TinyCircuits
Published © GPL3+

RC Aircraft Navigation Lights

Wanting to light up the night sky with your RC Plane, but scared of losing track of it? Well, you are in luck!

IntermediateFull instructions provided1.5 hours1,581

Things used in this project

Hardware components

TinyLily Mini Processor
TinyCircuits TinyLily Mini Processor
Or you can use a TinyDuino - more on this mentioned later!
×1
TinyLily Battery Adapter
TinyCircuits TinyLily Battery Adapter
×1
Lithium Ion Polymer Battery
TinyCircuits Lithium Ion Polymer Battery
×1
LED (generic)
LED (generic)
5x White LEDs (3 or 5mm), 3x Red LEDs (3 or 5mm), 1x Green LED (3 or 5mm)
×1
Through Hole Resistor, 150 ohm
Through Hole Resistor, 150 ohm
×9
Heatshrink - thin
×1
Servo Connector
×1
Micro USB cable
TinyCircuits Micro USB cable
×1

Software apps and online services

Arduino IDE
Arduino IDE

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Soldering iron (generic)
Soldering iron (generic)

Story

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Code

Code snippet #2

C/C++
//-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
//  TinyDuino RC Aircraft Navigation Lights Example Sketch
//  Last Updated 3/12/2018
//
//  This project controls a variety of aircraft navigation lights for radio
//  control airplanes using the millis() function to blink and pulse many LEDs
//  at different rates. This project also uses an RC receiver channel to turn
//  landing lights on or off, depending on a transmitter switch.
//
//  Written by Nick DiVitto for TinyCircuits, https://tinycircuits.com
//
//  This example is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
//  modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
//  License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
//  version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
//-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

//Pin Number Assignments:
const int wStrobe = 1;                //White wingtip strobes
const int Beacon = 0;                 //Red for & aft rotating beacons
const int Landing = 3;                //White landing lights
const int tStrobe = 4;                //White aft strobe

//LED States:
int wStrobeState = LOW;               //LED states to set LED
int BeaconState = LOW;
int tStrobeState = LOW;

//Time Variables:
unsigned long wStrobePreviousMillis = 0;     //Last time LED was updated
unsigned long tStrobePreviousMillis = 0;

volatile int pwm_value = 0;           //volotile variables for pwm measurement
volatile int prev_time = 0;

//Intervals                          //Sets time intervals for each on/off period
const long wStrobeON = 3;            //Time on in milliseconds
const long wStrobeOFF = 25;          //Time off in milliseconds
const long BeaconPeriod = 250;       //SINE period
const long tStrobeON = 7;            //Time on in milliseconds
const long tStrobeOFF = 50;          //Time off in milliseconds

void setup() {
  pinMode(wStrobe, OUTPUT);          //sets LED pins as outputs
  pinMode(Landing, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(tStrobe, OUTPUT);

  attachInterrupt(0, rising, RISING);    //When D2 goes high, call the RISING function
}

void loop() {
  unsigned long CurrentMillis = millis();

  //Landing Lights:
  if (pwm_value > 750) {                //If pulse width is larger than 750ms, landing lights should be on.
    digitalWrite(Landing, HIGH);
  }
  else {
    digitalWrite(Landing, LOW);
  }

  //wStrobe:
  if ((wStrobeState == HIGH) && (CurrentMillis - wStrobePreviousMillis >= wStrobeON)) {           //If wStrobe is on and it is time to turn it off...
    wStrobeState = LOW;               //Turn it off
    wStrobePreviousMillis = CurrentMillis;    //Remember the time
    digitalWrite(wStrobe, wStrobeState);      //Update the actual LED
  }
  else if ((wStrobeState == LOW) && (CurrentMillis - wStrobePreviousMillis >= wStrobeOFF)) {
    wStrobeState = HIGH;              //Turn it on
    wStrobePreviousMillis = CurrentMillis;    //Remember the time
    digitalWrite(wStrobe, wStrobeState);      //Update the actual LED
  }

  //Beacon (Sinusoidal Pulse):
  BeaconState = 128 + 127 * cos(2 * PI / BeaconPeriod * CurrentMillis); //Sets beacon state to follow a Sin wave depending on time
  analogWrite(Beacon, BeaconState);            //Sets analog output to match BeaconState

  //tStrobe:
  if ((tStrobeState == HIGH) && (CurrentMillis - tStrobePreviousMillis >= tStrobeON)) {           //If tStrobe is on and it is time to turn it off...
    tStrobeState = LOW;               //Turn it off
    tStrobePreviousMillis = CurrentMillis;    //Remember the time
    digitalWrite(tStrobe, tStrobeState);      //Update the LED
  }
  else if ((tStrobeState == LOW) && (CurrentMillis - tStrobePreviousMillis >= tStrobeOFF)) {
    tStrobeState = HIGH;              //Turn it on
    tStrobePreviousMillis = CurrentMillis;    //Remember the time
    digitalWrite(tStrobe, tStrobeState);      //Update the LED
  }
}

//functions for PWM Landing Gear channel measurement:
void rising() {
  attachInterrupt(0, falling, FALLING);
  prev_time = micros();
}

void falling() {
  attachInterrupt(0, rising, RISING);
  pwm_value = micros() - prev_time;
}

RC Aircraft Navigation Arduino Sketch

Upload to your Arduino processor using the Arduino IDE

Credits

TinyCircuits

TinyCircuits

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