Counting loops or if..else

Question

What I would like to do is, step 1:

led1 fades from black(off) to green (max-on 255)
led2 fades from black(off) to red (max-on 255)

this happens at the same time. If the max value is reached, then both leds fade out (to black, off) so step 2:

led1 fades from green to black 
led2 fades from red to black

Then step 3, almost same as step 1 but opposite colours:

led1 fades from black(off) to red(max-on 255)
led2 fades from black(off) to green(max-on 255)

And step 4, both fade to black

led1 fades from green to black 
led2 fades from red to black

This is the code that fades led 1/3/5 from red to black and back to red and led 2/4/6 from green to black, and back.

#include <FastLED.h>
    #define NUM_LEDS 6
    #define DATA_PIN 3

        CRGB leds[NUM_LEDS];

           void setup() { 
               Serial.begin(9600);
       FastLED.addLeds<NEOPIXEL, DATA_PIN>(leds, NUM_LEDS);
   }

       void loop()
{


  int x = 1;
   for (int i = 1; i > -1; i = i + x){

     leds[0] = CRGB(i,0,0);
     leds[1] = CRGB(0,i,0);
     leds[2] = CRGB(i,0,0);
     leds[3] = CRGB(0,i,0);
      Serial.println(i);
      FastLED.show();
      if (i == 55) x = -1;             // switch direction at peak
      delay(100);

   } 
}

****Original question****

I am trying to fade a led (WS2812B) from black to green or red, and back to black. (that is working) But now I want the same led fading to blue.

How could I do that? I was trying a if..else but can't figure it out Or should I count the for loops?

This is the starting code I am using

maybe something like

    if (i==0)
{
             leds[0] = CRGB(i,0,0);
             leds[1] = CRGB(0,i,0);
             leds[2] = CRGB(i,0,0);
             leds[3] = CRGB(0,i,0);
}
    else
{
             leds[0] = CRGB(0,0,i);
             leds[1] = CRGB(0,0,i);
             leds[2] = CRGB(0,0,i);
             leds[3] = CRGB(0,0,i);
}
              FastLED.show();
              if (i == 100) x = -1;
              delay(100);

But that is not working. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

I would do that based on the clock. This lets you run each one independently.

On the off-chance that your project runs that long, the clock rolls over (resets) every 50 days.

I'm going to assume the 55 in your code should read 255.

I would do something like this (this is a code snippet, but should get you started):

const int phase_milliseconds=2500; // each phase lasts 2.5 seconds.
const phase_progress_length=256;   // each phase goes from 0 to 255
const phases=4;                    // numbered from 0 to 3, will repeat forever.

// This is the time since your Arduino turned on
unsigned long time=millis();
// how far we are through the current phase?
int progress= time%phase_milliseconds)*phase_progress_length/phase_milliseconds;

// which phase are we in?
int phase=(time/phase_milliseconds)%phases;

if (phase==0) { // first step
         leds[0] = CRGB(progress,0,0);
         leds[1] = CRGB(0,progress,0);
} else if (phase==1) { // second step
         leds[0] = CRGB(255-progress,0,0);
         leds[1] = CRGB(0,255-progress,0);
} else if (phase==2) { // third step step
         leds[0] = CRGB(0,progress,0);
         leds[1] = CRGB(progress,0,0);
} else if (phase==3) { // fourth step
         leds[0] = CRGB(0,255-progress,0);
         leds[1] = CRGB(255-progress,0,0);
}

Since this is time based, it doesn't matter much how often it runs, you don't need a delay (you can still put one in if you like). You can extend this to more steps.

Also note that I rattled this off, off the top of my head, so there may be errors.