Electron keeps timing out

Troubleshooting
1

Hey guys

I’m not sure why, but my Electron keeps timing out on me.

I start it up and initially I can make calls to it from a PHP curl call or from the command line with the expected results. However, I’m not sure if it happens after x number of calls, or x minutes of inactivity, or what, but the device just starts timing out on all calls from either the PHP page or the CLI.

If I reset the device it works as it should for a short while before again beginning to timeout.

Command Line call:

particle call shot-bot shoot A

The code on my device is as follows:

#include "cellular_hal.h"
// set the APN to 'internet' for MTN SIM card
STARTUP(cellular_credentials_set("internet", "", "", NULL));

int trigger1 = D1;
int trigger2 = D2;

//pushbutton pins
int BUTTON_1_PIN = D1;
int BUTTON_2_PIN = D2;
//pump/relay pins
int PUMP_1_PIN = D3;
int PUMP_2_PIN = D4;

//Time for pumping stations to turn on in milliseconds
int PUMP_1_TIME = 2500;
int PUMP_2_TIME = 2500;

void setup()
{
    pinMode(trigger1, OUTPUT);
    pinMode(trigger2, OUTPUT);
    Particle.function("shoot",triggerShot);
    digitalWrite(trigger1, LOW);
    digitalWrite(trigger2, LOW);
   
    pinMode(BUTTON_1_PIN, INPUT);
    pinMode(BUTTON_2_PIN, INPUT);

    pinMode(PUMP_1_PIN, OUTPUT);
    pinMode(PUMP_2_PIN, OUTPUT);
}

void loop()
{
    // check for button1 push
    if(digitalRead(BUTTON_1_PIN) == HIGH)
    {
        digitalWrite(PUMP_1_PIN, HIGH);
        delay(PUMP_1_TIME);
        digitalWrite(PUMP_1_PIN, LOW);
    }

    // check for button2 push        
    if(digitalRead(BUTTON_2_PIN) == HIGH)
    {
        digitalWrite(PUMP_2_PIN, HIGH);
        delay(PUMP_2_TIME);
        digitalWrite(PUMP_2_PIN, LOW);
    }
}

int triggerShot(String command) {
    if (command=="A") {
        digitalWrite(PUMP_1_PIN,HIGH);
        delay(PUMP_1_TIME);
        digitalWrite(PUMP_1_PIN, LOW);
        return 1;
    }
    else if (command=="B") {
        digitalWrite(PUMP_2_PIN,HIGH);
        delay(PUMP_2_TIME);
        digitalWrite(PUMP_2_PIN, LOW);
        return 1;
    }
    else {
        return -1;
    }
}

Other things to note, which I haven’t solved and may or may not be related to the issue.
I cannot update my device OTA (annoying)
When the device starts up it flashes cyan really fast for a short time, and then briefly, a few fast red flashes before breathing cyan and successfully connecting to the cloud.

Any insight into this would be much appreciated.

2

One thing to always do when using buttons is INPUT_PULLUP or INPUT_PULLDOWN (opposite to the level your button closes to) instead of INPUT (unless you have external pull-resistors in place).

Why are you first setting D1/D2 as OUTPUT, write LOW and then set them as INPUT?

You should also avoid delay() (especially in a Particle.function()) but rather go for non-blocking code.

delay() also reduces the responsiveness of your device for OTA flashing and other cloud stuff.

You could also try SYSTEM_THREAD(ENABLED), but only after you de-blocked your code :wink:

3

I am having similar problems, with no blocking code. I thought it may be a weak cellular connection, but there is no real basis for me to say that.

watching this thread

4

See the topic we have the same problem.