Help on a time-based code

[Buick]

Hi,
I’m trying to write some code for a simple program to operate the opening and closing of an overhead door (via push button & relay) that would only work between the hours of 8am and 5pm.
I’m thinking the best way to go about it is to make a function for the button operations and then have that function only be available/activated between the hours of 8-5, thru another function for the “time”

My questions are; is that a proper way of doing this and also I cant seem to figure out how the “time” function on the Photon works.
Thanks.

[Rftop]

These 2 posts by @ScruffR might be a good starting point.
I'm sure there are many others.
Give it a try and then folks can help you figure out specific problems in your Code.

Time.now() not working

Particle.connected() is a class function/method not a class field. Hence you are missing the parenthesis in if (Particle.connected). This way you just “check” whether the function exists, but don’t acutally call it. You need to write it as if (Particle.connected()) But I’d rather go with this Particle.connect(); if (waitFor(Particle.connected, 60000)) { digitalWrite(D7, HIGH); delay(2000); Serial.printlnf("Connected to Particle Cloud."); Serial.printlnf("Start synchroni…

Schedule event every day at 6 PM

First I’d not test for multiple fields when checking for a time but for the combined time - easiest would be seconds as this is what Time.local() gives you back already. Next I would not check for equality but always for greater or equal in conjunction with a “once per day” flag, otherwise you may miss a whole day when you miss the particular second. So I’d go with something like this const int timeAction = 18*3600 + 14*60 + 00; // hh+mm+ss int previousDay = 0; void setup() { Time.zone(you…

[Buick]

Thank you! I’ll check them out.

[armor]

What do you mean by “a proper way”?

A simple logic for the loop() could be something like this:

if (button_pressed AND time >= 8am AND time <=5pm) energise relay for short period

To support that there needs to be:

1. Debounce of the button - simple software debounce algorithm to provide a clean boolean button_pressed value.
2. time - to have the Photon provide this it does need to have been Cloud connected to sync the Real-Time Clock and you would also need to ensure that the correct local time is set for your locale (DST and TimeZone). The program should also re-sync the time once per day (because the RTC drifts) and should check that the time is sync’d before using it with Time.isValid();
3. A way to energise the relay for a short period. In a very simple logic you can use something like relay on, delay(), relay off. A better approach is to start a timer when relay turned on and then have the timer ended handler function turn it off. This can be achieved using a software timer or checking millis() - millis when turned on.

[Buick]

Thanks Armor…that’s what I meant by a proper way, a simple logic like the one that you recommended.
I’m relatively new to programming but I think I can work with that.

Thanks again!