Program Problem When Adding a for loop

Projects Programming
1

I'm working on a program to control two stepper motors using millis instead of delay to control the speed of the motors. As soon as the "for(int w = 0; w<=4; ++w)" statement was added right after the void loop(), the speed of the motors decreased significantly. The statement "const long interval = 300;" is used to control the speed of the motors. Changing the 300 value no longer will change the speed of the motors with the for statement added. Any help would be appreciated.

// constants won't change. Used here to set a pin number :
const int motor1 = 5; // the number of the step pin
const int motor2 = 8; // the number of the step pin

// Variables will change :
int motor1State = LOW; // Set the initial state
int motor2State = LOW; // Set the initial state

// Generally, you should use "unsigned long" for variables that hold time
// The value will quickly become too large for an int to store
unsigned long previousMillis = 0; // will store last time Motor states was updated

// constants won't change :
const long interval = 300; // interval controls the speed of the motors

void setup() {

// set the digital pin as output:
pinMode(motor1, OUTPUT);
pinMode(motor2, OUTPUT);
int previousMillis = 0;

//Serial.begin(BAUD);

//Motor 1
pinMode(6,OUTPUT); // Enable
// pinMode(5,OUTPUT); // Step
pinMode(12,OUTPUT); // Dir (pin 4 was damaged - switched to 12)
digitalWrite(6,LOW); // Set Enable low

//Motor 2
pinMode(10,OUTPUT); // Enable
digitalWrite(10,LOW); // Set Enable low
pinMode(9,OUTPUT); // Dir Motor 2
//pinMode(8,OUTPUT); // Step Motor 2
//int y = 0;
//Motor1
digitalWrite(12, HIGH); //Direction
//Motor2
digitalWrite(9, HIGH);// Direction
}

void loop() {
for(int w = 0; w<=4; ++w)
{
unsigned long currentMillis = millis();
long previousMillis;

for(int x = 0; x < 3200; x++) // Loop 3200 times
{
if (currentMillis - previousMillis >= interval)
{
previousMillis = currentMillis; // save the last time you blinked the LED

if (motor1State == LOW && motor2State==LOW) // if the LED is off turn it on and vice-versa:
{
motor1State = HIGH;
motor2State = HIGH;
}
else
{
motor1State = LOW;
motor2State = LOW;
}
digitalWrite(motor1, motor1State);
digitalWrite(motor2, motor2State);
} //end of " if (motor1State == LOW && motor2State==LOW) // if the LED is off turn it on and vice-versa:"

}//end of "if (currentMillis - previousMillis >= interval)"

} //end of "for(int x = 0; x < 3200; x++) // Loop 3200 times"

}

Motor1_withoutdelayJan24.ino (2.42 KB)

3

Yeah, you had some nesting there that really wasn't necessary. Is this better?

// constants won't change. Used here to set a pin number :
const int pinMtr1Step = 5;      // the number of the step pin
const int pinMtr2Step = 8;       // the number of the step pin

const int pinMtr1En = 6;
const int pinMtr1Dir = 12;
const int pinMtr2En = 10;
const int pinMtr2Dir = 9;

// Variables will change :
int motor1State = LOW;             // Set the initial state
int motor2State = LOW;             // Set the initial state

// Generally, you should use "unsigned long" for variables that hold time
// The value will quickly become too large for an int to store
unsigned long previousMillis;        // will store last time Motor states was updated

// constants won't change :
const long interval = 300;           // interval controls the speed of the motors

void setup() 
{  
    // set the digital pin as output:
    pinMode( pinMtr1Step, OUTPUT );
    pinMode( pinMtr2Step, OUTPUT );
    previousMillis = 0;

   //Serial.begin(BAUD);

    //Motor 1
    pinMode( pinMtr1En,OUTPUT ); // Enable
    pinMode( pinMtr1Dir,OUTPUT ); // Dir (pin 4 was damaged - switched to 12)
    digitalWrite( pinMtr1Dir, HIGH ); //Direction
    digitalWrite( pinMtr1En,LOW ); // Set Enable low

    //Motor 2
    pinMode( pinMtr2En,OUTPUT ); // Enable
    pinMode( pinMtr2Dir,OUTPUT ); // Dir  Motor  2
    digitalWrite( pinMtr2Dir, HIGH );// Direction
    digitalWrite( pinMtr2En,LOW ); // Set Enable low

}//setup

void loop() 
{
    unsigned long 
        currentMillis = millis();
   
    if( (currentMillis - previousMillis) >= interval ) 
    {
        previousMillis = currentMillis;  // save the last time you blinked the LED
        motor1State = (motor1State==LOW)?HIGH:LOW;
        motor2State = (motor2State==LOW)?HIGH:LOW;
                
        digitalWrite( pinMtr1Step, motor1State );
        digitalWrite( pinMtr2Step, motor2State );
        
    }//if

}//loop
4

I've been working on a program to control two stepper motors using micros instead of delay and have a problem I can't solve. The program will run the stepper motors but as soon as I add to the program to run the motors forward and reverse, all that happens is the motors run in reverse. I've tried this same programming using the example of Blink Without Delay by modifying the program to blind slow than fast. All it does is blink slow. What am I missing?

Chuck

*/

// constants won't change. Used here to set a pin number :
const int ledPin = 13; // the number of the LED pin

// Variables will change :
int ledState = LOW; // ledState used to set the LED

// Generally, you should use "unsigned long" for variables that hold time
// The value will quickly become too large for an int to store
unsigned long previousMillis = 0; // will store last time LED was updated

// constants won't change :
const long interval = 1000; // interval at which to blink (milliseconds)
const long intervalFaster = 500;
void setup() {
// set the digital pin as output:
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {

unsigned long currentMillis = millis();
for(int x = 0; x<=4; x++)
{
if (currentMillis - previousMillis >= interval) {
// save the last time you blinked the LED
previousMillis = currentMillis;

// if the LED is off turn it on and vice-versa:
if (ledState == LOW) {
ledState = HIGH;
} else {
ledState = LOW;
}

// set the LED with the ledState of the variable:
digitalWrite(ledPin, ledState);
}
}

//Blink Faster
for(int x = 0; x<=4; x++)
{
if (currentMillis - previousMillis >= intervalFaster) {
// save the last time you blinked the LED
previousMillis = currentMillis;

// if the LED is off turn it on and vice-versa:
if (ledState == LOW) {
ledState = HIGH;
} else {
ledState = LOW;
}

// set the LED with the ledState of the variable:
digitalWrite(ledPin, ledState);
}
}
}

BlinkWithoutDelayFastAndSlow.ino (2.18 KB)

5

Print the index of the for loop, in the body. It will become blindingly obvious what the problem is.

6

Thanks for the responses. First I have to apologize, the file I attached was the wrong one, it was for the stepper motors not the Blink Without Delay. I've attached the correct file. The "for(x = 0; x < 3200*r; x++) // Loop 3200 times" is vital to running the stepper motor. The timed LOW HIGH makes the shaft rotate. Please look at the BlinkWithoutDelayFastAndSlow.ino file, because if I get that working, it will help to get the stepper motor programming to work, because it duplicates the result.
Chuck

BlinkWithoutDelayFastAndSlow.ino (2.18 KB)

8

Delta_G,

I'm sequencing two events in either program. The stepper motor program is supposed to rotate the stepper motor one revolution. The " for(int x = 0; x < 3200; x++) " loop makes the shaft rotate one revolution. When the one revolution is completed then the next sequence is suppose to happen, ie the shaft rotates in the opposite direction. Similarly, the blink program is suppose to blink the light at one rate, then blink the second light at a different rate.

Chuck

10

Delta_G

I'm some what of a beginner at this programming and appreciate your guidance, but I'm having a problem putting together the program. Learning this mythology is important to what I'm trying to accomplish. I've put together a program that runs the robot in a square, however it uses the delay function. Would put together a program that I can learn from? It would be much appreciated.

Chuck