I am trying to replicate a project I have seen and the code I copied is not working. I have the push button wired correctly and the printer wires all in the right pins. My button can turn an LED on and off but I cannot trigger the printer. I am just a novice so any help is appreciated.
Website with project instructions and Schematics
const int buttonPin = 2; // the number of the pushbutton pin - doesn't change
int currState = 0; // set variables to hold the state of the button
int prevState = 0;
#include "SoftwareSerial.h"
#include "Adafruit_Thermal.h" // you need to download this and put it in your Arduino library
int buttonState = 0; // variable for reading the button status
int printer_RX_Pin = 3; // This is the green printer wire
int printer_TX_Pin = 6; // This is the yellow printer wire
Adafruit_Thermal printer(printer_RX_Pin, printer_TX_Pin);
void setup() {
pinMode(buttonPin, INPUT);
Serial.begin(19200); // this is the baud rate of your printer - may vary
pinMode(7, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(7, LOW);
printer.begin();
}
void loop(){
// read the state of the button:
currState = digitalRead(buttonPin);
if (currState != prevState) // if something has changed, do something
{
if (currState == HIGH) {
printPoem();
}
else {
// if you want something to happen when the button is released, put it here
// such as a beep, or a display saying 'your poem is on its way'
}
prevState = currState;
}
}
void printPoem(){
// put poem titles in order in here
char* myTitles[]={"In a Station of the Metro","This is just to say","Surprise","Moment","The Sick Rose","Women, Wine and Snuff"};
// put poems in here in order
// they must all be on the same line, in double quotes, separated by commas
// use \n for a new line and \" to escape a quotation mark
char* myPoems[]={"The apparition of these faces in the crowd;\nPetals on a wet, black bough.", "I have eaten\nthe plums\nthat were in\nthe icebox\n\nand which\nyou were probably\nsaving\nfor breakfast\n\nForgive me\nthey were delicious\nso sweet\nand so cold", "I lift the toilet seat\nas if it were the nest of a bird\nand i see cat tracks\nall around the edge of the bowl.",
"Clear moments are so short.\nThere is much more darkness.More\nocean than terra firma. More\nshadow than form.", "O rose, thou art sick!\nThe invisible worm,\nThat flies in the night,\nIn the howling storm,\n\nHas found out thy bed\nOf crimson joy,\nAnd his dark secret love\nDoes thy life destroy.","Give me women, wine and snuff\nUntil I cry out,\n\"hold, enough!\"You may do so sans objection\nTill the day of resurrection;\nFor, bless my beard, they aye shall be\nMy beloved Trinity."};
// put author names & dates here, in order
char* myAuthors[]={"Ezra Pound","William Carlos Williams","Richard Brautigan","Adam Zagajewski","William Blake","John Keats"};
int poemChoice = random(0, 6); // choose a random poem number between 0 and 5
printer.doubleHeightOn();
printer.println(myTitles[poemChoice]);
printer.doubleHeightOff();
printer.boldOn();
printer.println(myPoems[poemChoice]);
printer.boldOff();
printer.justify('R');
printer.println(myAuthors[poemChoice]);
printer.justify('L');
printer.boldOn();
printer.println("The Little Box of Poems");
printer.boldOff();
printer.setSize('S'); // Setting the size adds a linefeed
printer.println("www.suppertime.co.uk/blogmywiki");
printer.println("@blogmywiki");
printer.feed(3);
delay(2000); // 2 second pause to help prevent multiple presses
}
