Calling a function from the iPhone App => awesome || Running it from IFTTT or called from within the app => RED LIGHT OF DEATH

Troubleshooting
1

I am using my particle to read an XML file (using myHandler()), parse it (using splitNumbersOut() and tryExtractString()), and then use those values to move servos (using runThemAll()). If I call runThemAll() from my iphone particle app using runthemaller(), it works great. However, if I call runThemAll() from the Loop() or though IFTTT, I get the red light, the particle goes offline, and then restarts. Thanks in advance for any help!!! :smile:

Full Code:

    int Servo_Location[] = {5,5,5,5,5};

Servo servo1;
Servo servo2;
Servo servo3;
Servo servo4;
Servo servo5;

Servo Scycler[5]= {servo1, servo2, servo3, servo4, servo5};

String weight_string, weather_string, lion_string, choice_string, dow_string, weatherTom_string;

int servoPos = 120;

String xml_result;
String lastrun = "not yet";

boolean restarted = true;
 
//THE SET UP
//****************************************************************************************************
//****************************************************************************************************


void setup()
{

    // Set time zone to Eastern USA daylight saving time
    Time.zone(-4);

	//ATTACH THE SERVOS TO THE DIFFERENT PINS OF THE PHOTON	

	//
	//Attach Servo’s
	//
	servo1.attach(D0);
	servo2.attach(D1);
	servo3.attach(D2);
	servo4.attach(D3);
	servo5.attach(WKP);

	//
	//Particle Functions
	//
	Particle.subscribe("hook-response/Bar_Info", myHandler, MY_DEVICES);
	Particle.function("servo", servoControl);
	Particle.function("setter", setterControl);
	Particle.function("runthemaller", runthemaller);
	Particle.function("Timedrun", Timedrun);


	//
	//Particle Variables
	//
	Particle.variable("SERVO1", Servo_Location[0]);
	Particle.variable("SERVO2", Servo_Location[1]);
	Particle.variable("SERVO3", Servo_Location[2]);
	Particle.variable("SERVO4", Servo_Location[3]);
	Particle.variable("SERVO5", Servo_Location[4]);
	Particle.variable("timer", lastrun);
	
}


//WEB FUNCTIONS
//****************************************************************************************************
//****************************************************************************************************


void myHandler(const char *event, const char *data)
{
  // Handle the integration response
    xml_result = String(data);
    Particle.publish("XML Result", xml_result, PUBLIC);
    StringReset();
    splitNumbersOut(0,weather_string, ",");
}




int setterControl(String command)
{
    Particle.publish("Setter_String", command, PUBLIC);
    int i = command.toInt();
    int z = constrain(i, 0, 100);
    servoRunner(z,z,z,z,z);
    return 1;
}



int servoControl(String command)
{
   int newPos = command.toInt();
   servoPos = constrain( newPos, 0 , 180);
   servo1.write(servoPos);

   	//———————————
   	//Test that the string is split correctly
  	//———————————
  	 Particle.publish("position", command, PUBLIC);


   delay(2000);
   showWeight();
   delay(2000);
   return 1;

}

int runthemaller(String command)
{
   runThemAll();
   Particle.publish("runthemaller", "rta_over", PUBLIC);
   return 1;
  
}


int Timedrun(String command)
{
   Particle.publish("runthemaller", command, PUBLIC);
  int ttime = Time.hour();
    if ((ttime > 8) && (ttime < 20))
    {
    Particle.publish("in_Loop", "runningthemall", PUBLIC);
    runThemAll();
    }
    else
    {
    Particle.publish("in_Loop", "wrong time", PUBLIC);
    }
    Particle.publish("in_Loop", "Timed_over", PUBLIC);

   return 1;
  
}


//DATA PARSING FUNCTIONS
//****************************************************************************************************
//****************************************************************************************************



void StringReset() 
{
    weight_string = tryExtractString(0, xml_result, "weight=\"", "\"");
    weather_string = tryExtractString(0, xml_result, "weather=\"", "\"");
    weatherTom_string = tryExtractString(0, xml_result, "weather_tom=\"", "\"");
    lion_string = tryExtractString(0, xml_result, "lion=\"", "\"");
    choice_string = tryExtractString(0, xml_result, "choice=\"", "\"");
    dow_string = tryExtractString(0, xml_result, "choice=\"", "\"");
    
	//———————————
   	//Test that the weather and weight are set
   	//———————————
    // 	Particle.publish("temp_in_reset", weather_string, PUBLIC);
    //	Particle.publish("weight_in_reset", weight_string, PUBLIC);

}



String splitNumbersOut (int matchNum, String str, const char* end) {
   if (str == NULL) {
    return NULL;
    }
    int count =0;
    while (count<5)
    {
    int lastIdx =0;
    int idx = str.indexOf(end);
    Servo_Location[count] = str.substring(lastIdx, idx).toInt();
    str=str.substring(idx+1);
    count++;

    }
    StringReset();
}


String tryExtractString(int matchNum, String str, const char* start, const char* end) {
    if (str == NULL) {
        return NULL;
    }

    int count = 0;
    int lastIdx = 0;

    while (count <= matchNum) {
        int idx = str.indexOf(start, lastIdx);

        int endIdx = str.indexOf(end, lastIdx + idx + strlen(start));

        lastIdx = endIdx;

        if (count == matchNum) {
            return str.substring(idx + strlen(start), endIdx);
        }
        count++;
    }
}



//SERVO CONTROLS
//****************************************************************************************************
//****************************************************************************************************

void servoRunner(int a, int b, int c, int d, int e)
{
    
 //m is the integer to mutliply the input.
 int m = 1.7;
 //f is the amount that needs to be adjusted to keep it in the servo range
 int f = 10;
   servo1.write(a*m + f);
   delay(500);
   servo2.write(180 - b*m - f);
   delay(500);
   servo3.write(c*m + f);
   delay(500);
   servo4.write(180 - d*m - f);
   delay(500);
   servo5.write(e*m + f);
   delay(500);
}


//LETS PUT ALL THE DATA RUNNERS HERE
//****************************************************************************************************
//****************************************************************************************************


void runThemAll()
{ 
    theDance();
    Particle.publish("this", weather_string, PUBLIC);
    showWeight();
    delay(3000);
    servoRunner(50,50,50,50,50);
    delay(500);
    showLions();
    delay(3000);
    servoRunner(50,50,50,50,50);
    delay(500);
    int slimer = Time.hour();
    lastrun = String(slimer);
    Particle.publish("time", lastrun, PUBLIC);
    if (slimer < 18)
	{
	showWeather();
	}
    else
	{
	showWeatherTom();
	}
	Particle.publish("this", "Run_Over", PUBLIC);

}

void theDance()
    {
    servoRunner(100,75,50,25,0); 
    delay(1500);
    servoRunner(0,25,50,75,100);
    delay(1500);
    servoRunner(50,50,50,50,50);
    }


void showWeather()
{
    splitNumbersOut(0,weather_string, ",");
 	  Particle.publish("_in_showWeather", weather_string, PUBLIC);

    servoRunner(Servo_Location[0], Servo_Location[1],Servo_Location[2], Servo_Location[3],Servo_Location[4]);
}

void showWeight()
{
    splitNumbersOut(0,weight_string, ",");
   
	  //———————————
 	  //Test that the string is split correctly
 	  //———————————
  	  Particle.publish("_in_showWeight", weight_string, PUBLIC);
   
   servoRunner(Servo_Location[0], Servo_Location[1],Servo_Location[2], Servo_Location[3],Servo_Location[4]);
}

void showWeatherTom()
{
    splitNumbersOut(0, weatherTom_string, ",");
    servoRunner(Servo_Location[0], Servo_Location[1],Servo_Location[2], Servo_Location[3],Servo_Location[4]);
    Particle.publish("_in_showWeatherTom", weatherTom_string, PUBLIC);
}

void showChoice()
{
    splitNumbersOut(0,choice_string, ",");
    servoRunner(Servo_Location[0], Servo_Location[1],Servo_Location[2], Servo_Location[3],Servo_Location[4]);
    Particle.publish("_in_showChoice", choice_string, PUBLIC);
}


void showLions()
{
    splitNumbersOut(0,lion_string, ",");
    servoRunner(Servo_Location[0], Servo_Location[1],Servo_Location[2], Servo_Location[3],Servo_Location[4]);
    Particle.publish("_in_showLions", lion_string, PUBLIC);
}


//THE LOOP
/****************************************************************************************************/
/****************************************************************************************************/


void loop() 
{
  // Get some data
  String data = String(10);
  // Trigger the integration
  Particle.publish("Bar_Info", data, PRIVATE);
  
  // Wait 60 seconds
  delay(60000);
  if (restarted)
    {
    runThemAll();
    delay (50000);
    restarted = false;
    }

   delay(120000);

  
  int ttime = Time.hour();
  int mtime =Time.minute();
    if ((ttime > 7) && (ttime < 20) && (mtime==0))
    {
    Particle.publish("in_Loop", "runningthemall", PUBLIC);
    runThemAll();
    }
}
2

The “red light” does provide some info about the reason.
I guess you see an SOS signal followed by a number of slower blinks followed by another SOS. That number of slow blinks might give a clue.

But some general hints.

  • Don’t delay Particle.function() callbacks too long (best not at all). Keep them short and fast
  • Reduce the use of String objects and better go for pure C strings.
  • You’ve got a lot of publishes, make sure to heed the rate limit
3

Hi ScruffR, can you elaborate a bit on that, please? I'm not familiar with pure C strings.
thanks!
Gustavo.

4

What I call “pure C strings” is nothing other than a char array which holds the string plus a \0 zero-terminator byte.
With these (zero-terminated) strings you can use all the standard C string functions like sprintf(), strcat(), strcmp(), …
But since they are merely “dumb” arrays (rather than objects that might do things behind the scene) you won’t get unexpected results like relocation and heap fragmentation.
On the other hand you need to think ahead a bit more, e.g. how big the array has to be to hold your longest string.

1 Like
5

Thanks so much for the help - no red light but the functions are coming back with errors. I think they are just taking too long. When I tried to shorten them, and had them just change a variable, that triggered the servos in the loop() function, the red light came back. So, it works, for now but will keep trying. Thanks again!

6

Yup, hence