
                {
                charMessage[charMessageCurrent] = incomingByte;
                charMessageCurrent++;
                } 
        }
}

// End Reading Serial Data 
 

// prints charMessage
Serial.write("charMessage is: ");

for (int i=0; i<charMessageCurrent; i++){
Serial.write(charMessage[i]);
}
Serial.println("");

// Making the first 8 Bytes - character a space
for(int i =0; i <8; i++){
  scrollMessage[i] = B00000000;
}
// Move counter1 to 8 so that the space stays in place
counter1=8; 
 
for (int i=0; i < charMessageCurrent; i++){
currentChar = charMessage[i];

for (int x=7; x >= 0; x--){
  scrollMessage[counter1] = letters[((currentChar-32)*8)+x];
  counter1++;
  }
}
// End Sorting out the message for scrolling

// Clear the screen before starting
for (int i=0; i <8 ; i++){
  led[i] = B00000000;
  currentdisplay[i] = B00000000;;
}
screenUpdate();

// Reseting current1 to 0 as it is used for the delay in the code below
counter1=0;

// Resetting whileVar so it can be used again
whileVar=0;

while (whileVar ==0)
{
// Check if I enter just an a - lower case a to exit the system
    if (Serial.available() > 0) {
        // read the incoming byte:
        incomingByte = Serial.read();

                // If the byte read is an 'a' stop, otherwise add the byte to the string
                if (incomingByte ==97){
                whileVar =1;
                }
        }  
// counter1 used for delay in animation
counter1++;

// set the LEDs
screenUpdate();

// Loop for the action - counter1 used for the delay in scrolling
if (counter1 >= 25) {
counter1 = 0;
lineLetter++;

if (lineLetter >(((charMessageCurrent)*8)+7)){
  lineLetter = 0;
  }
// Do scrolling

for (int i = 8; i > 0; i--){
  led[i] = currentdisplay[i-1];
  }
led[0] = scrollMessage[lineLetter];

for (int i=0; i <8; i++){
  currentdisplay[i] = led[i];
  }

}

}

}

void screenUpdate() {
uint8_t row = B00000001;

for (byte k = 0; k < 9; k++) {
// Open up the latch ready to receive data
digitalWrite(latchPin, LOW);
shiftIt(~row );
shiftIt(led[k] ); // LED array

// Close the latch, sending the data in the registers out to the matrix
digitalWrite(latchPin, HIGH);
row = row << 1;
  }
}

void shiftIt(byte dataOut) {
// Shift out 8 bits LSB first,
// on rising edge of clock

boolean pinState;

//clear shift register read for sending data
digitalWrite(dataPin, LOW);

// for each bit in dataOut send out a bit
for (int i=0; i<8; i++) {

  //set clockPin to LOW prior to sending bit
digitalWrite(clockPin, LOW);

// if the value of DataOut and (logical AND) a bitmask
// are true, set pinState to 1 (HIGH)
if ( dataOut & (1<<i) ) {
pinState = HIGH;
}
else {
  pinState = LOW;
}

//sets dataPin to HIGH or LOW depending on pinState
digitalWrite(dataPin, pinState);

//send bit out on rising edge of clock
digitalWrite(clockPin, HIGH);
digitalWrite(dataPin, LOW);
}

//stop shifting
digitalWrite(clockPin, LOW);
}