Implementing a Processing-controlled Arduino up/down counter - arduino

Question

I'm making an Arduino Up/Down counter whose output can be controlled by the Processing Program. It displays the count down on a 3-digit 7 segment display of a training shield, and push buttons can be used to make it count up, down, stop, and reset it. The Processing code should be able to do the same, but via the software instead of push buttons. My implementation idea is by having boxes that once hovered over, sends signals that toggles counting up and down, stopping, and reset, so that I can use the SerialWrite example. Shown below is my up/down counter Arduino code including the serial connections necessary in order to interface it with Processing.
unsigned char digit_1 = 7;
unsigned char digit_2 = 8;
unsigned char digit_3 = 10;
int num1 = 0;
int num2 = 0;
int num3 = 0;
int state = 0;
int halt = 0;
char val; //data received from serial port
void setup()
{
Serial.begin(9600);
for (int x = 11; x < 19; x++)
{
pinMode (x, OUTPUT);
}
pinMode (digit_1, OUTPUT);
pinMode (digit_2, OUTPUT);
pinMode (digit_3, OUTPUT);
// attachInterrupt(0, s1_press, RISING);
// attachInterrupt(1, s2_press, RISING);
}
void loop()
{
while (Serial.available())
{ val = Serial.read();
}
if (val == 1)
{
state = 1;
}
else //if (val == 0)
{
state = 0;
halt = 0;
}
if (val == 2)
{
halt = 1;
}
else
{
state = 0;
halt = 0;
}
if (halt == 0) {
if (state == 0) {
num3++;
if (num3 == 10) {
num3 = 0;
num2++;
}
if (num2 == 10) {
num2 = 0;
num1++;
}
if (num1 == 10) {
num1 = 0;
num2 = 0;
num3 = 0;
}
}
if (state == 1) {
num3--;
if (num3 == -1) {
num3 = 9;
num2--;
}
if (num2 == -1) {
num2 = 9;
num1--;
}
if (num1 == -1) {
num3 = 9;
num2 = 9;
num1 = 9;
}
}
}
for (int x = 0; x < 80; x++) {
digitalWrite (digit_3, HIGH);
digitalWrite (digit_2, LOW);
digitalWrite (digit_1, LOW);
display_ (num1);
delay(1);
digitalWrite (digit_3, LOW);
digitalWrite (digit_2, HIGH);
digitalWrite (digit_1, LOW);
display_ (num2);
delay(1);
digitalWrite (digit_3, LOW);
digitalWrite (digit_2, LOW);
digitalWrite (digit_1, HIGH);
display_ (num3);
delay(1);
}
}
void display_ (unsigned char num)
{
switch (num)
{
case 0:
{
digitalWrite (11, HIGH);
digitalWrite (12, HIGH);
digitalWrite (13, HIGH);
digitalWrite (14, HIGH);
digitalWrite (15, HIGH);
digitalWrite (16, HIGH);
digitalWrite (17, LOW);
digitalWrite (18, LOW);
break;
}
case 1:
{
digitalWrite (11, LOW);
digitalWrite (12, HIGH);
digitalWrite (13, HIGH);
digitalWrite (14, LOW);
digitalWrite (15, LOW);
digitalWrite (16, LOW);
digitalWrite (17, LOW);
digitalWrite (18, LOW);
break;
}
case 2:
{
digitalWrite (11, HIGH);
digitalWrite (12, HIGH);
digitalWrite (13, LOW);
digitalWrite (14, HIGH);
digitalWrite (15, HIGH);
digitalWrite (16, LOW);
digitalWrite (17, HIGH);
digitalWrite (18, LOW);
break;
}
case 3:
{
digitalWrite (11, HIGH);
digitalWrite (12, HIGH);
digitalWrite (13, HIGH);
digitalWrite (14, HIGH);
digitalWrite (15, LOW);
digitalWrite (16, LOW);
digitalWrite (17, HIGH);
digitalWrite (18, LOW);
break;
}
case 4:
{
digitalWrite (11, LOW);
digitalWrite (12, HIGH);
digitalWrite (13, HIGH);
digitalWrite (14, LOW);
digitalWrite (15, LOW);
digitalWrite (16, HIGH);
digitalWrite (17, HIGH);
digitalWrite (18, LOW);
break;
}
case 5:
{
digitalWrite (11, HIGH);
digitalWrite (12, LOW);
digitalWrite (13, HIGH);
digitalWrite (14, HIGH);
digitalWrite (15, LOW);
digitalWrite (16, HIGH);
digitalWrite (17, HIGH);
digitalWrite (18, LOW);
break;
}
case 6:
{
digitalWrite (11, HIGH);
digitalWrite (12, LOW);
digitalWrite (13, HIGH);
digitalWrite (14, HIGH);
digitalWrite (15, HIGH);
digitalWrite (16, HIGH);
digitalWrite (17, HIGH);
digitalWrite (18, LOW);
break;
}
case 7:
{
digitalWrite (11, HIGH);
digitalWrite (12, HIGH);
digitalWrite (13, HIGH);
digitalWrite (14, LOW);
digitalWrite (15, LOW);
digitalWrite (16, LOW);
digitalWrite (17, LOW);
digitalWrite (18, LOW);
break;
}
case 8:
{
digitalWrite (11, HIGH);
digitalWrite (12, HIGH);
digitalWrite (13, HIGH);
digitalWrite (14, HIGH);
digitalWrite (15, HIGH);
digitalWrite (16, HIGH);
digitalWrite (17, HIGH);
digitalWrite (18, LOW);
break;
}
case 9:
{
digitalWrite (11, HIGH);
digitalWrite (12, HIGH);
digitalWrite (13, HIGH);
digitalWrite (14, HIGH);
digitalWrite (15, LOW);
digitalWrite (16, HIGH);
digitalWrite (17, HIGH);
digitalWrite (18, LOW);
break;
}
}
}
void s1_press() {
if (state == 0)
state = 1;
else if (state == 1)
state = 0;
delay (100);
}
void s2_press() {
if (halt == 0)
halt = 1;
else
halt = 0;
delay(100);
}
Here's the Processing code I'm using:
Serial myPort; // Create object from Serial class
int val; // Data received from the serial port
color c1 = #75C58E;
color c2 = #75C5FF;
color c3 = #D07633;
void setup()
{
size(420, 200);
String portName = Serial.list()[1];
myPort = new Serial(this, portName, 9600);
}
//0 - count up and start
//1 - count down
//2 - stop
//3 - reset
void draw() {
background(255);
if (mouseOverRect() == true) { // If mouse is over square,
fill(c1); // change color and
myPort.write('1'); // send a '1' to indicate mouse is over square
} else //will be equivalent to the count up/count down trigger
{
fill(0);
myPort.write('0');
}
rect(50, 50, 100, 100); // Draw a square
if (mouseOverRect2() == true) { // If mouse is over square,
fill(c2); // change color and
myPort.write('2'); // send a 2 to indicate mouse is over square
} else //stop trigger
{
fill(0);
myPort.write('0');
}
rect(160, 50, 100, 100);
if (mouseOverRect3() == true) { // If mouse is over square,
fill(c3); // change color and
myPort.write('3'); // send a '3' to indicate mouse is over square
} else //reset
{
fill(0);
myPort.write('0');
}
rect(270, 50, 100, 100);
}
boolean mouseOverRect() { // Test if mouse is over square
return ((mouseX >= 50) && (mouseX <= 150) && (mouseY >= 50) && (mouseY <= 150));
}
boolean mouseOverRect2() { // Test if mouse is over square
return ((mouseX >= 160) && (mouseX <= 260) && (mouseY >= 50) && (mouseY <= 150));
}
boolean mouseOverRect3() { // Test if mouse is over square
return ((mouseX >= 270) && (mouseX <= 370) && (mouseY >= 50) && (mouseY <= 150));
}
Any tips on how to properly implement this? It doesn't seem to affect the output on the up/down counter. Thanks!

Answer 1

The code you Processing code you posted seems to do mostly what you intended it to do.
There a few things I'd advise to pay attention to on the Processing side:
When a box is hovered, you are continuously (many times a second) sending a message to Arduino. You might want to move the Arduino sending logic to a inside a mousePressed() or mouseReleased() function to do it less often ? (Otherwise you're values will change very very fast and it will be harder to see what's going on).
Similarly, when nothing is hovered, you are sending the '0' character 3 times. Otherwise it's sent twice (for each other box that isn't hovered): that's high chances of cancelling/overriding one of the previous command message ('1','2','3')
Bare in mind you are reading the an int in Arduino but sending a char from Processing. So if you expect 1 in Arduino you should do myPort.write(1); in Processing. myPort.write('1'); will send the ASCII char 1 which, represented by int 49.
Here's a slightly reorganised version of your Processing code with the above suggestions implemented:
import processing.serial.*;
Serial myPort; // Create object from Serial class
int val; // Data received from the serial port
color c1 = #75C58E;
color c2 = #75C5FF;
color c3 = #D07633;
void setup()
{
size(420, 200);
String portName = Serial.list()[1];
myPort = new Serial(this, portName, 9600);
}
//0 - count up and start
//1 - count down
//2 - stop
//3 - reset
void draw() {
background(255);
if (mouseOverRect() == true) { // If mouse is over square,
fill(c1); // change color and
} else //will be equivalent to the count up/count down trigger
{
fill(0);
}
rect(50, 50, 100, 100); // Draw a square
if (mouseOverRect2() == true) { // If mouse is over square,
fill(c2); // change color and
} else //stop trigger
{
fill(0);
}
rect(160, 50, 100, 100);
if (mouseOverRect3() == true) { // If mouse is over square,
fill(c3); // change color and
} else //reset
{
fill(0);
}
rect(270, 50, 100, 100);
}
void mousePressed(){
if (mouseOverRect() == true) { // If mouse is over square,
myPort.write(1); // send a '1' to indicate mouse is over square
}
else
if (mouseOverRect2() == true) { // If mouse is over square,
myPort.write(2); // send a 2 to indicate mouse is over square
} else //stop trigger
if (mouseOverRect3() == true) { // If mouse is over square,
myPort.write(3); // send a '3' to indicate mouse is over square
} else //reset
{
fill(0);
myPort.write(0);
}
rect(270, 50, 100, 100);
}
boolean mouseOverRect() { // Test if mouse is over square
return ((mouseX >= 50) && (mouseX <= 150) && (mouseY >= 50) && (mouseY <= 150));
}
boolean mouseOverRect2() { // Test if mouse is over square
return ((mouseX >= 160) && (mouseX <= 260) && (mouseY >= 50) && (mouseY <= 150));
}
boolean mouseOverRect3() { // Test if mouse is over square
return ((mouseX >= 270) && (mouseX <= 370) && (mouseY >= 50) && (mouseY <= 150));
}
Your Arduino code looks a lot less organised. I would go test one thing at a time:
increasing a digit and displaying
decreasing a digit and displaying
resetting
handling serial input
You can use CoolTerm to easily send an int, rather than an ASCII character,
otherwise, if you plan to use Serial Monitor, send '1' instead of 1 from Processing, but make sure that's what you compare against in Arduino too (e.g. if (val == '1') instead of if (val == 1)