Published April 10, 2023 © CC BY-NC

ChatGPT is not an artist

Here is my 50 cents on using ChatGPT with Arduino and its drawbacks for electronic prototyping

BeginnerFull instructions provided1 hour216

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Espressif Wemos D1 Mini

RGB LED Pixel Matrix, NeoPixel NeoMatrix

Rotary potentiometer (generic)

Breadboard (generic)

Jumper wires (generic)

Software apps and online services

ObjectBlocks chatGPT

Story

Project summary

A couple of weeks back I decided to test ChatGPT 3.5 in the art of Arduino project-making. For starters, I assembled a simple prototype with an Arduino connected to an 8x8 RGB matrix, and asked the AI to program it and display a heart. To my deep surprise, the code compiled and displayed... something, but definitely not a heart!

Let's briefly dissect what went wrong and try to conclude whether ChatGPT is actually useful for electronics enthusiasts like you and me.

ChatGPT is not perfect...

The first video shows the attempts in a little more detail, but ChatGPT consistently failed at making a recognisable heart shape. I did give it the benefit of the doubt, thinking it tried to make an anatomically correct version, but a symmetrical empty square really challenged this assumption.

The AI was not all too great at understanding colours either. When asked to change the image from purple to pink, it changed the colour name in the section that explains the code, but did not touch the RGB values in the script. All while convincingly telling me that I should be seeing pink now. Gaslighting at its finest.

The chatbox also refused to comprehend the correct way of setting display brightness, even when directly requested to correct a specific line of code. Extremely stubborn in its wrongful ways, ChatGPT kept giving me three different incorrect answers in no particular order.

All these mistakes and inaccuracies aren't too hard to fix when you know how the code is supposed to look; however, if you have never used Neopixel library before, it may prove a little more challenging to trace the error.

Video #1: Watch as I challenge ChatGPT to program a simple Arduino project.

... but useful nonetheless

Despite its blatant inability to admit mistakes and a persuasive tone ChatGPT uses to deliver misinformation, the chatbot is far from useless.

The AI managed to produce a clean and comprehensible script that did (more or less) what we requested it to do. Even though the result required some corrections, it has saved me quite a bit of time looking up relevant libraries and project examples.

Hence, if you know how the result should look like, ChatGPT can provide a decent starting point and save you some time. Furthermore, some of its "mistakes" can actually help your creativity. For instance, alongside an animation made from three images of a "beating" heart, the AI also offered animations that change display brightness or image colours - something I did not think of at first.

So, yeah, not so bad for a generative neural network with no critical thinking.

Video#2: Let's delve into the code, troubleshoot some issues, and try optimizing the project.

And that's about it, thank you for making it this far :)

Tell me what you think!

I need your feedback to keep improving my articles and videos.

Also don't hesitate to like what you like and subscribe to see my future projects. Thanks!

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>

#define PIXEL_PIN 6
#define PIXEL_COUNT 64

Adafruit_NeoPixel pixels = Adafruit_NeoPixel(PIXEL_COUNT, PIXEL_PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);

const uint8_t heart1[8][8] = {
  { 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0 },
  { 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1 },
  { 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1 },
  { 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0 }
};

const uint8_t heart2[8][8] = {
  { 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0 },
  { 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0 },
  { 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0 },
  { 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 }
};

const uint8_t heart3[8][8] = {
  { 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 }
};

void setup() {
  pixels.begin();
  pixels.setBrightness(150); 
}

void loop() {
  for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++) {
    for (int j = 0; j < 8; j++) {
      if (heart1[i][j] == 1) {
        pixels.setPixelColor(i*8+j, pixels.Color(255, 0, 100));
      } else {
        pixels.setPixelColor(i*8+j, pixels.Color(0, 0, 0));
      }
    }
  }
  pixels.show();
  delay(500);
  
  for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++) {
    for (int j = 0; j < 8; j++) {
      if (heart2[i][j] == 1) {
        pixels.setPixelColor(i*8+j, pixels.Color(255, 0, 100));
      } else {
        pixels.setPixelColor(i*8+j, pixels.Color(0, 0, 0));
      }
    }
  }
  pixels.show();
  delay(500);

  for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++) {
    for (int j = 0; j < 8; j++) {
      if (heart3[i][j] == 1) {
        pixels.setPixelColor(i*8+j, pixels.Color(255, 0, 100));
      } else {
        pixels.setPixelColor(i*8+j, pixels.Color(0, 0, 0));
      }
    }
  }
  pixels.show();
  delay(500);}

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>

#define PIXEL_PIN D5
#define PIXEL_COUNT 64

Adafruit_NeoPixel RGB_matrix = Adafruit_NeoPixel(PIXEL_COUNT, PIXEL_PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);

/*  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
    ||||||             Colour library              ||||||
    ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| */

uint8_t palette [17][3] = {
  {0, 0, 0},         // 0. Black USED
  {255, 0, 0},       // 1. Red USED
  {0, 255, 0},       // 2. Green
  {0, 0, 255},       // 3. Blue USED
  {255, 255, 255},   // 4. White USED
  {255, 0, 255},     // 5. Purple
  {255, 255, 0},     // 6. Lemon
  {50, 255, 255},    // 7. Aqua USED
  {255, 222, 30},    // 8. Gold USED
  {255, 75, 0},      // 9. Amber USED
  {255, 50, 0},      // 10. Orange USED
  {255, 0, 30},      // 11. Pink USED
  {0, 255, 120},     // 12. Teal
  {255, 0, 8},      // 13. Magenta USED
  {0, 255, 40},      // 14. Jade
  {255, 175, 0},     // 15. Yellow USED
  {0,255,255}        // 16. Cyan
};

/*  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
    ||||||                Candle fire              ||||||
    ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| */

int flame_FrameCount = 4;
int flame_Delays = 200;

int flame [4][8][8] = {
  // Frame 1
  {{0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1 },
  {0, 0, 1, 10, 1, 0, 0, 0 },
  {0, 1, 1, 10, 10, 1, 0, 0 },
  {0, 1, 10, 9, 10, 1, 1, 0 },
  {0, 1, 10, 9, 9, 10, 1, 0 },
  {0, 1, 10, 10, 10, 1, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0 }},
  // Frame 3
  {{0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  {1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 0, 1, 10, 1, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 1, 10, 10, 1, 0, 0 },
  {0, 1, 1, 10, 9, 1, 1, 0 },
  {0, 1, 10, 9, 9, 10, 1, 0 },
  {0, 1, 10, 10, 10, 10, 1, 0 },
  {0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0 }},
  // Frame 2
  {{0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1 },
  {0, 0, 1, 10, 1, 0, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 1, 10, 10, 1, 0, 0 },
  {0, 1, 1, 9, 10, 1, 1, 0 },
  {0, 1, 10, 9, 9, 10, 1, 0 },
  {0, 1, 10, 10, 10, 10, 1, 0 },
  {0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0 }},
  
  // Frame 4
  {{1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 0, 1, 10, 1, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 1, 10, 9, 10, 1, 0 },
  {0, 1, 1, 10, 9, 10, 1, 0 },
  {0, 1, 10, 9, 9, 10, 1, 0 },
  {0, 0, 1, 10, 10, 10, 1, 0 },
  {0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0 }}
};

/*  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
    ||||||                Empty screen             ||||||
    ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| */

int NA_FrameCount = 1;
int NA_delays = 1000;

int NA [1][8][8] = {
  // Frame 1
  {{0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 }}};

/*  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
    ||||||         Animation / Colour demo         ||||||
    ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| */

int colorDemo_FrameCount = 1;

int colorDemo[1][8][8] = {
  {{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 },
  {9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 0 },
  {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 }}};

/*  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
    ||||||          Animation / Heartbeat          ||||||
    ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| */

int heartbeat_FrameCount = 5;
int heartbeat_Delays = 250;

int heartbeat_filled [5][8][8] = {
  // Frame 1
  {{ 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 }},
  // Frame 2
  {{ 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0 },
  { 0, 1, 1, 11, 11, 1, 1, 0 },
  { 0, 1, 1, 11, 11, 1, 1, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 }},
  // Frame 3
  {{ 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0 },
  { 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 },
  { 1, 1, 11, 1, 1, 11, 1, 1 },
  { 1, 1, 11, 11, 11, 11, 1, 1 },
  { 1, 1, 11, 11, 11, 11, 1, 1 },
  { 0, 1, 1, 11, 11, 1, 1, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0 }},
  // Frame 4
  {{ 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0 },
  { 0, 1, 1, 11, 11, 1, 1, 0 },
  { 0, 1, 1, 11, 11, 1, 1, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 }},
  // Frame 5 
  {{ 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
  { 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 }}
};

/*  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
    ||||||          Check encoder function         ||||||
    ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| */

#define CLK D7
#define DT D6
#define SW D2

int brightness_range [11] = {0,1,5,10,15,25,50,75,100,150,255};
int counter = 3;
int counter_max = 10;
bool currentStateCLK;
bool lastStateCLK;
bool currentStateSW;
bool lasStateSW = 1;
int mode = 0;
int mode_max = 2;

void check_encoder () {
  currentStateCLK = digitalRead(CLK);
  // If last and current CLK are different, a pulse occurred / React to only 1 state change to avoid double count
  if (currentStateCLK != lastStateCLK  && currentStateCLK == 1){
    if (digitalRead(DT) != currentStateCLK) {
      counter++;
      if (counter > counter_max) {counter = counter_max;}
    } 
    else {
      counter--;
      if (counter < 0) {counter = 0;}
    }
    RGB_matrix.setBrightness(brightness_range[counter]); 
  }
  lastStateCLK = currentStateCLK;   // Remember last CLK state
  // Read the button state
  currentStateSW = digitalRead(SW);
  if (currentStateSW ==0 && lasStateSW == 1){
    mode = mode + 1;
    if (mode > mode_max) {mode = 0;}
  }
  if (currentStateSW != lasStateSW){lasStateSW = currentStateSW;}
  Serial.print(digitalRead(CLK));
  Serial.print(" ");
  Serial.print(digitalRead(DT));
  Serial.print(" ");
  Serial.print(digitalRead(SW));
  Serial.println(" ");
}

/*  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
    ||||||            "Display" funciton           ||||||
    ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| */

unsigned long lastMillis = 0;

void DisplayAnimation (int InputAnimation[][8][8], int FrameCount = 1, int delays = 200) {
  for (int Frame = 0; Frame < FrameCount; Frame++){
    for (int Y=0; Y<8; Y++) {
      for (int X=0; X<8; X++) {
        uint32_t colour = RGB_matrix.Color(palette[InputAnimation[Frame][Y][X]][0], palette[InputAnimation[Frame][Y][X]][1], palette[InputAnimation[Frame][Y][X]][2]);
        RGB_matrix.setPixelColor(Y*8+X, colour);
      }
    }
    RGB_matrix.show();
    while (millis() - lastMillis <= delays) {
      check_encoder ();
      delay(10);
    }
    lastMillis = millis();
  }
}

/*  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
    ||||||            Branching funciton           ||||||
    ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| */

void branching_function () {
  if (mode == 0) {DisplayAnimation(heartbeat_filled, heartbeat_FrameCount, heartbeat_Delays);}
  else if (mode == 1) {DisplayAnimation(flame, flame_FrameCount, flame_Delays);}
  else if (mode == 2) {DisplayAnimation(colorDemo, colorDemo_FrameCount);}

/*  |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
    ||||||                Main body                ||||||
    ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| */

void setup() {
  // Set encoder pins as inputs
  pinMode(CLK,INPUT);
  pinMode(DT,INPUT);
  pinMode(SW, INPUT_PULLUP);
  lastStateCLK = digitalRead(CLK);
  Serial.begin(9600);
  
  // Matrix display initiation
  RGB_matrix.begin();
  RGB_matrix.setBrightness(brightness_range[counter]); 
  DisplayAnimation(NA, NA_FrameCount);
  delay(100);
}

void loop() {branching_function ();}

Credits

Tommy Bianco

5 projects • 2 followers

A biologist procrastinating

ChatGPT is not an artist

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Project summary

ChatGPT is not perfect...

... but useful nonetheless

Tell me what you think!

Code

Animated "Heart" by ChatGPT

Corrected, optimised and expanded animation scipt

Credits

Tommy Bianco

Comments

Embed the widget on your own site

ChatGPT is not an artist

ChatGPT is not an artist

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Project summary

ChatGPT is not perfect...

... but useful nonetheless

Tell me what you think!

Code

Animated "Heart" by ChatGPT

Corrected, optimised and expanded animation scipt

Credits

Tommy Bianco

Comments

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