Program stops after awhile

Projects Programming
1

I'm controlling 2 one meter led strips, they are to show bandwidth usage. I have an Arduino Uno with the Ethernet shield. The program goes to a server with a txt file and reads the bandwidth it is formatted like this <up,down,>. What happens is after awhile the Arduino just stops. I'm not sure whats happening. My guess is the Arduino is running out of RAM. Here is my code.

#include <SPI.h>
#include <Ethernet.h>
#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>

#define PINUP 6
#define PINDOWN 5
#define NUMLED 60
#define WAIT 20
#define POTPIN 0
//#define DEBUG

//const float MAX_BAND = 1000; // In megabits i.e 1Gbit/s = 1000


Adafruit_NeoPixel stripUp = Adafruit_NeoPixel(NUMLED, PINUP, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);
Adafruit_NeoPixel stripDown = Adafruit_NeoPixel(NUMLED, PINDOWN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);


EthernetClient client;

String splitString(String s, char parser,int index);


int upLED = 0;
int downLED = 0;


void setup()
{

  byte mac[] = {
    0xDE, 0xAD, 0xBE, 0xEF, 0xFE, 0xED  };

#ifdef DEBUG
  Serial.begin(9600);
#endif

  stripUp.begin();
  stripDown.begin();
  stripUp.show(); // Initialize all pixels to 'off'
  stripDown.show(); // Initialize all pixels to 'off'
  stripUp.setBrightness((255 - map( analogRead(POTPIN), 0, 1024, 0, 255 ) ));
  stripDown.setBrightness((255 - map( analogRead(POTPIN), 0, 1024, 0, 255 ) ));



  if (Ethernet.begin(mac) == 0) 
  {
    error();
#ifdef DEBUG
    Serial.println("Failed to configure Ethernet using DHCP");
    // no point in carrying on, so do nothing forevermore:
    for(;;) ;
#endif
  }

  setLED();
  // Set the strip
  setStrip(upLED, stripUp, true);
  setStrip(downLED, stripDown, true );   
}



void loop()
{

  stripUp.setBrightness((255 - map( analogRead(POTPIN), 0, 1024, 0, 255 ) ));
  stripDown.setBrightness((255 - map( analogRead(POTPIN), 0, 1024, 0, 255 ) ));
  setStrip(upLED, stripUp, false);
  setStrip(downLED, stripDown, false);

  int upOldLED = upLED;
  int downOldLED = downLED;

#ifdef DEBUG
  if (Serial.available() > 0 )
  {
    upOldLED = upLED;
    downOldLED = downLED;

    upLED = percentOfStrip(Serial.parseInt());
    Serial.println(upLED);
    if (upOldLED != upLED)
    {
      if (upOldLED < upLED)
      {
        Serial.println("Should be higher");
        setStrip(upLED, stripUp, true);
      }
      else{
        Serial.println("Should be lower");
        turnOffStrip(stripUp, upOldLED, upLED);
      }
    }
  }
#endif

  setLED();
  if (upOldLED != upLED)
  {
    if (upOldLED < upLED)
    {
#ifdef DEBBUG
      Serial.println("Should be higher");
#endif
      setStrip(upLED, stripUp, true);
    }
    else{
#ifdef DEBBUG
      Serial.println("Should be lower");
#endif
      turnOffStrip(stripUp, upOldLED, upLED);
    }
  }   

  if (downOldLED != downLED)
  {
    if (downOldLED < downLED)
    {
#ifdef DEBBUG
      Serial.println("Should be higher");
      setStrip(downLED, stripDown, true);
#endif
    }
    else{
#ifdef DEBBUG
      Serial.println("Should be lower");
      turnOffStrip(stripDown, downOldLED, downLED);
#endif
    }
  }  

#ifdef DEBBUG
  Serial.println(upLED);
  Serial.println(downLED);
#endif

}


void setLED()
{
  String pageValue = connectAndRead(); //connect to the server and read the output
#ifdef DEBUG
  Serial.println(pageValue); //print out the findings.
#endif

  upLED = percentOfStrip(splitString(pageValue,',',0).toInt());
  downLED = percentOfStrip(splitString(pageValue,',',1).toInt());

#ifdef DEBUG
  Serial.println(upLED);
  Serial.println(downLED); 
#endif

}

void setStrip(int ledToLight, Adafruit_NeoPixel &strip, bool wait)
{
  int ledLit = 0;

  while (ledToLight > ledLit)
  {
    if (ledToLight > 0)
    {
      for(int i=0; i <= 9; i++)
      {
        strip.setPixelColor(i, strip.Color(0, 255, 0));
        strip.show();
        ledLit++;

        if (wait)
          delay(WAIT);

        if (ledToLight == ledLit)
          break;
      }
    }
    if (ledToLight > 10)
    {
      int red = 12;
      for(int i=10; i <= 29; i++)
      {
        strip.setPixelColor(i, strip.Color(red, 255, 0));
        red += 12;
        ledLit++;

        strip.show();

        if (wait)
          delay(WAIT);

        if (ledToLight == ledLit)
          break;
      }
    }
    if (ledToLight > 30)
    {
      for(int i=30; i <= 39; i++)
      {
        strip.setPixelColor(i, strip.Color(255, 255, 0));
        strip.show();
        ledLit++;

        if (wait)
          delay(WAIT);

        if (ledToLight == ledLit)
          break;
      }
    }
    if (ledToLight > 40)
    {
      int green = 255;
      for(int i=40; i <= 49; i++)
      {
        strip.setPixelColor(i, strip.Color(255, green, 0));
        green -= 25;
        strip.show();
        ledLit++;

        if (wait)
          delay(WAIT);

        if (ledToLight == ledLit)
          break;
      }
    }
    if (ledToLight > 50)
    {
      for(int i=50; i <= 59; i++)
      {
        strip.setPixelColor(i, strip.Color(255, 0, 0));
        strip.show();
        ledLit++;
        if (wait)
          delay(WAIT);
        if (ledToLight == ledLit)
          break;
      }
    }
  }

}

void turnOffStrip(Adafruit_NeoPixel &strip, int oldLit, int newLit)
{
  for(int i = oldLit; i > newLit; i--)
  {
    strip.setPixelColor(i, strip.Color(0, 0, 0));
    strip.show();
    delay(WAIT);
  }

}

void error ()
{
  stripUp.setBrightness(255);
  stripDown.setBrightness(255);
  stripUp.show(); 
  stripDown.show(); 

  for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++)
  {
    colorWipe(stripUp, stripUp.Color(255, 0, 0));
    colorWipe(stripDown, stripDown.Color(0, 0, 0));
    stripUp.show(); 
    stripDown.show(); 
    delay(5);
    colorWipe(stripUp, stripUp.Color(0, 0, 0));
    colorWipe(stripDown, stripDown.Color(255, 0, 0)); 
    stripUp.show(); 
    stripDown.show(); 
  }
  colorWipe(stripUp, stripUp.Color(255, 0, 0));
  colorWipe(stripDown, stripDown.Color(255, 0, 0)); 
  stripUp.show(); 
  stripDown.show(); 
}

void colorWipe(Adafruit_NeoPixel &strip, uint32_t c) 
{
  for(int i=0; i<strip.numPixels(); i++) {
    strip.setPixelColor(i, c);
    strip.show();
  }
}

int percentOfStrip(float band)
{
  return (band / 1000) * NUMLED;
}

String connectAndRead(){

  IPAddress server(158,91,5,101);

#ifdef DEBUG
  Serial.println("connecting...");
#endif
  if (client.connect(server, 80)) {
#ifdef DEBUG
    Serial.println("connected");
#endif
    client.print(F("GET "));
    client.println(F("/bandwidth.txt HTTP/1.0"));
    client.println();

    //Connected - Read the page
    return readPage(); //go and read the output

  }
  else{
    error();
    return "connection failed";

  }

}

String readPage(){

  char inString[15]; 
  boolean startRead = false; // is reading?
  int stringPos = 0;
  memset( &inString, 0, 15 ); //clear inString memory

  while(true){

    if (client.available()) {
      char c = client.read();

      if (c == '<' ) { //'<' is our begining character
        startRead = true; //Ready to start reading the part 
      }
      else if(startRead){

        if(c != '>'){ //'>' is our ending character
          inString[stringPos] = c;
          stringPos ++;
        }
        else{
          //got what we need here! We can disconnect now
          startRead = false;
          client.stop();
          client.flush();
#ifdef DEBUG
          Serial.println("disconnecting.");
#endif
          return inString;

        }
      }
    }
  }
}

String splitString(String s, char parser,int index){
  // string for incoming serial data
  // string index counter

  int parserCnt=0;
  int rFromIndex=0, rToIndex=-1;

  while(index>=parserCnt){
    rFromIndex = rToIndex+1;
    rToIndex = s.indexOf(parser,rFromIndex);

    if(index == parserCnt){
      if(rToIndex == 0 || rToIndex == -1){
        return '\0';
      }
      return s.substring(rFromIndex,rToIndex);
    }
    else{
      parserCnt++;
    }

  }
  return '\0';
}

I think it may have to do with how I pass the LED strip to other functions.

void colorWipe(Adafruit_NeoPixel &strip, uint32_t c)

Is that right? I'm trying to pass it as a reference that way I'm not creating new strips every time it runs that function. Any ideas?

2

What is the last thing displayed on the serial monitor? Is it "connecting...connected"?

3

Yes connecting... connected is the last thing that is displayed in the console.

4

That used to happen to my code too. It took a while to figure it out, but the server was stalling. That kind of thing happens. I use a timeout to break out of the "while(client.connected())" loop now. Without the timeout, it becomes an endless loop if the connection breaks (fails) or the server stalls.

This is my client code on the playground. It has a timeout in it. Look for the variable connectLoop.
http://playground.arduino.cc/Code/WebClient

5

It works mostly now, what happens is when it times out it doesn't connect again. I get connecting... connection failed in the console.

6

Are you still using your code, or the sketch from the playground? Mine will usually make the next connection after the server stall.

Is the server yours? If not, how often are you sending a request? Some servers are a bit fussy about multiple requests from the same ip too often.

7

I'm still using my code just updated with your fix. I'm using my server, it's running apache.

8

Are you certain you are not overflowing the inString array? There is nothing in your code to prevent it. Try adding this.

        if(c != '>' && stringPos < 14) { 
          inString[stringPos] = c;
          stringPos ++;
        }
9

Okay so I updated the code with the overflow fix. Now the program will last about an hour before it can't connect again.