next topic »

[on:]

Code:

                                   void stepper()
                                            {int p = 0; int a = 0;
                                            while (digitalRead(pedaldown) == LOW) {
                                            motorstep2(1,1);
                                            p = p + 1;
                                            lcd.setCursor(0,0);
                                            a = 0.5 * p;
                                            lcd.print("Marking depth:");
                                            lcd.setCursor(8,2);
                                            lcd.print(a);
                                            lcd.setCursor(13,2);
                                            lcd.print("microns");
                                            }
                                            }

The code works ok but I have a problem. The stepper makes a step, displays the value on the lcd, takes a step again, and so on. This creates an "un-smooth" rotation of the motor. Removing the lcd display code solves things but I really need to know the real-time display of steps made by the motor. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[Reply #1 on:]

Is it any smoother if you just print the value of the changing variable? i.e. Don't send "Marking Depth" and "Microns"  more than once- move them to setup.

[Reply #2 on:]

yes, it is smoother if i just print the value. If I move Marking depth and Microns to setup I cannot display other messages on the lcd...

[Reply #3 on:]

Is it possible to add some logic to your sketch so that you only change the labels when you have to? I imagine you would still get stepper stutter at change over though. Easier to tell if you could post your code.

[Reply #4 on:]

but I really need to know the real-time display of steps made by the motor.

Hardly anything ever really needs to be displayed real-time.  Human perception isn't even capable of detecting display refreshes faster than about 30-60hz (not to mention affordable LCD character displays aren't capable of refreshing faster than that), and the human brain isn't capable of acknowledging data updates faster than about 1-5hz.  Keep track of the step count, and update ONLY the value on your display every 200-500msec and you'll have what you really need.

[Reply #5 on:]

any pointers on how I should do this? 

Thank you all

[Reply #6 on:]

Keep track of the step count, and update ONLY the value on your display every 200-500msec

The problem is that even this will cause a stutter in the motor. This is because the timing between the steps is just controlled in the loop, if the code does anything else (like write to the display) then the timing of the next step is longer.

The only way round this is to use a timer to generate an interrupt every time the stepper needs to step. Then the main loop can happily look at variables and print them out. This is because you will not see the stutter introduced by the motor grabbing the CPU time on the display.

Look up interrupts and how to initiate them in the playground.

[Reply #7 on:]

yes, it is smoother if i just print the value. If I move Marking depth and Microns to setup I cannot display other messages on the lcd...

If I remember correctly... you can write the "Marking Depth" and "Microns" on the setup function and then only write the step values like you did before.

When you write a different message on the LCD, you then need to re-write the "Marking Depth" and "Microns" in the LCD. You can create a bool variable that, if set, will write those messages in the LCD. Got it?

Code:

boolean refresh;
unsigned int time_to_refresh;

setup()  {
write_LCD ("Marking Depth" and "Microns");
refresh = 0;
time_to_refresh = 0;
}
loop() {
position_after("Marking Depth" and "Microns" );
write_LCD (marking depth);
write_LCD (microns);

if (something_happened)  {
write_LCD ("hey... something's happened!!!!");
time_to_refresh = 50000;
refresh =1;
}

if (refresh ==1 && time_to_refresh > 0)  {
time_to_refresh--;
 }
else  {
write_LCD ("Marking Depth" and "Microns");
refresh = 0;
time_to_refresh = 0;
}
}

I know that the code is not perfect... but it's something like this you'd need to do. :\ Or get a function called set_LCD () that will write all the constant string in the LCD and call that when you clear the message. I can give you a few more pointers on this, but I'd need to know what the system is doing and what are the inputs and outputs.