Myo Armband - Changing Color of LED Strips

The Myo Gesture Control Armband is an incredible tool that uses predetermined gestures to control many features on the computer. With the additional help of an Arduino Uno, this instructable will show you how to use the Myo to change colored LED light strips.

Here are the items you will need to complete this Instructable:

1. Myo Gesture Control Armband
2. Arduino Uno
3. Myoduino Software
4. Neopixels LED RGBW light strips
5. Breadboard
6. 2 Resistors greater than or equal to 400 ohms
7. 4 Resistors of 100 ohms
8. Connecting wires for breadboard
9. Adjustable Regulator (LM217)(TO-220)
10. 1000 microfarad capacitor
11. External Power Supply - Potentiometer
12. Alligator clips

First, the power supply needs to be set up and connected to the left side of the main section on the breadboard. Use the images to help with the next steps.

1. Take the potentiometer power cable, put it into the wall, and insert it onto the Arduino port.
2. Take the potentiometer and set it to the settings displayed in the image. Use the silver dial to adjust the settings
3. Place the TO220 regulator on the breadboard. Attached is a diagram of the node parts of the regulator. Connect a wire from the "V in" pin on the Arduino to the top "input" pin on the voltage regulator.
4. Take another wire connecting the "GND" pin on the Arduino to the negative blue strip on the breadboard.
5. On the middle "Output" node of the voltage regulator, connect two wires. These will connect to the "Data In" wire of the LED strip.
6. Place the capacitor on the same node as the "output" node of the regulator, and then to Ground (the blue negative strip on the breadboard). If needed, use an additional wire to connect them.
7. Construct the resistor ratio of R1 to R2. The equation provided was used to find our ratio of 3:1. Additional information can be found on the regulator datasheet. Based on calculations for this section, we used 4 100 ohm resistors, 3 resistors in series to make a total of 300 ohms for our R2, and 1 100 ohm resistor for our R1.
8. Place the 300-ohm resistors on a new node, connecting them from the "Output" pin of the regulator. Take another wire and connect them to Ground.
9. Place the single 100-ohm resistor on a new node and connect it from the "I Adjust" pin on the regulator.

Next, we will set up the right main side of the breadboard and circuit design to connect the LED strips to the Arduino. Use the images to help with the next steps.

1. Using Alligator clips, connect each strand of the LED ("5V", "Data In", "Ground") to a wire.
2. Take the corresponding wire of the "5V" from the LED and attach it to the breadboard.
3. Place a 470 ohm on the same node. (We used 470 ohm resistors, but you can use any resistor greater than or equal to 400 ohms here.)
4. Use another wire to connect the 470 ohm resistor on the node to a pin on the Arduino.
5. Use another wire to connect the "Data In" strand from the LED to "Output" node of the voltage regulator.
6. Use a wire to connect the "Ground" strand to Ground on the breadboard (the negative blue strip).
7. Repeat these steps for the second LED strip.

The Myo required the specific Myo Controller and application software to work. The Myoduino software allows the Myo to be connected to the Arduino interface.

Myoduino Software

Follow the link above for all the needed downloads.

1. Download the "Myo Connect" installer (for whichever computer you have. For this instructable, we used Windows)
2. Open the Arduino program
3. In a new file program, go to "Sketch", "Include Library", "Add .Zip Library"
4. Within the file explorer, open the Myoduino folder until you can select the folder labeled "MyoController"
5. Add the "MyoController" folder as the Zip file

Now it's time to upload the lighting code onto the Arduino.

The code is set up to change the brightness of the lights by 1 every 10 milliseconds to create a slight animation. With every new gesture, the lights change color and go through this animation.

Our code is found on GitHub. If you want to create your own, we used guides following this Adafruit guide.

After downloading/creating your code, connect the COM port to the Arduino. In the Arduino software, go to "Tools", then "Ports". Choose the port which is connected to the Arduino Uno.

Verify and upload the code onto the Arduino by pressing the arrow in the top left corner of the Arduino software program.

1. 
   
2. Calibrate the Myo to the computer. Follow the instructions given by the MyoConnect program.
3. In the Myo application manager, turn on "Presentation mode"
4. In the downloaded MyoConnect folder (Myoduino_app.zip), open the "Myoduino", "bin", then run "MyoDuino.exe". For this step to work, the Myo armband must be connected.
5. When the MyoDuino.exe is running, connect the program to the same COM port as your Arduino.
6. This program should show the hand movements that the program is picking up.

This is our quick demonstration with the LED strips! Good luck with your own project!