Hello,
I am starting a project where I will use an Arduino to control 2 electrical stimulation devices. I am making a GUI that will allow me to decide how many repetitions are sent, the on time, and the off time, and eventually more comprehensive parameters
I am using two LEDs right now to make the framework. I made a simple GUI with visual basic, that will send a string to the arduino via the Serial port
When I hit "Start", the following formatted string is sent
Aaabcxxyz
A = start signifier
aa = reps of led 1
b = on time led 1
c = off time led 1
xx, y z, same but for LED 2
I want to make it so when I hit "send" on the GUI, the program will run the blinks for the set amount of time. I used a flag to capture the start time in millis, and then have the program continue until the current time is > the start time + duration (based on aa,b,c). I can get this to work. So if I say LED 1, blink 10 times 1on/2off, and LED 2 blink 3 times, 3 on/3off, i get both doing their respective blinking and cessation simultaneously.
I then have a reset button on the GUI, that sends a string "s" that should tell the arduino to turn off the LEDS, and to reset the flag to 0, so i could run it again if I want. However, this is not working.
// ----CONSTANTS (won't change)
// the pin numbers for the LEDs
const int led_A_Pin = 6;
const int led_B_Pin = 9;
// ----- STRINGS
String data; //String from VB
char d1;
//set sub strings for RED
String a_t;
String a_on;
String a_off;
//set sub strings for Blue
String b_t;
String b_on;
String b_off;
//------- VARIABLES (will change)
// used to record whether the LEDs are on or off
byte led_A_State = LOW; // LOW = off
byte led_B_State = LOW;
int a_duration;
int a_reps;
int a_ontime;
int a_offtime;
int b_duration;
int b_reps;
int b_ontime;
int b_offtime;
int a_LED_ON = 0;
int a_LED_OFF = 0;
int b_LED_ON = 0;
int b_LED_OFF = 0;
// Timing variables
unsigned long currentMillis = 0; // stores the value of millis() in each iteration of loop()
unsigned long previousLed_A_Millis = 0;
unsigned long previousLed_B_Millis = 0;
int pass = 0;
int Start_Time;
//========
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
pinMode(led_A_Pin, OUTPUT);
pinMode(led_B_Pin, OUTPUT);
digitalWrite(led_A_Pin, LOW);
digitalWrite(led_B_Pin, LOW);
}
//=======
void loop() {
if (Serial.available()) {
data = Serial.readString();
d1 = data.charAt(0);
//pull data out of GUI
a_t = data.substring(1, 3); // repetitions
a_on = data.substring(3, 4); // on time
a_off = data.substring(4, 5); // off time
b_t = data.substring(5, 7);
b_on = data.substring(7, 8);
b_off = data.substring(8,9);
//covert strings to integers
a_ontime = a_on.toInt(); // on time
a_offtime = a_off.toInt(); // off time
a_reps = a_t.toInt(); // repetitions
a_LED_ON = a_ontime * 1000; //covert times to ms
a_LED_OFF = a_offtime * 1000;
b_ontime = b_on.toInt();
b_offtime = b_off.toInt();
b_reps = b_t.toInt();
b_LED_ON = b_ontime * 1000;
b_LED_OFF = b_offtime * 1000;
//set times (total repetitions times total on/off cycle)
a_duration = a_reps * ((a_LED_ON) + (a_LED_OFF));
b_duration = b_reps * ((b_LED_ON) + (b_LED_OFF));
}
switch (d1){
// if first character of String is an A, run program
case 'A':
if (pass == 0) {
Start_Time = millis();
pass++;
}
currentMillis = millis();
// use currentMillis, PreviousMillis and intervals to change LedStates
updateLed_A_State();
updateLed_B_State();
// Change the states of the LED if the passed time is less than duration
// Turn LEDs off if time passed has surpassed duration
if (currentMillis < (Start_Time + a_duration)) {
digitalWrite(led_A_Pin, led_A_State);
}
else {
digitalWrite(led_A_Pin, LOW);
}
if (currentMillis < (Start_Time + b_duration)) {
digitalWrite(led_B_Pin, led_B_State);
}
else {
digitalWrite(led_B_Pin, LOW) ;
}
break;
// if first character is a s, turn LEDs off and reset flag pass
case 's':
digitalWrite(led_A_Pin, LOW);
digitalWrite(led_B_Pin, LOW);
pass = 0;
break;
}
}
//========
void updateLed_A_State() {
if (led_A_State == LOW) {
if (currentMillis - previousLed_A_Millis >= a_LED_OFF) {
led_A_State = HIGH;
previousLed_A_Millis += a_LED_OFF;
}
}
else {
if (currentMillis - previousLed_A_Millis >= a_LED_ON) {
led_A_State = LOW;
previousLed_A_Millis += a_LED_ON;
}
}
}
//=======
void updateLed_B_State() {
if (led_B_State == LOW) {
if (currentMillis - previousLed_B_Millis >= b_LED_OFF) {
led_B_State = HIGH;
previousLed_B_Millis += b_LED_OFF;
}
}
else {
if (currentMillis - previousLed_B_Millis >= b_LED_ON) {
led_B_State = LOW;
previousLed_B_Millis += b_LED_ON;
}
}
}
//=====END
Thank you
Tom
