RGB 8X8 Animator

1. Action List

Shows every action (animation) you have created. Click an action to highlight it. The highlighted action is the one that will run when you press Execute.

2. Stop Button

Stops the currently running animation. This is especially useful if an action is set to repeat (loop).

3. Status Display

Shows the most recent event from the skill (for example: which action started, stopped, or what step is occurring). If something is not behaving as expected, check here first.

4. Execute Button

Runs the highlighted action from the Action List.

1. Action List

Select which action you are editing. The Frame List (and drawing area) will apply to the selected action.

2. Action Repeats (Loop)

When checked, the action will repeat continuously until you press Stop or execute another action. Use this for “idle” animations (like a heartbeat, breathing light, or scrolling pattern).

3. Frame List

Shows all frames in the selected action, in playback order. Click a frame to edit it. The order matters: the animation plays from the top frame to the bottom frame.

4. Pause Drop-down (Frame Delay)

Sets the delay between frames in milliseconds (ms). Example: 500 ms = half a second. Range is 0 to 5000 in steps of 100 by default.

Tip: You can right-click the drop-down to type a custom value (5000 or below).

5. Cursor (LED Selection)

The cursor is how you choose which LED squares you want to edit. Click one or more squares to select them. Any color changes you make using the Red/Green/Blue checkboxes apply to the selected squares.

Tip: You can select multiple LEDs at once to “paint” larger shapes quickly. Use Unselect All to clear the selection.

6. LED Display (8x8 Grid)

This grid represents the 64 LEDs on the physical RGB 8x8 Display. Each square corresponds to one LED position. You draw your frame by selecting squares and setting their colors.

7. Frame Management Buttons

Tools to edit the Frame List. Typical actions include: Add a new frame, Duplicate a frame, Remove a frame, and Move frames up/down. (Moving frames changes the playback order.)

8. Red / Green / Blue Checkboxes (Color Mixing)

These checkboxes set the color for the currently selected LEDs by mixing RGB:

• Red only = red
• Green only = green
• Blue only = blue
• Red + Green = yellow
• Red + Blue = magenta/purple
• Green + Blue = cyan
• Red + Green + Blue = white

9. Unselect All Button

Clears all selected LEDs (cursors). Use this when you want to start selecting a new area without accidentally changing previous selections.

10. Action Management Buttons

Add or remove actions from the Action List. Tip: Create separate actions for different robot “expressions” (happy, sad, alert) so you can trigger them from scripts later.

1. Animator Start Script

Runs automatically whenever any action starts. Use this to perform “before animation” tasks (example: set a variable, play a sound, enable other skills, or log a message).

2. Animator Stop Script

Runs automatically when an action stops or finishes. Use this for cleanup (example: turn off the display, restore another animation, or update robot status).

3. Variable Fields (Current Status)

These variables let other parts of ARC know what the animator is doing: which action is running, which frame is currently displayed, and whether the animator is running. This is helpful when writing scripts that react to animations.

4. I2C Address Field

The single-byte I2C address of the RGB 8x8 Display. Most beginners will only use one display, so you typically leave this at the default.

5. Current I2C Address

The address the display is using right now (the one you are changing from).

6. New I2C Address

The address you want to change to. This is mainly used when you want multiple I2C devices of the same type on the same bus.

7. Change Address Button

Sends the command to change the display’s I2C address.