next topic »

[on:]

I have been trying to learn to program over the past couple years. I had a class on C++ when I was in college but I hated it and as a EE student I figured it wasn't that important. Dumb move!

Now that I'm self employed I'm trying to get better at automation for my little shop, anyways, I have been messing with this program (example) for a while.

I had float points working at one point bt for some reason it's not working now. Any ideas what could be wrong here?

Code:

// Sweep
// by BARRAGAN <http://barraganstudio.com>
// This example code is in the public domain.


#include <Servo.h>
 
Servo myservo;  // create servo object to control a servo
                // a maximum of eight servo objects can be created
 
float pos = 0;    // variable to store the servo position
float left = 85;
float right = 65;
float posinc = 1;
 
void setup()
{
  myservo.attach(9);  // attaches the servo on pin 9 to the servo object
}
 
 
void loop()
{
  for(pos = right; pos < left; pos += posinc)  // 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(60);                       // waits 15ms for the servo to reach the position
  }
  for(pos = left; pos>=right; pos-=posinc)     // goes from 180 degrees to 0 degrees
  {                               
    myservo.write(pos);              // tell servo to go to position in variable 'pos'
    delay(60);                       // waits 15ms for the servo to reach the position
  }
}

[Reply #1 on:]

What do you mean not working?  What is it doing or not doing that isn't what you expect?

By the way, since the increment is 1 you really don't need a float.  Regular old into will do.

[Reply #2 on:]

If it was working and the code hasn't changed then it must be the hardware.  If the code has changed then look at what was changed.

[Reply #3 on:]

Sorry! That was super unclear on my description.

What's not working is this... I have the servo taped to the table at my computer desk and I have the arm set to hit an unfixtured (free) piece and slide it to tell me if anything is changing. This tells me how wide the sweep is. If I run it to say 88.1 degrees then change it to 88.9 degrees, nothing changes in the sweep distance (as determined by the visual on my loose sliding piece I use to reference) but as soon as I go to the next Integer (89) it hits the piece telling me that it's now going a degree further.

As far as it was working before and now it's not, I'm not sure what I did but I had float points actually making changes before (as verified several times with the moving boundary described above.

So I am totally lost as to what's wrong with the code. It should give me float points in the degrees of sweep, no?

[Reply #4 on:]

It should give me float points in the degrees of sweep, no?

Why?

[Reply #5 on:]

It should give me float points in the degrees of sweep, no?

Look at the interface you're using to define the servo position. If it takes an int argument and you try to provide a float value then all that'll happen is your float value is rounded to an int.

[Reply #6 on:]

To AWOL, I'm not sure what you mean by "why?" I looked at your link and it doesn't say anything about float points. And the fact that I have had it working tells me that float values "should" do something. I believe I had more math in the statement where it worked but I'm positive that I noticed decimal point resolution before.

Thank you PeterH on your reply, I don't quite understand what you mean by interface. I have the Arduino board connected directly to a small hobby RC Servo. I'd guess you mean the Arduino as the interface?

Edit: Wow you UK guys are up late!

[Reply #7 on:]

The Servo write method has no overloads that accept a float, only integers, so the float you supply is simply truncated to an integer.

[Reply #8 on:]

The degree value for the servo position is just being mapped to a us value for the servo. If you want to make small servo movements, you will need to use us values. Below is servo test code where you can compare degree values to us values.

Code:

// zoomkat 10-22-11 serial servo test
// type servo position 0 to 180 in serial monitor
// or for writeMicroseconds, use a value like 1500
// for IDE 0022 and later
// Powering a servo from the arduino usually *DOES NOT WORK*.

String readString;
#include <Servo.h>
Servo myservo;  // create servo object to control a servo

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  myservo.writeMicroseconds(1500); //set initial servo position if desired
  myservo.attach(7);  //the pin for the servo control
  Serial.println("servo-test-22-dual-input"); // so I can keep track of what is loaded
}

void loop() {
  while (Serial.available()) {
    char c = Serial.read();  //gets one byte from serial buffer
    readString += c; //makes the string readString
    delay(2);  //slow looping to allow buffer to fill with next character
  }

  if (readString.length() >0) {
    Serial.println(readString);  //so you can see the captured string
    int n = readString.toInt();  //convert readString into a number

    // auto select appropriate value, copied from someone elses code.
    if(n >= 500)
    {
      Serial.print("writing Microseconds: ");
      Serial.println(n);
      myservo.writeMicroseconds(n);
    }
    else
    {   
      Serial.print("writing Angle: ");
      Serial.println(n);
      myservo.write(n);
    }

    readString=""; //empty for next input
  }
}