Millis + For Loop Confusion

Projects Programming
1

Hello,

I am working on a program where I cannot stop the processor, thus I have to use millis. In one scenario, I want an output to flash on/off x amount of times. I tried putting a for loop around the on/off outputs but it seems to continuously reset the millis.

Excuse the name in my codes, it's for pneumatic props.

If button pressed
turn on output for x seconds
turn off output for x seconds
repeat two more times

//2. HORSE ONE PNEUMATIC POP UP
  if(digitalRead(horseOneIn) == LOW && horseOneReady){ //if target is hit 
    Serial.print("3");
    horseOneOn = true;
    horseOneReady = false;
    horseOnMillis = currentMillis;
  }

  for(int i = 0; i < 4; i++){
    if(horseOneOn){
      digitalWrite(horseOneOut, HIGH);
      Serial.print("*4-");
      if((currentMillis - horseOnMillis) >= horseOnDelay){
        Serial.print("you made it");
        horseOneOn = false;
        digitalWrite(horseOneOut, LOW);
        horseOneOff = true;
      }
    }

    if(horseOneOff){
      horseOneOff = currentMillis;
      Serial.print("horseOFF");
      if((currentMillis - horseOneOff) >= horseOffDelay){
        Serial.print("DONEONDONEONDONE*#*(@(!(#DONEONEONEON");
        horseOneReady = true;
      }
      
    }
  }
2

Always post ALL the code.

Unless currentMillis is updated somewhere, the posted code won't work as intended.

I recommend this tutorial: https://www.baldengineer.com/blink-without-delay-explained.html

3

Think it through…
How will horseOneOff ever trigger the true clause ?

4

horseOneOff appears to be defined as a bool - it is assigned the value true. Not sure how this arithmetic would evaluate even if the compiler allows it. You can't subtract true/false from currentMillis() which is an unsigned long value. Did you perhaps mean:

if((currentMillis - horseOffMillis) >= horseOffDelay){

assuming a variable called horseOffMillis is actually defined? (would need to see rest of code)

(beat to it by lastchancename I see!)

5

Ahh, thank you all. I noticed a big syntax error with horseOneOff.

I am going to grind at it a bit more, fix the obvious errors, and update with full code.

6

OKAY, SO!!!!!

I was hyperfocus on using a For Loop when all I really needed was it to repeat only X amount of times. I used the Count function and got it to work! See full code below. Thanks for the help!

#include <AltSoftSerial.h>
#include <SPI.h>
#include <wavTrigger.h>
#include <Controllino.h> //


//INPUTSSSSS
const int clownOneIn = CONTROLLINO_A0;
const int horseOneIn = CONTROLLINO_A1;
const int horseTwoIn = CONTROLLINO_A2;
const int clownCarIn = CONTROLLINO_A3;
const int cannonIn = CONTROLLINO_A4;
const int lionCageOneIn = CONTROLLINO_A5;
const int lionCageTwoIn = CONTROLLINO_A6;
const int beardedOneIn = CONTROLLINO_A7;
const int beardedTwoIn = CONTROLLINO_A8;
const int clownTwoIn = CONTROLLINO_A9;
const int deathMonkeyIn = CONTROLLINO_IN0;



//OUTPUTSSS
const int clownOneOut = CONTROLLINO_D0; //LED Eyes
const int horseOneOut = CONTROLLINO_D1;
const int horseTwoOut = CONTROLLINO_D2;
const int clownCarOut = CONTROLLINO_D3;
const int cannonOut = CONTROLLINO_D4;
const int lionCageOneOut = CONTROLLINO_D5;
const int lionCageTwoOut = CONTROLLINO_D6;
const int beardedOneOut = CONTROLLINO_D7;
const int beardedTwoOut = CONTROLLINO_D8;
const int clownTwoOut = CONTROLLINO_D9;
const int deathMonkeyOut = CONTROLLINO_D10;

//TIMERSSSS
//CLOWN HEAD ONE
unsigned long clownMillis = 0;
unsigned long eyesDelay = 3000;
bool clownReady = false;

//HORSE ONE
unsigned long horseOneMillis = 0;
unsigned long horseTime = 0;
bool horseOneOn = false;
boolean horseOutState = 0;
int horseOneCount = 0;



void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);

  //INPUTSSSS
  pinMode(clownOneIn, INPUT);
  pinMode(horseOneIn, INPUT);
  pinMode(horseTwoIn, INPUT);
  pinMode(clownCarIn, INPUT);
  pinMode(cannonIn, INPUT);
  pinMode(lionCageOneIn, INPUT);
  pinMode(lionCageTwoIn, INPUT);
  pinMode(beardedOneIn, INPUT);
  pinMode(beardedTwoIn, INPUT);
  pinMode(clownTwoIn, INPUT);
  pinMode(deathMonkeyIn, INPUT);

  //OUTPUTSSSS
  pinMode(clownOneOut, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(horseOneOut, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(horseTwoOut, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(clownCarOut, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(cannonOut, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(lionCageOneOut, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(lionCageTwoOut, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(beardedOneOut, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(beardedTwoOut, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(clownTwoOut, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(deathMonkeyOut, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {

  unsigned long currentMillis = millis();


  //1. CENTERPIECE CLOWN HEAD
  if ((digitalRead(clownOneIn)) == LOW) {
    clownMillis = currentMillis;
    digitalWrite(clownOneOut, HIGH); //turn on LED eyes
    clownReady = true;
    Serial.print("1");
  }

  if (clownReady) {
    if ((currentMillis - clownMillis) >= eyesDelay) {
      clownReady = false;
      digitalWrite(clownOneOut, LOW);
      Serial.print("2");
    }
  }


  //2. HORSE ONE PNEUMATIC POP UP

  if (digitalRead(horseOneIn) == LOW) {
    delay(50);
    horseOneCount = 0;
    horseOneOn = true;
  }

  if (horseOneOn) {

    if (currentMillis - horseOneMillis >= 300) {

      if (horseOneCount < 4) {
        horseOneMillis = currentMillis;
        horseOutState = !horseOutState;
        Serial.print("  State:");
        Serial.print(horseOutState);
        digitalWrite(horseOneOut, horseOutState);
        horseOneCount++;
        Serial.print("  Count");
        Serial.print(horseOneCount);
      }

      else if (horseOneCount >= 4) {
        digitalWrite(horseOneOut, LOW);
        horseOutState = 0;
        horseOneCount = 0;
        horseOneOn = false;
        horseOneMillis = 0;
        Serial.println("  Count Zero  ");
      }

    }
  }

}