Programmatically controlling blink(1) USB LED devices is simple using node-blink1-async. Much of the API is asynchronous (i.e., returns Promise that you can await on) and fully documented. This module has been tested on Mac, Windows 10, and Ubuntu Linux on a Raspberry Pi 4.
If you perfer a JS callback style API consider node-blink1.
- Node (v12+)
- blink(1) USB led device
Ensure your blink(1) is fully functional using the blink(1) utilities.
npm install https://github.com/ros2jsguy/node-blink-async
Your device may need libusb installed:
sudo apt install libusb-1.0-0
See node-hid's instructions for compiling from source You may find the 51-blink1.rules file useful in your device configuration process.
import {Blink1, Blink1_LEDN, BlinkRate} from '@ros2jsguy/node-blink1-async';
async function example() {
// list all blink(1) devices
console.log('devices; ', Blink1.devices());
// output the version info of the default blink(1) device
let blink1: Blink1 = new Blink1();
console.log("version: " , await blink1.version() );
console.log('set color: red', await blink1.setRGB(255));
console.log('read rgb: ', await blink1.rgb(Blink1_LEDN.LEDA));
await Blink1.delay(2000);
console.log('Blink green at VERY_FAST rate (100 ms) for 5 seconds');
await blink1.blink(0, 255, 0, BlinkRate.VERY_FAST);
await Blink1.delay(5000);
console.log('Blink blue at SLOW rate (1000 ms) for 5 seconds');
await blink1.blink(0, 0, 255, BlinkRate.SLOW);
await Blink1.delay(5000);
console.log('Show solid yellow for 5 seconds');
await blink1.blink(255, 255, 0);
await Blink1.delay(5000);
// turn off the blink(1) output
await blink1.off();
// access the display pattern at line-1
console.log('Color pattern (line-1):', await blink1.readPatternLine(1));
// clear the memory of all display patterns.
console.log('Clearing pattern');
await blink1.clearPattern();
// confirm that display patterns are cleared
console.log('Color pattern (line-1):', await blink1.readPatternLine(1));
// close and release the blink(1) device
await blink1.close();
console.log('completed');
}
I develop mostly in TypeScript and prefer using modern JS features when I have the option. Working directly with the node-blink1 package which has been around for awhile, felt too retro for my liking, e.g., no jsdoc, callback-based api... I mean no disrespect to the node-blink1 author(s) who's priority for backward compatibility supercedes breaking the package just to use a new wizbang language feature. While developing a robot using TypeScript on a Raspi4 I wanted to integrate an old Blink1 led from my kit into the design. That led me to creating this package that makes it easier to to asynchronously control a Blink1 LED from TypeScript.
This package uses the node-blink1 package to perform the low level control of Blink1 devices