Slowing simultaneous servos

Projects Programming
1

I am trying to make a laser toy for my cat. i have everything working except that the servos are running too fast. I know the if() statement to slow them down however i am using random number and having both servos move simultaneously. my code i have so far is...

#include <Servo.h>

Servo vert;
Servo hori; // create servo object to control a servo
int pos = 0; // variable to store the servo position
int laser = A1;

void setup() {
hori.attach(9);
vert.attach(11); // attaches the servo on pin 9 to the servo object
pinMode(laser,OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
digitalWrite(laser,HIGH);
int timeBetweenShots = random(50,200);
int vertStart = random(45,90);
int vertEnd = random(45,90);
int horiStart = random(35,145);
int horiEnd = random(30,145);
int vertChange = (vertEnd - vertStart) / 1; //how much to move vertical axis by each shot
int horiChange = (horiEnd - horiStart) / 1;
vert.write(vertStart);//let it get to start position first, wait a little
hori.write(horiStart);
delay(300);
vert.write(vertStart);
hori.write(horiStart);
vertStart += vertChange;//increment the vert value for next time
horiStart += horiChange;
}

I may have extra unneeded programming in here but this is due to using another code and tweeking it. Please halp me code this to make it run slower than it is but still move the servos simultaneously and randomly.
thanks
justin

2

Something along these lines:

int servo_start = 0; // servo start pos in degs
int servo_end = 0; // servo end pos in degs
int steps = 10; // how many steps to break the sweep into.

for( int pos = servo_start; pos < servo_end; pos += step )
{
	vert.write( pos );
	// delay must be long enough to complete the sweep 
	delay(50);				// don't recommend using a delay, but it'll get you on the right track to start with
}

Could get jittery unless you change the steps to match the angle change, for example using a fixed step.

Edit: On second thoughts, Id dispense with the for-loop all together. Write the steps for each servo after a set time in the loop().

3

tammytam,
I could do this but when i do it only moves one servo at a time. also what you have written here is not going to move at all because its its going to go to angle 0 and stay there.
thanks for the reply however,
justin

4

It was an example Bogart, If you were to use it, I would expect you to replace those values with your start and end ranges from your random function.

It was food for thought, break your arcs into chunks and perform them separately over time.

5

You might check the below discussion.

http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=61586.0