Millis() code needs improvement

Projects Programming
1

I am trying to make a lasergamegun and got stuck on this part of code. It has to light up an irLed and a yellowLed(in the code as flashLed) for a amount of time(1000 miliseconds is just for testing), I am using millis() because in the meanwhile it has to check if it has been hit. When I press the button the leds turn on but turn of when the millis-clock has reached a number in the table of 1000, but I need to turn it of after 1000 miliseconds. Can you see what's wrong with the code?

Test.ino (721 Bytes)

2

You have to set 'previousMillis' when you want the timer to start.

  if (triggerState != lastTriggerState) {
    if (triggerState == HIGH) {
      digitalWrite(flashLed, HIGH);
      digitalWrite(irLed, HIGH);
      previousMillis = currentMillis;
    }
  }

  if (currentMillis - previousMillis >= interval) {
    digitalWrite(flashLed, LOW);
    digitalWrite(irLed, LOW);
  }
3

Can you see what's wrong with the code?

For one thing, it is attached even though it is small enough to have been posted in a code box, like this:

int triggerPin=2;
int flashLed=3;
int irLed=5;
unsigned long previousMillis=0;
int triggerState=0;
int lastTriggerState=0;
const long interval=1000;

void setup(){
  Serial.begin(9600);
  pinMode(flashLed,OUTPUT);
  pinMode(irLed,OUTPUT);
  pinMode(triggerPin,INPUT);
}
void loop(){
  unsigned long currentMillis=millis();
  triggerState=digitalRead(triggerPin);
  if(triggerState!=lastTriggerState){
    if(triggerState==HIGH){
      digitalWrite(flashLed,HIGH);
      digitalWrite(irLed,HIGH);
    }
  }
  if(currentMillis-previousMillis>=interval){
    digitalWrite(flashLed,LOW);
    digitalWrite(irLed,LOW);
    previousMillis=currentMillis;
  }
  Serial.println(currentMillis);
  lastTriggerState=triggerState;
}

 if(triggerState!=lastTriggerState){
    if(triggerState==HIGH){
      digitalWrite(flashLed,HIGH);
      digitalWrite(irLed,HIGH);
    }
  }

Isn't the time that you turned the pins on the event time of interest, not the time loop() started?

johnwasser posted before I did, but his event time variable names make no sense now. Do as he suggests, but use better names. There is NOTHING magic about millis in the name, so dump it if it makes it easier to understand the code. now and pinOneTime, perhaps.

4

Thanks for your answers, the code is all working now. I'll try to put the code in like told next time
Greetings NiekS