So, as I muddle through the design in my thoughts, I figure that the yard art sculpture needs both physical animation — moving an appendage of some sort with a thingamabob called a servo — and virtual animation — moving “eyes” and “eyebrows” with LED matrix/matrices.

The brain of the sculpture is an Arduino microcontroller.

I don’t have my cameraphone handy (too lazy to walk 100 feet to the other end of the house to get it) so suffice it to say I’ve combined two circuits, this one with eight LEDs:

and this one with a servo:

Right now, the servo rotates counterclockwise/clockwise and then the LEDs light from middle pair to outer pair and back, essentially as if the sculpture blinked its eyes and then waved an appendage.

Here’s the Arduino code I used (contains all example code for switching the “eyes” and “eyebrows” later on):

/*     ---------------------------------------------------------
 *     |  Arduino Experimentation Kit Example Code             |
 *     |  CIRC-02 .: 8 LED Fun      :. (Multiple LEDs)         |
 *     |  CIRC-04 .: A Single servo :. revolving servo         |
 *     ---------------------------------------------------------
 *  Combining two sample code sets
 *  Number One:
 *  A few Simple LED animations
 *
 * For more information on this circuit, go to http://tinyurl.com/d2hrud
 *
 */

// Number Two: Sweep
// by BARRAGAN  
// For more information on this circuit, go to http://www.oomlout.com/oom.php/products/ardx/circ-04

#include  

Servo myservo;  // create servo object to control a servo 
                // a maximum of eight servo objects can be created 

int pos = 0;    // variable to store the servo position 

//LED Pin Variables
int ledPins[] = {2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}; //An array to hold the pin each LED is connected to
                                   //i.e. LED #0 is connected to pin 2, LED #1, 3 and so on
                                   //to address an array use ledPins[0] this would equal 2
                                   //and ledPins[7] would equal 9

/*
 * setup() - this function runs once when you turn your Arduino on
 * We the three control pins to outputs
 */
void setup()
{
  myservo.attach(10);  // attaches the servo on pin 10 to the servo object

  //Set each pin connected to an LED to output mode (pulling high (on) or low (off)
  for(int i = 0; i < 8; i++){         //this is a loop and will repeat eight times
      pinMode(ledPins[i],OUTPUT); //we use this to set each LED pin to output
  }                                   //the code this replaces is below

  /* (commented code will not run)
   * these are the lines replaced by the for loop above they do exactly the
   * same thing the one above just uses less typing
  pinMode(ledPins[0],OUTPUT);
  pinMode(ledPins[1],OUTPUT);
  pinMode(ledPins[2],OUTPUT);
  pinMode(ledPins[3],OUTPUT);
  pinMode(ledPins[4],OUTPUT);
  pinMode(ledPins[5],OUTPUT);
  pinMode(ledPins[6],OUTPUT);
  pinMode(ledPins[7],OUTPUT);
  (end of commented code)*/
}

/*
 * loop() - this function will start after setup finishes and then repeat
 * we call a function called oneAfterAnother(). if you would like a different behaviour
 * uncomment (delete the two slashes) one of the other lines
 */
void loop()                     // run over and over again
{
  //oneAfterAnotherNoLoop();   //this will turn on each LED one by one then turn each off
  //oneAfterAnotherLoop();   //does the same as oneAfterAnotherNoLoop but with 
                             //much less typing
  //oneOnAtATime();          //this will turn one LED on then turn the next one
                             //on turning the 
                             //former off (one LED will look like it is scrolling 
                             //along the line
  inAndOut();              //lights the two middle LEDs then moves them out then back 
                             //in again
}

/*
 * oneAfterAnotherNoLoop() - Will light one LED then delay for delayTime then light
 * the next LED until all LEDs are on it will then turn them off one after another
 *
 * this does it without using a loop which makes for a lot of typing. 
 * oneOnAtATimeLoop() does exactly the same thing with less typing
 */
void oneAfterAnotherNoLoop(){
  int delayTime = 100; //the time (in milliseconds) to pause between LEDs
                       //make smaller for quicker switching and larger for slower
  digitalWrite(ledPins[0], HIGH);  //Turns on LED #0 (connected to pin 2 )
  delay(delayTime);                //waits delayTime milliseconds
  digitalWrite(ledPins[1], HIGH);  //Turns on LED #1 (connected to pin 3 )
  delay(delayTime);                //waits delayTime milliseconds
  digitalWrite(ledPins[2], HIGH);  //Turns on LED #2 (connected to pin 4 )
  delay(delayTime);                //waits delayTime milliseconds
  digitalWrite(ledPins[3], HIGH);  //Turns on LED #3 (connected to pin 5 )
  delay(delayTime);                //waits delayTime milliseconds
  digitalWrite(ledPins[4], HIGH);  //Turns on LED #4 (connected to pin 6 )
  delay(delayTime);                //waits delayTime milliseconds
  digitalWrite(ledPins[5], HIGH);  //Turns on LED #5 (connected to pin 7 )
  delay(delayTime);                //waits delayTime milliseconds
  digitalWrite(ledPins[6], HIGH);  //Turns on LED #6 (connected to pin 8 )
  delay(delayTime);                //waits delayTime milliseconds
  digitalWrite(ledPins[7], HIGH);  //Turns on LED #7 (connected to pin 9 )
  delay(delayTime);                //waits delayTime milliseconds  

//Turns Each LED Off
  digitalWrite(ledPins[7], LOW);  //Turns on LED #0 (connected to pin 2 )
  delay(delayTime);                //waits delayTime milliseconds
  digitalWrite(ledPins[6], LOW);  //Turns on LED #1 (connected to pin 3 )
  delay(delayTime);                //waits delayTime milliseconds
  digitalWrite(ledPins[5], LOW);  //Turns on LED #2 (connected to pin 4 )
  delay(delayTime);                //waits delayTime milliseconds
  digitalWrite(ledPins[4], LOW);  //Turns on LED #3 (connected to pin 5 )
  delay(delayTime);                //waits delayTime milliseconds
  digitalWrite(ledPins[3], LOW);  //Turns on LED #4 (connected to pin 6 )
  delay(delayTime);                //waits delayTime milliseconds
  digitalWrite(ledPins[2], LOW);  //Turns on LED #5 (connected to pin 7 )
  delay(delayTime);                //waits delayTime milliseconds
  digitalWrite(ledPins[1], LOW);  //Turns on LED #6 (connected to pin 8 )
  delay(delayTime);                //waits delayTime milliseconds
  digitalWrite(ledPins[0], LOW);  //Turns on LED #7 (connected to pin 9 )
  delay(delayTime);                //waits delayTime milliseconds  
}

/*
 * oneAfterAnotherLoop() - Will light one LED then delay for delayTime then light
 * the next LED until all LEDs are on it will then turn them off one after another
 *
 * this does it using a loop which makes for a lot less typing. 
 * than oneOnAtATimeNoLoop() does exactly the same thing with less typing
 */
void oneAfterAnotherLoop(){
  int delayTime = 100; //the time (in milliseconds) to pause between LEDs
                       //make smaller for quicker switching and larger for slower

//Turn Each LED on one after another
  for(int i = 0; i <= 7; i++){
    digitalWrite(ledPins[i], HIGH);  //Turns on LED #i each time this runs i
    delay(delayTime);                //gets one added to it so this will repeat 
  }                                  //8 times the first time i will = 0 the final
                                     //time i will equal 7;

//Turn Each LED off one after another
  for(int i = 7; i >= 0; i--){  //same as above but rather than starting at 0 and counting up
                                //we start at seven and count down
    digitalWrite(ledPins[i], LOW);  //Turns off LED #i each time this runs i
    delay(delayTime);                //gets one subtracted from it so this will repeat 
  }                                  //8 times the first time i will = 7 the final
                                     //time it will equal 0

}

/*
 * oneOnAtATime() - Will light one LED then the next turning off all the others
 */
void oneOnAtATime(){
  int delayTime = 100; //the time (in milliseconds) to pause between LEDs
                       //make smaller for quicker switching and larger for slower

  for(int i = 0; i <= 7; i++){
    int offLED = i - 1;  //Calculate which LED was turned on last time through
    if(i == 0) {         //for i = 1 to 7 this is i minus 1 (i.e. if i = 2 we will
      offLED = 7;        //turn on LED 2 and off LED 1)
    }                    //however if i = 0 we don't want to turn of led -1 (doesn't exist)
                         //instead we turn off LED 7, (looping around)
    digitalWrite(ledPins[i], HIGH);     //turn on LED #i
    digitalWrite(ledPins[offLED], LOW); //turn off the LED we turned on last time
    delay(delayTime);
  }
}

/*
 * inAndOut() - This will turn on the two middle LEDs then the next two out
 * making an in and out look
 */
void inAndOut(){
  int delayTime = 100; //the time (in milliseconds) to pause between LEDs
                       //make smaller for quicker switching and larger for slower

  //runs the LEDs out from the middle
  for(int i = 0; i <= 3; i++){
    int offLED = i - 1;  //Calculate which LED was turned on last time through
    if(i == 0) {         //for i = 1 to 7 this is i minus 1 (i.e. if i = 2 we will
      offLED = 3;        //turn on LED 2 and off LED 1)
    }                    //however if i = 0 we don't want to turn of led -1 (doesn't exist)
                         //instead we turn off LED 7, (looping around)
    int onLED1 = 3 - i;       //this is the first LED to go on ie. LED #3 when i = 0 and LED 
                             //#0 when i = 3 
    int onLED2 = 4 + i;       //this is the first LED to go on ie. LED #4 when i = 0 and LED 
                             //#7 when i = 3 
    int offLED1 = 3 - offLED; //turns off the LED we turned on last time
    int offLED2 = 4 + offLED; //turns off the LED we turned on last time

    digitalWrite(ledPins[onLED1], HIGH);
    digitalWrite(ledPins[onLED2], HIGH);    
    digitalWrite(ledPins[offLED1], LOW);    
    digitalWrite(ledPins[offLED2], LOW);        
    delay(delayTime);
  }

  //runs the LEDs into the middle
  for(int i = 3; i >= 0; i--){
    int offLED = i + 1;  //Calculate which LED was turned on last time through
    if(i == 3) {         //for i = 1 to 7 this is i minus 1 (i.e. if i = 2 we will
      offLED = 0;        //turn on LED 2 and off LED 1)
    }                    //however if i = 0 we don't want to turn of led -1 (doesn't exist)
                         //instead we turn off LED 7, (looping around)
    int onLED1 = 3 - i;       //this is the first LED to go on ie. LED #3 when i = 0 and LED 
                             //#0 when i = 3 
    int onLED2 = 4 + i;       //this is the first LED to go on ie. LED #4 when i = 0 and LED 
                             //#7 when i = 3 
    int offLED1 = 3 - offLED; //turns off the LED we turned on last time
    int offLED2 = 4 + offLED; //turns off the LED we turned on last time

    digitalWrite(ledPins[onLED1], HIGH);
    digitalWrite(ledPins[onLED2], HIGH);    
    digitalWrite(ledPins[offLED1], LOW);    
    digitalWrite(ledPins[offLED2], LOW);        
    delay(delayTime);
  }
  for(pos = 0; pos < 180; pos += 1)  // goes from 0 degrees to 180 degrees 
  {                                  // in steps of 1 degree 
    myservo.write(pos);              // tell servo to go to position in variable 'pos' 
    delay(15);                       // waits 15ms for the servo to reach the position 
  } 
  for(pos = 180; pos>=1; pos-=1)     // goes from 180 degrees to 0 degrees 
  {                                
    myservo.write(pos);              // tell servo to go to position in variable 'pos' 
    delay(15);                       // waits 15ms for the servo to reach the position 
  }
}