Hey everyone,
Kind of been banging my head against the wall for a few days trying to figure this out. I'm a beginner to Arduino, so if this post is confusing, it's because I'm not sure how to phrase my question (I'm out of my depth, big time).
I'm trying to connect this RFID Reader (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14066) to a Feather m0 Bluetooth (Adafruit Feather M0 Bluefruit LE : ID 2995 : $29.95 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits), and I keep getting this error: "Module failed to respond. Please check wiring."
I had it working perfectly with my Uno, but ran into tons of problems as soon as I tried getting to work with the Feather M0.
The example code that SparkFun provides starts off like this:
#include <SoftwareSerial.h> //Used for transmitting to the device
SoftwareSerial Serial1(2, 3); //RX, TX
Which results in this error: fatal error: SoftwareSerial.h: No such file or directory
It seems like SAMD devices(?) don't support SoftwareSerial.
So I tried making a local copy of SoftwareSerial.h and SoftwareSerial.cpp - and changing a few lines. (see here: SoftwareSerial examples for Arduino M0 will not compile · Issue #234 · arduino/ArduinoCore-samd · GitHub). That didn't appear to work.
After reading through this thread (Arduino Zero - SoftwareSerial library - Arduino Zero - Arduino Forum) and being wildly confused, I tried to follow the instructions here (Creating a new Serial | Using ATSAMD21 SERCOM for more SPI, I2C and Serial ports | Adafruit Learning System) to create(?) a new "Serial" SERCOM on pins 10 and 11. But still got the same error.
I attached a picture of my setup / wiring below.
On top of that, even though I've reread SparkFun's docs several times, I still have no idea what the HW-UART / SW-UART switch does.
I also have no clue where to plug in the jumper cables on the RFID reader.
If anyone could help me with the wiring / programming here, or explain what's going on, that would be incredible.
I've been trying to figure this out for a few days now, and haven't had any luck.
Thanks in advance!
Here's the example code that SparkFun provides:
#include <SoftwareSerial.h> //Used for transmitting to the device
SoftwareSerial softSerial(2, 3); //RX, TX
#include "SparkFun_UHF_RFID_Reader.h" //Library for controlling the M6E Nano module
RFID nano; //Create instance
void setup()
{
Serial.begin(115200);
while (!Serial); //Wait for the serial port to come online
if (setupNano(38400) == false) //Configure nano to run at 38400bps
{
Serial.println(F("Module failed to respond. Please check wiring."));
while (1); //Freeze!
}
nano.setRegion(REGION_NORTHAMERICA); //Set to North America
nano.setReadPower(500); //5.00 dBm. Higher values may caues USB port to brown out
//Max Read TX Power is 27.00 dBm and may cause temperature-limit throttling
Serial.println(F("Press a key to begin scanning for tags."));
while (!Serial.available()); //Wait for user to send a character
Serial.read(); //Throw away the user's character
nano.startReading(); //Begin scanning for tags
}
void loop()
{
if (nano.check() == true) //Check to see if any new data has come in from module
{
byte responseType = nano.parseResponse(); //Break response into tag ID, RSSI, frequency, and timestamp
if (responseType == RESPONSE_IS_KEEPALIVE)
{
Serial.println(F("Scanning"));
}
else if (responseType == RESPONSE_IS_TAGFOUND)
{
//If we have a full record we can pull out the fun bits
int rssi = nano.getTagRSSI(); //Get the RSSI for this tag read
long freq = nano.getTagFreq(); //Get the frequency this tag was detected at
long timeStamp = nano.getTagTimestamp(); //Get the time this was read, (ms) since last keep-alive message
byte tagEPCBytes = nano.getTagEPCBytes(); //Get the number of bytes of EPC from response
Serial.print(F(" rssi["));
Serial.print(rssi);
Serial.print(F("]"));
Serial.print(F(" freq["));
Serial.print(freq);
Serial.print(F("]"));
Serial.print(F(" time["));
Serial.print(timeStamp);
Serial.print(F("]"));
//Print EPC bytes, this is a subsection of bytes from the response/msg array
Serial.print(F(" epc["));
for (byte x = 0 ; x < tagEPCBytes ; x++)
{
if (nano.msg[31 + x] < 0x10) Serial.print(F("0")); //Pretty print
Serial.print(nano.msg[31 + x], HEX);
Serial.print(F(" "));
}
Serial.print(F("]"));
Serial.println();
}
else if (responseType == ERROR_CORRUPT_RESPONSE)
{
Serial.println("Bad CRC");
}
else
{
//Unknown response
Serial.print("Unknown error");
}
}
}
//Gracefully handles a reader that is already configured and already reading continuously
//Because Stream does not have a .begin() we have to do this outside the library
boolean setupNano(long baudRate)
{
nano.begin(softSerial); //Tell the library to communicate over software serial port
//Test to see if we are already connected to a module
//This would be the case if the Arduino has been reprogrammed and the module has stayed powered
softSerial.begin(baudRate); //For this test, assume module is already at our desired baud rate
while(!softSerial); //Wait for port to open
//About 200ms from power on the module will send its firmware version at 115200. We need to ignore this.
while(softSerial.available()) softSerial.read();
nano.getVersion();
if (nano.msg[0] == ERROR_WRONG_OPCODE_RESPONSE)
{
//This happens if the baud rate is correct but the module is doing a ccontinuous read
nano.stopReading();
Serial.println(F("Module continuously reading. Asking it to stop..."));
delay(1500);
}
else
{
//The module did not respond so assume it's just been powered on and communicating at 115200bps
softSerial.begin(115200); //Start software serial at 115200
nano.setBaud(baudRate); //Tell the module to go to the chosen baud rate. Ignore the response msg
softSerial.begin(baudRate); //Start the software serial port, this time at user's chosen baud rate
}
//Test the connection
nano.getVersion();
if (nano.msg[0] != ALL_GOOD) return (false); //Something is not right
//The M6E has these settings no matter what
nano.setTagProtocol(); //Set protocol to GEN2
nano.setAntennaPort(); //Set TX/RX antenna ports to 1
return (true); //We are ready to rock
}
