Continuous servo memory

Hardware
21

Great idea! Thanks ScruffR!

22

So, just for posterityā€¦ incase anyone else wants to copyā€¦ hereā€™s the final version.

Servo timservo; 

int position = 0;    // variable to store the servo position
int newposition = 0;
 
void setup()
{

//Setup the Servo to the function 
Particle.function("timservo", updatetimServo);
//Set pin D0 to be an output
pinMode(D0, OUTPUT);

//Take control over the LED on the board
RGB.control(true);

//There may be a better way to do this like turning it off, I found it just as easy to set the colour to nothing
RGB.color(0, 0, 0);
}
 
void loop()
{

 
}
 
//This function is triggered by IFTTT - the 'command' word represents the object used to store the 'position' we send to the function.
//The 'position' we send represents where we want the servo to move to
int updatetimServo(String command)
{

newposition = command.toInt();

// 0deg
    
  if (newposition == 1) {
    switch(position) {
      case 2:
		timservo.write( 100 ); 
		delay( 1000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
      case 3:
		timservo.write( 100 ); 
		delay( 2000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
      case 4:
		timservo.write( 100 ); 
		delay( 3000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
      default:
        return -1;
    }
  }

// 45deg

  if (newposition == 2) {
    switch(position) {
      case 1:
		timservo.write( 80 ); 
		delay( 1000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
      case 3:
		timservo.write( 100 ); 
		delay( 1000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
      case 4:
		timservo.write( 100 ); 
		delay( 2000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
      default:
        return -1;
    }
  }
  
// 90deg
    
  if (newposition == 3) {
    switch(position) {
      case 1:
		timservo.write( 80 ); 
		delay( 2000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
      case 2:
		timservo.write( 80 ); 
		delay( 1000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
      case 4:
		timservo.write( 100 ); 
		delay( 1000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
      default:
        return -1;
    }
  }

// 135deg
  
    if (newposition == 4) {
    switch(position) {
      case 1:
		timservo.write( 80 ); 
		delay( 3000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
      case 2:
		timservo.write( 80 ); 
		delay( 2000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
      case 3:
		timservo.write( 80 ); 
		delay( 1000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
      default:
        return -1;
    }
  }
  
  position = newposition;
  return position;
  
}
23

Now that youā€™ve got that working, try moving the logic from the function handler to the loop, since itā€™s bad practice (and often problematic) to have functions block for a long time. Try keeping them as short as possible.

24

Thatā€™s a great idea Moors7. Not sure where to begin, but I guess thatā€™s part of the fun. Iā€™m sure I canā€™t be the only one who struggles with these things. Are there any good learning materials out there? Iā€™ve been through the documentation on the particle.io site but that only takes me so far.

25

Weā€™ve all been there (heck, Iā€™m still there ;)). I personally like to learn by picking a project and figuring things out as I go. Then you do something thatā€™s useful to you, so itā€™s easier to put in the effort. I know there are some books out there with several beginner project that might help get you started. Simon Monk has written one that I know of. That said, I havenā€™t tried any of those, so no guarantees as to whatā€™s in there.

26

I agree on the figuring out thing. My only issue is that once something works, often I have no idea why it works. I certainly, more often than not, have no idea how to then improve upon it (as you suggested above). Iā€™ve done this one by going backwards and forwards through this forum picking up on bits (and lots of help from nice people). Itā€™s the basics of ā€˜how to send a function to the loopā€™ that I just donā€™t have a handle on.

Iā€™d love to work out how stepper motors work too, but there doesnā€™t seem to be any literature out there with just a basic, ā€œbuy this, do thisā€¦ see, it works and hereā€™s whyā€ā€¦ so I have literally no idea where to begin. Does that make sense?

27

The way you currently use the function is to send it a new variable, and then immediately check/act upon that variable. Rather than doing that 'hard work' in the function, simply check for it in the loop.

Some extremely simplified code would be:

loop() {
  if (should_I_do_the_thing == true){
    do_the_thing();
    should_I_do_the_thing = false;
  }
}

//function call
int thing_function(String command){
  should_I_do_the_thing = true;
  return 1;
}
28

Thanks Moors7, I think that helped a lot.

So, it would look like this? (seems to verify okā€¦ which I find shocking!!)

Servo timservo; 

int position = 0;    // variable to store the servo position
int newposition = 0;
bool makeachange = false;
 
void setup()
{

//Setup the Servo to the function 
Particle.function("timservo", updatetimServo);
//Set pin D0 to be an output
pinMode(D0, OUTPUT);

//Take control over the LED on the board
RGB.control(true);

//There may be a better way to do this like turning it off, I found it just as easy to set the colour to nothing
RGB.color(0, 0, 0);
}
 
void loop()
{
    
if ( makeachange == true) {
    
// 0deg
    
  if (newposition == 1) {
    switch(position) {
      case 2:
		timservo.write( 100 ); 
		delay( 1000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
      case 3:
		timservo.write( 100 ); 
		delay( 2000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
      case 4:
		timservo.write( 100 ); 
		delay( 3000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
    }
  }

// 45deg

  if (newposition == 2) {
    switch(position) {
      case 1:
		timservo.write( 80 ); 
		delay( 1000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
      case 3:
		timservo.write( 100 ); 
		delay( 1000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
      case 4:
		timservo.write( 100 ); 
		delay( 2000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
    }
  }
  
// 90deg
    
  if (newposition == 3) {
    switch(position) {
      case 1:
		timservo.write( 80 ); 
		delay( 2000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
      case 2:
		timservo.write( 80 ); 
		delay( 1000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
      case 4:
		timservo.write( 100 ); 
		delay( 1000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
    }
  }

// 135deg
  
    if (newposition == 4) {
    switch(position) {
      case 1:
		timservo.write( 80 ); 
		delay( 3000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
      case 2:
		timservo.write( 80 ); 
		delay( 2000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
      case 3:
		timservo.write( 80 ); 
		delay( 1000 ); 
		timservo.write( 90 );
        break;
    }
  }
  
  position = newposition;
  makeachange = false;

}
}
 
//This function is triggered by IFTTT - the 'command' word represents the object used to store the 'position' we send to the function.
//The 'position' we send represents where we want the servo to move to
int updatetimServo(String command)
{
    
 newposition = command.toInt();
 makeachange = true;
 return position;
  
}
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