opening multiple serial pathways using softserial

Projects Programming
1

I'm trying to have the following configuration Arduino uno + Easy VR ( on a shield ) + motomama Shield ( for DC motor and Xbee ) : mounted in the same order.

The problem that I'm facing is :

The existing Rx/Tx pins of arduino are used for communication between Arduino and Easy VR.
Hence I', forced to have a new serial connection , so that I can send info ( I'm not trying to receive ) over Xbee in the top most shield.

I'm trying to use software serial to do it. I'm modyfying the code generated by easyVR commander:
Whenever I putin the statement to open one more software serial connection It doesn't seem to work. This is my code :
Anyhelp would be greatly appreciated.

#if defined(ARDUINO) && ARDUINO >= 100
  #include "Arduino.h"
  #include "SoftwareSerial.h"
  SoftwareSerial port(12,13);
  SoftwareSerial mySerialtx(4,5);
#else // Arduino 0022 - use modified NewSoftSerial
  #include "WProgram.h"
  #include "NewSoftSerial.h"
  NewSoftSerial port(12,13); 
  NewSoftSerial mySerialtx(4,5);
#endif

//SoftwareSerial mySerial(2, 3);  // for x bee.

#include "EasyVR.h"
EasyVR easyvr(port);

//Groups and Commands
enum Groups
{
  GROUP_0  = 0,
  GROUP_1  = 1,
};

enum Group0 
{
  G0_POOPOO = 0,
};

enum Group1 
{
  G1_SING = 0,
  G1_STOP = 1,
  G1_JOY = 2,
  G1_DANCE = 3,
  G1_COME = 4,
  G1_GO = 5,
  G1_LEFT = 6,
  G1_RIGHT = 7,
  G1_TURN = 8,
  G1_WAGGLE = 9,
};


EasyVRBridge bridge;

int8_t group, idx;
//int sensorPin = A2; // Pin to read IR sensor input

void setup()
{
  // Setting pin modes 
  // Motor 1
  pinMode(8,OUTPUT);  //line 1
  pinMode(9,OUTPUT);  //line 2
  pinMode(10,OUTPUT); //EnA
  // Motor 2
  pinMode(11,OUTPUT);  //line 1
  pinMode(6,OUTPUT);  //line 2
  pinMode(7,OUTPUT); //EnA
  
  // bridge mode?
  if (bridge.check())
  {
    cli();
    bridge.loop(0, 1, 12, 13);
  }
  // run normally
  Serial.begin(9600);
  port.begin(9600);
  mySerialtx.begin(9600);  // THE CODE HANGS HERE >>>)

  
  if (!easyvr.detect())
  {
    Serial.println("EasyVR not detected!");
    for (;;);
  }


  easyvr.setPinOutput(EasyVR::IO1, LOW);
  Serial.println("EasyVR detected!");
  easyvr.setTimeout(5);
  easyvr.setLanguage(0);

  group = EasyVR::TRIGGER; //<-- start group (customize)
  

}

void action();

void loop()
{
    mySerialtx.println('H'); //xbee
    delay(500);
    mySerialtx.println('L'); //xbee
    int i = 0;
   
  easyvr.setPinOutput(EasyVR::IO1, HIGH); // LED on (listening)

  Serial.print("Say a command in Group ");
  Serial.println(group);
  easyvr.recognizeCommand(group);

  //Serial.println(analogRead(sensorPin));
  

  do
  {
    // Serial.println(analogRead(sensorPin));// can do some processing while waiting for a spoken command
  }
  while (!(i=easyvr.hasFinished()));
  
  easyvr.setPinOutput(EasyVR::IO1, LOW); // LED off

  idx = easyvr.getWord();
  if (idx >= 0)
  {
    // built-in trigger (ROBOT)
    // group = GROUP_X; <-- jump to another group X
    Serial.print("idx ");
    Serial.println(idx);
    return;
  }
  idx = easyvr.getCommand();
  if (idx >= 0)
  {
    // print debug message
    uint8_t train = 0;
    char name[32];
    Serial.print("Command: ");
    Serial.print(idx);
    if (easyvr.dumpCommand(group, idx, name, train))
    {
      Serial.print(" = ");
      Serial.println(name);
    }
    else
      Serial.println();
    easyvr.playSound(0, EasyVR::VOL_FULL);
    // perform some action
    action();
  }
  else // errors or timeout
  {
    if (easyvr.isTimeout())
      Serial.println("Timed out, try again...");
    int16_t err = easyvr.getError();
    if (err >= 0)
    {
      Serial.print("Error ");
      Serial.println(err, HEX);
    }
  }
}

void action()
{
    switch (group)
    {
    case GROUP_0:
      switch (idx)
      {
      case G0_POOPOO:
        // write your action code here
         group = GROUP_1; //<-- or jump to another group X for composite commands
        break;
      }
      break;
    case GROUP_1:
      switch (idx)
      {
      case G1_SING:
        // write your action code here
        // group = GROUP_X; <-- or jump to another group X for composite commands
        break;
      case G1_STOP:

        
        digitalWrite(10,LOW);
        digitalWrite(8,HIGH);
        digitalWrite(9,LOW);
        
        digitalWrite(11,LOW);
        digitalWrite(6,LOW);
        digitalWrite(7,HIGH);
        // write your action code here
        // group = GROUP_X; <-- or jump to another group X for composite commands
        break;
      case G1_JOY:
        // write your action code here
        // group = GROUP_X; <-- or jump to another group X for composite commands
        break;
      case G1_DANCE:
        // write your action code here
        // group = GROUP_X; <-- or jump to another group X for composite commands
        break;
      case G1_COME:
        // write your action code here
        // group = GROUP_X; <-- or jump to another group X for composite commands
        break;
      case G1_GO:

        digitalWrite(10,HIGH);
        digitalWrite(8,HIGH);
        digitalWrite(9,LOW);
        
        digitalWrite(11,HIGH);
        digitalWrite(6,HIGH);
        digitalWrite(7,LOW);
        
        // write your action code here
        // group = GROUP_X; <-- or jump to another group X for composite commands
        break;
      case G1_LEFT:
        // write your action code here
        // group = GROUP_X; <-- or jump to another group X for composite commands
        break;
      case G1_RIGHT:
        // write your action code here
        // group = GROUP_X; <-- or jump to another group X for composite commands
        break;
      case G1_TURN:
        // write your action code here
        // group = GROUP_X; <-- or jump to another group X for composite commands
        break;
      case G1_WAGGLE:
        // write your action code here
        // group = GROUP_X; <-- or jump to another group X for composite commands
        break;
      }
      break;
    }
}

Moderator edit:
</mark> <mark>[code]</mark> <mark>

</mark> <mark>[/code]</mark> <mark>
tags added.

2

Please do not cross-post. (I've already removed the others)

3

I took a quick look and I'm not familiar with the hardware you're using, but what's this about?

// bridge mode?
  if (bridge.check())
  {
    cli(); 
    bridge.loop(0, 1, 12, 13);
  }
  // run normally
  Serial.begin(9600);
  port.begin(9600);
  mySerialtx.begin(9600);  // THE CODE HANGS HERE >>>)

The cli() instruction puts interrupts down, but I don't see an sei() to put them back up. Do you really need to disable interrupts? If so, maybe you want:

cli();
bridge.loop(0, 1, 12, 13);
sei();

You need to be very careful with code like this. What happens in between cli() and sei() needs to be extremely brief. Keel in mind lots of stuff can't happen, like receiving interrupt driven serial data, incrementing elapsed time, and so on. Leaving interrupts down (off) for too long will cause you grief.

4

Moderator : Sorry, In my eagerness to get an answer..had posted in multiple forums. I shall not do that again !!!.

-Thanks,
Aravind.

5

When you have multiple SoftwareSerial instances, only one can listen at a time. If both are for outgoing data, this is not a problem. If either is to receive data, you MUST make sure that the receiver instance is active when the non-receiver is finished sending.

Do you really have a mySerial attached to pins 4 and 5? If not, why are you using that name? Why does the name not match what the instance is for?

Of course, port is not a great name, either. It seems unlike that you have a boat dock attached to pins 12 and 13.