IR Sensor Sometimes Receives Correctly, Sometimes Doesn't

Using Arduino Programming Questions
1

I have just got an IR sensor with an IR remote. All I want to do is to get the Arduino board to print the button which is being pushed.

For that, I got the codes of the buttons online, but the problem is, they sometimes get printed, sometimes don't.

For example, I push the button "1", the sensor lights up and 1 gets printed. I push it again, the sensor lights up again, but no 1 is printed this time. (completely random) The sensor always lights up, which means it shouldn't be a problem with the remote or the sensor, but it should be remote sending different values every time.

I really don't know how I can get it to send the same value every time, hope you can help with it.

The code I wrote:

#include <IRremote.h>

IRrecv irrecv(2);
decode_results results;

#define UP 0xFF629D
#define LEFT 0xFF22DD
#define OK 0xFF02FD
#define RIGHT 0xFFC23D
#define DOWN 0xFFA857
#define BUTON1 0xFF6897
#define BUTON2 0xFF9867
#define BUTON3 0xFFB04F
#define BUTON4 0xFF30CF
#define BUTON5 0xFF18E7
#define BUTON6 0xFF7A85
#define BUTON7 0xFF10EF
#define BUTON8 0xFF38C7
#define BUTON9 0xFF5AA5
#define STAR 0xFF42BD
#define BUTON0 0xFF4AB5
#define HASH 0xFF52AD

void setup(){
  Serial.begin(9600);
  irrecv.enableIRIn();
}

void loop(){
  if (irrecv.decode(&results)){
    if (results.value == UP){
      Serial.println("UP");
    }
    if (results.value == LEFT){
      Serial.println("LEFT");
    }
    if (results.value == OK){
      Serial.println("OK");
    }
    if (results.value == RIGHT){
      Serial.println("RIGHT");
    }
    if (results.value == DOWN){
      Serial.println("DOWN");
    }
    if (results.value == BUTON1){
      Serial.println("1");
    }
    if (results.value == BUTON2){
      Serial.println("2");
    }
    if (results.value == BUTON3){
      Serial.println("3");
    }
    if (results.value == BUTON4){
      Serial.println("4");
    }
    if (results.value == BUTON5){
      Serial.println("5");
    }
    if (results.value == BUTON6){
      Serial.println("6");
    }
    if (results.value == BUTON7){
      Serial.println("7");
    }
    if (results.value == BUTON8){
      Serial.println("8");
    }
    if (results.value == BUTON9){
      Serial.println("9");
    }
    if (results.value == STAR){
      Serial.println("STAR");
    }
    if (results.value == BUTON0){
      Serial.println("0");
    }
    if (results.value == HASH){
      Serial.println("HASH");
    }
    irrecv.resume();
  }
}
2

Instead of all those IF's, use a switch statement instead:

void loop() {
  if (irrecv.decode(&results)) {
    switch(results.value) {
      case (OK): Serial.println("OK"); break;
      case (STAR): Serial.println("STAR"); break;
      case (HASH): Serial.println("HASH"); break;
      case (UP): Serial.println("UP"); break;
      case (DOWN): Serial.println("DOWN"); break;
      case (LEFT): Serial.println("LEFT"); break;
      case (RIGHT): Serial.println("RIGHT"); break;
      case (BUTON1): Serial.println("BUTON1"); break;
      case (BUTON2): Serial.println("BUTON2"); break;
      case (BUTON3): Serial.println("BUTON3"); break;
      case (BUTON4): Serial.println("BUTON4"); break;
      case (BUTON5): Serial.println("BUTON5"); break;
      case (BUTON6): Serial.println("BUTON6"); break;
      case (BUTON7): Serial.println("BUTON7"); break;
      case (BUTON8): Serial.println("BUTON8"); break;
      case (BUTON9): Serial.println("BUTON9"); break;
      case (BUTON0): Serial.println("BUTON0"); break;
      default:
        //The default block is executed if there is no matching "case"
        Serial.print("Unknown: ");
        Serial.println(results.value, HEX);
        break;
    }
    irrecv.resume();
  }
}

Doing it this way will catch all button presses and make it easier to debug the problem.

3

Okay so doing this helped me get the unknown values but mostly they are all different! I would assign more than one value to BUTTON1 but as it is nearly always random, that looks impossible...

How do people accomplish this perfectly?

4

Sounds like the library is not compatible with the remote, the value for a single button should not change and become a random value.

5

70% of the time, it works accurately but the rest is random values. I strongly believe the library is compatible as the remote and the receiver is very commonly used and sold.

6

Try to press BUTTON1 multiple times, and check if there is a pattern in the output. If the code send and the code received does not match in size, this could cause a "rotary" value, example sequence: BUTTON1 random random random random BUTTON1 and so on..

7

Can it be happening because I am using an Arduino Mega 2560?