AWOL: The use of double quotes for defining the strings was definitely part of, if not the entire, problem.
RESULTS: The code below prints the defined strings {","}; line by line in sequence to the serial monitor and timed according to the delay. This is only partially what I wanted because Serial.read either is not reading them as they are being printed or they are not being converted to integers and/or not being written to the servos. The 'Serial.read/write' section [from zoomkat] of the loop (everything at the bottom after 'if(Serial.available())' ) works fine on its own with manual input into the serial monitor but apparently doesn't do anything in combination with the PROGMEM section/s. I'm not sure what needs to happen now for the strings to get written to the servos, I don't know what the disconnect is. It may only be one or two lines away from working, or may need an entirely new approach. 
I did rearrange a few things several times, notably: PROGMEM, so I'll try repositioning a few things, before continuing to research.
/*
'zoomkat 11-22-12 simple delimited ',' string parse' is combined with 'PROGMEM string demo'
inside of a while loop that gets started with a bumper sensor used as a manual switch.
Intended to control one leg prototyped for a hexapod ~will be further expanded as the bugs
get worked out...
zoomkat 11-22-12 simple delimited ',' string parse
from serial port input (via serial monitor)
and print result out serial port
multi servos added
PROGMEM string demo
-How to store a table of strings in program memory (flash), and retrieve them.
Information summarized from:
http://www.nongnu.org/avr-libc/user-manual/pgmspace.html
-Here is a good template to follow for setting up a
table (array) of strings in program memory. */
#include <avr/pgmspace.h>
PROGMEM prog_char string_0[] = {"60a, 90b"}; //positions leg at ready (may have no use)
PROGMEM prog_char string_1[] = {"25a, 170b"}; //gait for one leg (2 motors(a,b))
PROGMEM prog_char string_2[] = {"160a"}; //
PROGMEM prog_char string_3[] = {"5b"}; //
PROGMEM prog_char string_4[] = {"25a"}; //
// Then set up a table to refer to strings.
PROGMEM const char *string_table[] = //change "string_table" name to suit
{
string_0,
string_1,
string_2,
string_3,
string_4,
};
char buffer[4]; //needs to be large enough for the largest string it must hold
//may eventually hold up to 30 indexed variables for all servo/sensor functions
String readString;
#include <Servo.h>
Servo myservoa, myservob; //create servo object to control a servo
#include <Wire.h>
const int bumperPinR = 2; // the number of the bumper (whisker) pin
int bumperStateR = 0; // variable for reading the bumper status
void setup()
{
Serial.begin(9600);
//myservoa.writeMicroseconds(1500); //set initial servo position if desired?
//myservob.writeMicroseconds(1500); //
myservob.attach(8); //the pin for the servob control
myservoa.attach(9); //
//Serial.println(""); //keep track of what is loaded
pinMode(bumperPinR, INPUT); //sets the bumper pins as an inputs
Wire.begin(); //initializes/activates voltage sensing for bumperpins?
}
void loop()
{
bumperStateR = digitalRead(bumperPinR); //read state of bumper sensors
while (bumperStateR == LOW) //begin a loop(one leg walking) with bumper sensor
{
for (int i = 1; i < 4; i++) //prints successive strings in table?
{
//'strcpy_P' copies strings from program memory to buffer,
//necessary casts and dereferencing required to gather data from table.
strcpy_P(buffer, (char*) pgm_read_word(&(string_table[i])));
Serial.println(buffer);
//delay(500); //delay will certainly need adjustment
//everything beyond this point does not seem to correlate with that above, although
//it does control the servos when values are manually entered into the serial monitor
if (Serial.available())
{
char c = Serial.read(); //gets one byte from serial buffer
if (c == ',') //where/what is 'char c'??
{
if (readString.length() >1) //greater than 1 char??
{
Serial.println(readString); //prints string to serial port out
int n = readString.toInt(); //convert readString into a number
// auto select appropriate value ~my servos use 0-180, so 181 should work
if(n >= 500) //don't know if I'm interpreting this correctly
{
Serial.print("writing Microseconds: "); //header for input 'n >= 500' in monitor
Serial.println(n);
if(readString.indexOf('a') >0) myservoa.writeMicroseconds(n);
if(readString.indexOf('b') >0) myservob.writeMicroseconds(n);
}
else
{
Serial.print("writing Angle: "); //header for input 'n < 500'
Serial.println(n);
if(readString.indexOf('a') >0) myservoa.write(n);
if(readString.indexOf('b') >0) myservob.write(n);
}
readString=""; //clears variable for new input
}
}
else
{
readString += c; //makes the string readString
}
}
}
}
}
1/5/13
I need help!
Here's what I'm trying to do:
- Store strings to PROGMEM
- Retrieve strings from PROGMEM using Serial()
- Write strings to multiple servos in sequence/s
Purpose:
Mainly to have simultaneous operation of multiple servos and sensors, the other would be to conserve memory for functions.
The 'disjunction' appears to be between 'strcpy_P' and 'if (Serial.available())'.
I've made too many changes, additions, omissions to the code to remember everything I've tried. I can't really go much further with my project without solving this problem.
Any suggestions or additional info will be greatly appreciated!