Read Part One Here
Read Part Two Here

Read Part Four Here

Have a read of the last two parts to catch up on what’s happened up to here.

The NeoPixel Ring arrived in the mail which meant I could continue onto Lab 6. Since I was ahead of the lab I was supposed to be up to, I had to do some digging around to work out how to wire the thing up. Now there’s some much clearer doco, but I managed to get the wires right the first time!

It may not be the most elegant of wiring, but it worked just by bending a few wires. What would happen when I updated the Visual Studio code and pushed it to the device?

Blinding lights. It was configured to just play several pretty patterns – still cool though!

I tried to take some photos, but just believe me, this thing is bright. At this stage, I now had to sit tight and wait for further instructions.

*A week passes*

A few days ago, another email came in. I had to update the code from GitHub, in preparation for the competition. After mucking about and getting it going again, I re-uploaded the source code to the Netduino. Now, the device was both flashing lights via the NeoPixel Ring, as well as reporting temperature and light readings back to Azure. I took a quick video of the new light sequence:

A much more basic light sequence. I now have to leave it running, as some devices will soon flash a special sequence. If that happens, it means I’ve won an Xbox One!

Judging by how many devices are live in the dashboard, there’s about 30 people on so far. I don’t know how many people are involved, but there are five Xbox Ones are being given away according to the T&C’s – it seems like my odds are pretty reasonable.

I may have to set up a webcam at home so I can keep an eye on the lights, as they’ll change at lunchtime. Will I win an Xbox One? We’ll find out soon! I’ll wrap up soon with the results and re-cover what the point of this whole exercise was.