I'm working on an Arduino project where I'm attempting to display 4 digits from a serial monitor input to a 4-digit seven segment display based on an input from the serial monitor.... this seems like a very simple project, but my lack of Arduino and coding experience is the problem.
Fast forward...the circuit is wired appropriately and the display is illuminated, I've also written the program code to get my serial input numbers separated into variables and displayed on the 4 digit display successfully where they should be....but they won't stay put.
I'm able to get four digits to display(very rapidly), but the numbers run through their sequence and end at the last one, remaining illuminated on the final digit.
The issue I'm having I believe comes down to multiplexing. I'm aware what multiplexing is, but again my lack of formal experience makes me unsure exactly how to apply it in my code or circuit. Is it as simple as switching the pin modes at HIGH and LOW at a VERY rapid pace? or somehting more complicated?
Here's the complete code I'm working with... please excuse my working mess:
// Global declarations
// shift register pins
const int latchPin = 5; //74HC595 pin 9 ST_CP
const int clockPin = 6; //74HC595 pin 10 SH_CP
const int dataPin = 4; //74HC595 pin 8 DS
// multi-segment digit select pins
const int digit1Pin = 9; // segment pin 12
const int digit2Pin = 10; // segment pin 10
const int digit3Pin = 11; // segment pin 8
const int digit4Pin = 12; // segment pin 6
// digitTable stores the binary patterns for displaying the hexadecimal digits 0-9
byte digitTable[16]={
B11111100, // 0
B01100000, // 1
B11011010, // 2
B11110010, // 3
B01100110, // 4
B10110110, // 5
B10111110, // 6
B11100000, // 7
B11111110, // 8
B11100110, // 9
};
// Declares a variable to store the integer.
int displayValue; // This is the value that will be shown on the multi-digit display.
const byte numChars = 32;
char receivedChars[numChars];
char tempChars[numChars]; // temporary array for use when parsing
// variables to hold the parsed data
int integer1FromPC = 0;
int integer2FromPC = 0;
int integer3FromPC = 0;
int integer4FromPC = 0;
boolean newData = false;
void setup()
{
// Set pinMode for shift register pins:
pinMode( latchPin , OUTPUT );
pinMode( clockPin , OUTPUT );
pinMode( dataPin , OUTPUT );
// Set pinMode for seven segment pins:
pinMode( digit1Pin , OUTPUT );
pinMode( digit2Pin , OUTPUT );
pinMode( digit3Pin , OUTPUT );
pinMode( digit4Pin , OUTPUT );
// Setup serial port
Serial.begin(9600);
// Initialize displayValue to 0.
displayValue = 0;
// Display 0000 at Start
digitalWrite( latchPin , LOW );
shiftOut( dataPin , clockPin , LSBFIRST , digitTable[ displayValue ] );
digitalWrite( latchPin , HIGH );
Serial.println("This demo accepts up to 4 integers");
Serial.println("Enter data in this style < 1, 2, 3, 4 > ");
Serial.println();
}
// Sends binary pattern for 4 digits to the shift register */
void displayDigit1( byte integer1FromPC, byte integer2FromPC, byte integer3FromPC, byte integer4FromPC)
{
digitalWrite( latchPin, LOW );
shiftOut(dataPin , clockPin , LSBFIRST , digitTable[ integer1FromPC ] );
digitalWrite( latchPin, HIGH);
// Sets digit 1 ON
digitalWrite( digit1Pin , LOW );
digitalWrite( digit2Pin , HIGH );
digitalWrite( digit3Pin , HIGH );
digitalWrite( digit4Pin , HIGH );
delay(100);
digitalWrite( latchPin , LOW );
shiftOut( dataPin , clockPin , LSBFIRST , digitTable[ integer2FromPC ] );
digitalWrite( latchPin, HIGH );
// Sets digit 2 ON
digitalWrite( digit1Pin , HIGH );
digitalWrite( digit2Pin , LOW );
digitalWrite( digit3Pin , HIGH );
digitalWrite( digit4Pin , HIGH );
delay(100);
digitalWrite( latchPin, LOW );
shiftOut( dataPin , clockPin , LSBFIRST , digitTable[ integer3FromPC ] );
digitalWrite( latchPin , HIGH );
// Sets digit 3 ON
digitalWrite( digit1Pin , HIGH );
digitalWrite( digit2Pin , HIGH );
digitalWrite( digit3Pin , LOW );
digitalWrite( digit4Pin , HIGH );
delay(100);
digitalWrite( latchPin , LOW );
shiftOut(dataPin , clockPin , LSBFIRST , digitTable[ integer4FromPC ] );
digitalWrite( latchPin , HIGH );
// Sets digit 4 ON
digitalWrite( digit1Pin , HIGH );
digitalWrite( digit2Pin , HIGH );
digitalWrite( digit3Pin , HIGH );
digitalWrite( digit4Pin , LOW );
delay(100);
}
void loop() {
recvWithStartEndMarkers();
if (newData == true) {
strcpy(tempChars, receivedChars);
// this temporary copy is necessary to protect the original data
// because strtok() used in parseData() replaces the commas with \0
parseData();
showParsedData();
newData = false;
displayDigit1(integer1FromPC, integer2FromPC, integer3FromPC, integer4FromPC);
}
}
//
void recvWithStartEndMarkers() {
static boolean recvInProgress = false;
static byte ndx = 0;
char startMarker = '<';
char endMarker = '>';
char rc;
while (Serial.available() > 0 && newData == false) {
rc = Serial.read();
if (recvInProgress == true) {
if (rc != endMarker) {
receivedChars[ndx] = rc;
ndx++;
if (ndx >= numChars) {
ndx = numChars - 1;
}
}
else {
receivedChars[ndx] = '\0'; // terminate the string
recvInProgress = false;
ndx = 0;
newData = true;
}
}
else if (rc == startMarker) {
recvInProgress = true;
}
}
}
//
void parseData() { // split the data into its parts
char * strtokIndx; // this is used by strtok() as an index
strtokIndx = strtok(tempChars, ","); // this continues where the previous call left off
integer1FromPC = atoi(strtokIndx); // convert this part to an integer
strtokIndx = strtok(NULL, ","); // this continues where the previous call left off
integer2FromPC = atoi(strtokIndx); // convert this part to an integer
strtokIndx = strtok(NULL, ","); // this continues where the previous call left off
integer3FromPC = atoi(strtokIndx); // convert this part to an integer
strtokIndx = strtok(NULL, ","); // this continues where the previous call left off
integer4FromPC = atoi(strtokIndx); // convert this part to an integer
}
//
void showParsedData() {
Serial.print("Integer 1: ");
Serial.println(integer1FromPC);
Serial.print("Integer 2: ");
Serial.println(integer2FromPC);
Serial.print("Integer 3: ");
Serial.println(integer3FromPC);
Serial.print("Integer 4: ");
Serial.println(integer4FromPC);
}
I'm unsure if I need to implement a simple delay like this :
// Sets digit 1 ON
digitalWrite( digit1Pin , LOW );
digitalWrite( digit2Pin , HIGH );
digitalWrite( digit3Pin , HIGH );
digitalWrite( digit4Pin , HIGH );
delay(100);
or something more complicated like a timer or new function to implement in the loop.
Please help me get this display to show all four digits at once! Thank you in advance!
