CoolNeon Arduino Developer Shield Library

Copyright 2011-2012 Christopher De Vries
Copyright 2026 Chris Knight

This library supports the CoolNeon Arduino Developer Shield. The shield provides a convenient set of inputs for prototyping and experimentation, as well as a 4-pin TCL output connector:

• four potentiometers
• two momentary push buttons
• two two-position switches
• +5V DC power input jack (2.1mm)
• Total Control Lighting output connector (GND, +5v, Clock, Data)

Installation

Automatic

Use the Library Manager in the Arduino IDE, and search for coolneon_devshield and install the latest version.

Manual

1. Download the latest code bundle main.zip
2. Unzip main.zip, preserving the directory structure. unzip -x main.zip
3. Copy the CoolNeon_devshield-main folder into the libraries directory inside your Arduino directory.
4. Rename CoolNeon_devshield-main to CoolNeon_devshield

Software

Include the library header in your sketch:

#include <CoolNeon_DevShield.h>

Initialize the Developer Shield inputs by calling:

DevShield.begin();

This configures the momentary button and switch pins as inputs with internal pull-up resistors enabled.

Pin Aliases

The following aliases are defined for the Developer Shield inputs. The silkscreening on the aluminium cases for the DevShield are incorrect. The mappings below can be validated with the example sketch SerialDebugger.ino

DEVSHIELD_POT1       A0   (potentiometer 1, lower-left)
DEVSHIELD_POT2       A1   (potentiometer 2, lower-right)
DEVSHIELD_POT3       A2   (potentiometer 3, upper-right)
DEVSHIELD_POT4       A3   (potentiometer 4, upper-left)
DEVSHIELD_MOMENTARY1  4   (momentary button 1, lower)
DEVSHIELD_MOMENTARY2  5   (momentary button 2, upper)
DEVSHIELD_SWITCH1     6   (two-position switch 1, lower)
DEVSHIELD_SWITCH2     7   (two-position switch 2, upper)
DEVSHIELD_DATAPIN    11   Data Pin on the 4-pin LED connector
DEVSHIELD_CLOCKPIN   13   Clock Pin on the 4-pin LED connector

Reading Inputs

Read a potentiometer value (returns 0-1023):

int value = analogRead(DEVSHIELD_POT1);

Digital switches DEVSHIELD_MOMENTARYx and DEVSHIELD_SWITCHx can be read with digitalRead().

Due to inconsistant manufacturing of the DevSheild baords, 50% of the momentary switches default closed, and 50% default open. To address this, instantiating the DevShield class saves the initial state of the momentary switches so that momentary1Pressed() and momentary2Pressed() can be used to test if the state of the switches have changed.

Example Code

Several examples are loaded into the Arduino examples menu under CoolNeon DevShield. These examples include the following:

color_designer
Reads potentiometers 1-3 as red, green, and blue values and prints the current color to the serial monitor when momentary button 1 is pressed.

PixelStepper
Uses the two-position switches to select a color channel (red, green, or blue) and the momentary buttons to step that channel's value up or down, printing the result to the serial monitor.

So, for example to read the state of button 1:

state = digitalRead(DEVSHIELD_MOMENTARY1);

Contributing

Contributions are welcome via pull requests. Please follow these guidelines before submitting:

1. Update the version in library.properties following Semantic Versioning (e.g. version=1.3.0).
2. Update the revision history in CHANGELOG.md with a brief description of the change.
3. Test your changes on hardware before submitting.
4. Monitor PR checks — ensure all automated checks pass before requesting a review. Address any failures before the PR will be considered.
5. Monitor cceptance - Check the Arduino version scan logs for acceptance. They are updated hourly, so there may be a slight delay.