Limit when using count++ function

Projects Programming
1

Hi all,

I've been using an Arduino to monitor an experiment and using the count++ function to count the number of cycles. I noticed that when the experiment reaches around 37,000 counts it stops increasing and starts decreasing back down to zero.

I need it to keep counting up and I don't see anything in the code that could be preventing that.

Do you guys know if there is an upper limit on counts when using count++ or if there is a better counting function?

Thanks,
Will

2

I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that the problem is with your code. Since you didn’t show us that code, that’s about all I can say.

3

Always post your code!

What datatype is count?

Are you sure it's 37000 not 32767? 32767 is the largest value that can be stored in an int datatype - if you increment it, it will wrap around to -32768. In this case, the solution is simple - use a larger datatype for count: A long goes up to ~2.1 billion. And if you're only ever intending to deal with positive numbers, you can declare it unsigned - unsigned int goes to 65535, unsigned long to 4.2 billion)

4 
#include "HX711.h"

const int loadPin = 2;
const float minLoad = 30;
int valveOne = 13;
int valveTwo = 8;
int count = 0;

HX711 scale(A3, A2);

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(38400);
  Serial.println("Load and Counter Values");

  scale.set_scale(-2250.f); 
  scale.tare();  

  Serial.println("Readings:");
  pinMode(valveOne, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(valveTwo, OUTPUT);
  delay(2000);
}

void loop() {
  digitalWrite(valveTwo, HIGH); 
  delay(500);
  scale.tare();
  digitalWrite(valveTwo, LOW); 
  digitalWrite(valveOne, HIGH); 
  delay(750); 
  int loadVal = digitalRead(loadPin);
  Serial.print("Reading: ");
  Serial.print(scale.get_units(1), 3); 
  Serial.print(" lbF");
  Serial.print("   Cycle ");
  Serial.println(count);
  delay(10);
  if (scale.get_units(1) < 450) delay(259200000);
  count++;
  digitalWrite(valveOne, LOW);

}

Sorry! Here is the code. The data base thing sounds like it might be correct. It could be that 32,000 number. I forgot to write down the exact number.

5

What, EXACTLY, are you counting? If you can't answer that, why are you counting anything?

6

We're counting cycles. So every time the program runs.

7

will2019:
We're counting cycles. So every time the program runs.

Why? Of what possible use is the number of times that loop() iterated?