Hello All,
I’m working on a project that requires a user to provide a series of text inputs to be stored in array for processing once all the inputs have been collected. Basically I am trying to get the user to input a single letter followed by a number up to 99. Once all the inputs are collected the code would need to take each letter and its associated numeric value and execute a command based on the letter chosen for the time dictated by the numeric value. I have been able to do this with python 3 as per the following code:
#!/usr/bin/env python3
#import packages
import explorerhat as es
from time import sleep
#create list to hold instructions and their execuion time in seconds
test_list = []
#collects user input and checks for valid entries
def user_input():
d = 0
while d < 1:
d = 0
x = input("Please enter a command: ")
if x == "w":
return x
d = d + 1
elif x == "s":
return x
d = d + 1
elif x == "a":
return x
d = d + 1
elif x =="d":
return x
d = d + 1
else:
print("Only use a, b, c or d please!!")
d = 0
#collects the length of time the user wants the instruction to run for in seconds
def user_time():
e = 0
while e < 1:
e = 0
z = int(input("Please enter a value between 1 and 60: "))
if z < 1:
print("Value too low!! Please enter a new value.")
elif z > 60:
print("Value too high!! Please enter a new value.")
else:
e = e + 1
return z
#executes the list in FIFO order
def actions_tbc():
while len(test_list)>0:
a, b = test_list.pop(0)
if a == "a":
es.light.green.on()
sleep(b)
es.light.green.off()
elif a == "b":
es.light.red.on()
sleep(b)
es.light.red.off()
elif a == "c":
es.light.blue.on()
sleep(b)
es.light.blue.off()
elif a =="d":
es.light.yellow.on()
sleep(b)
es.light.yellow.off()
#flashy ending
def flashy_ending():
print("Program complete. Goodbye!")
for i in range(5):
es.light.on()
sleep(0.2)
es.light.off()
sleep(0.2)
exit()
#executes functions to get user input and update the list
for i in range(4):
x = user_input()
z = user_time()
test_list.append([x, z])
#displays the instructions on screen
print(test_list)
#action time
actions_tbc()
#flashy ending
if len(test_list) == 0:
flashy_ending()
#program is complete
The trouble I am having is replicating this functionality in Arduino. So far I have tried modifying the examples in the serial input tutorial but I cannot get any to work the way I want. My current code so far is:
const byte numIn = 8;
char inputData[numIn];
int dat = 0;
void setup() {
// put your setup code here, to run once:
Serial.begin(9600);
Serial.println("Arduino input test, please enter 8 characters:");
}
void loop() {
// put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
if (Serial.available() > 0){
for (int i = 0; i <= 7; i++) {
if (i == 8) {
Serial.println(inputData);
break;
}
else {
Serial.print("Value "); Serial.print(i); Serial.println(": ");
inputData[dat] = Serial.read();
dat++;
}
}
}
However when this code is run and a value is entered in to the serial console the loop runs 8 times and just prints " Value ‘i’: " without actually storing any data or allowing further user input:
Arduino input test, please enter 8 characters:
Value 0:
Value 1:
Value 2:
Value 3:
Value 4:
Value 5:
Value 6:
Value 7:
To recap I am looking to input an arbitrary number of values into an array (both characters and numbers) via serial input then parse the array first in first and print to serial the inputted data eg:
input characters: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h
input numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
serial output:
a, 1, b, 2 etc
Any help would be much appreciated
