[SOLVED] Multiple devices demonstrating erratic behavior

[thermistor1]

@thermistor1 I should add that the I want the relays to start with pins HIGH which makes the relays OFF every time I start the arduino. There are appliances that I want to remain off unless the pin goes low (e.g. the home router is ON when the pin is HIGH and I don't want it to reset every time the arduino is energized).

[hek]

You don't write how you power the relays.

[thermistor1]

@hek I have an 8 relay board and I'm using only 4. The board is powered off the arduino 5V pin.

[hek]

This is probably the cause of your problems. The Arduino 5V pin cannot provide the necessary power needed.

You have to power them separately.

[thermistor1]

@hek Thank you - it worked without the addition of the NRF24L01+ so I'm guessing that pushed it over the edge. I'll try without it and let you know, thanks!

[thermistor1]

@hek ok, I think I solved some of this. The extra sensors were coming from previous trials and errors. I removed the device and added it again, and bingo, no extra relays.

As for the relays not responding, I found an error in the code AND I think the motion sensor is getting stuck in a loop. When I activate all sensors there is still enough power for the relays to go. The problem is when I uncomment the code monitoring the motion sensor, everything becomes stuck again. There's a problem with the code to continuously monitor the motion sensor:

 float state = digitalRead(DIGITAL_INPUT_SENSOR);
  if (state == HIGH) {
     if (state != lastMo) {
      gw.send(msgPIR.set(state?"1":"0"));
      lastMo = state;
    }
    previousMillis2 = currentMillis;
  }

and here is the current version of the code:

#include <SPI.h>
#include <MySensor.h>  
#include <DHT.h>  

//Temp
#define CHILD_ID_HUM 10
#define CHILD_ID_TEMP 20
#define HUMIDITY_SENSOR_DIGITAL_PIN 7

//Motion
#define DIGITAL_INPUT_SENSOR A0
#define CHILD_ID_PIR 30
float lastMo;


// Relay
#define RELAY_1  3
#define RELAY_2  4
#define RELAY_3  5
#define RELAY_4  6
#define RELAY_ON 0
#define RELAY_OFF 1

// LED
int red = A5;
int blue = A4;
int green = A3;

//
MySensor gw;

DHT dht;
float lastTemp;
float lastHum;

//Timer
long previousMillis1 = 0;
long interval1 = 60000;
long previousMillis2 = 0;
long interval2 = 5000;

MyMessage msgHum(CHILD_ID_HUM, V_HUM);
MyMessage msgTemp(CHILD_ID_TEMP, V_TEMP);
MyMessage msgPIR(CHILD_ID_PIR, V_TRIPPED);

void setup()
{
  //Still unsure on conditions for this:
  gw.begin(incomingMessage, AUTO, false);

  //start temp sensor
  dht.setup(HUMIDITY_SENSOR_DIGITAL_PIN); 

  // Send the Sketch Version Information to the Gateway
  gw.sendSketchInfo("Arduino 2", "1.0");

  // Register all sensors to gw (they will be created as child devices)
  gw.present(CHILD_ID_HUM, S_HUM);
  gw.present(CHILD_ID_TEMP, S_TEMP);
//  gw.present(CHILD_ID_PIR, S_MOTION);

  //LED
  pinMode(red, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(green, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(blue, OUTPUT);

  // Register Relays

  gw.present(RELAY_1, S_LIGHT);
  digitalWrite(RELAY_1,RELAY_OFF);
  pinMode(RELAY_1, OUTPUT);   
  gw.present(RELAY_2, S_LIGHT);
  digitalWrite(RELAY_2,RELAY_OFF);
  pinMode(RELAY_2, OUTPUT);   
  gw.present(RELAY_3, S_LIGHT);
  digitalWrite(RELAY_3,RELAY_OFF);
  pinMode(RELAY_3, OUTPUT);   
  gw.present(RELAY_4, S_LIGHT);
  digitalWrite(RELAY_4,RELAY_OFF);
  pinMode(RELAY_4, OUTPUT);   


  digitalWrite(red, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(green, LOW);
  digitalWrite(blue, LOW);
  
}

void loop()      
{
  unsigned long currentMillis = millis();
  if(currentMillis - previousMillis1 > interval1) {
    sendTemp();
    delay(500);
    sendHumid();
    previousMillis1 = currentMillis;
  }
/* float state = digitalRead(DIGITAL_INPUT_SENSOR);
  if (state == HIGH) {
     if (state != lastMo) {
      gw.send(msgPIR.set(state?"1":"0"));
      lastMo = state;
    }
    previousMillis2 = currentMillis;
  }*/
  gw.process();
}


void sendTemp(){
  float temperature = dht.getTemperature();
  if (isnan(temperature)) {
      Serial.println("Failed reading temperature from DHT");
  } else if (temperature != lastTemp) {
    lastTemp = temperature;
    temperature = dht.toFahrenheit(temperature);
    gw.send(msgTemp.set(temperature, 1));
    Serial.print("T: ");
    Serial.println(temperature);
  }
}

void sendHumid(){
  float humidity = dht.getHumidity();
  if (isnan(humidity)) {
      Serial.println("Failed reading humidity from DHT");
  } else if (humidity != lastHum) {
      lastHum = humidity;
      gw.send(msgHum.set(humidity, 1));
      Serial.print("H: ");
      Serial.println(humidity);
  }
}

void incomingMessage(const MyMessage &message) {
  if (message.type==V_LIGHT) {
     digitalWrite(message.sensor, message.getBool()?RELAY_ON:RELAY_OFF);
     gw.saveState(message.sensor, message.getBool());
     Serial.print("Incoming change for sensor:");
     Serial.print(message.sensor);
     Serial.print(", New status: ");
     Serial.println(message.getBool());
   }
}

[RJ_Make]

@thermistor1 What is the Serial Monitor outputting?

[BulldogLowell]

@thermistor1 said:

float lastMo;

/* float state = digitalRead(DIGITAL_INPUT_SENSOR);
  if (state == HIGH) {
     if (state != lastMo) {
      gw.send(msgPIR.set(state?"1":"0"));
      lastMo = state;
    }
    previousMillis2 = currentMillis;
  }*/

if anything is a binary device it is a motion sensor... total possible states = 2

You then introduce all of the problems of arduino's lousy float precision to your sketch?

try instead to declare lastMo as a byte or int.

byte lastMo;

oh... and state too....

byte state = digitalRead(DIGITAL_INPUT_SENSOR);

[thermistor1]

@BulldogLowell Thank you! I'm not a programmer, can you tell?
I'll implement that. Got the rest of it working and will share the code as well.

[thermistor1]

So for those who may be wondering, here are a couple things I learned working with multiple sensors + relays:

• All radios need capacitors because the 3.3V on the arduino is not sufficient
• Extra devices and arduinos that appear in your device list can be cleared out - remove the device and re-scan, and it should sort those problems out. I had mysterious sensors appear and refuse to leave until I did this.
• Keep track of and double check your pin numbers.
• (Clearly) don't use delay(), instead use millis()
• I did some of this piece by piece instead of repeating a function because I was trying to diagnose problems. It could probably be cleaned up but it successfully has seven different devices being controlled and functioning properly.

#include <SPI.h>
#include <MySensor.h>  
#include <DHT.h>  

//Temp
#define CHILD_ID_HUM 10
#define CHILD_ID_TEMP 20
#define HUMIDITY_SENSOR_DIGITAL_PIN 7

//Motion
#define DIGITAL_INPUT_SENSOR A0
#define CHILD_ID_PIR 30
byte lastMo;


// Relay
#define RELAY_1  3
#define RELAY_2  4
#define RELAY_3  5
#define RELAY_4  6
#define RELAY_ON 0
#define RELAY_OFF 1

// LED
int red = A5;
int blue = A4;
int green = A3;

//
MySensor gw;

DHT dht;
float lastTemp;
float lastHum;

//Timer
long previousMillis1 = 0;
long interval1 = 60000;
long previousMillis2 = 0;
long interval2 = 5000;

MyMessage msgHum(CHILD_ID_HUM, V_HUM);
MyMessage msgTemp(CHILD_ID_TEMP, V_TEMP);
MyMessage msgPIR(CHILD_ID_PIR, V_TRIPPED);

void setup()
{
  //Still unsure on conditions for this:
  gw.begin(incomingMessage, AUTO, false);

  //start temp sensor
  dht.setup(HUMIDITY_SENSOR_DIGITAL_PIN); 

  // Send the Sketch Version Information to the Gateway
  gw.sendSketchInfo("Arduino 2", "0.9");

  // Register all sensors to gw (they will be created as child devices)
  gw.present(CHILD_ID_HUM, S_HUM);
  gw.present(CHILD_ID_TEMP, S_TEMP);
  gw.present(CHILD_ID_PIR, S_MOTION);

  //LED
  pinMode(red, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(green, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(blue, OUTPUT);

  // Register Relays

  gw.present(RELAY_1, S_LIGHT);
  digitalWrite(RELAY_1,RELAY_OFF);
  pinMode(RELAY_1, OUTPUT);   
  gw.present(RELAY_2, S_LIGHT);
  digitalWrite(RELAY_2,RELAY_OFF);
  pinMode(RELAY_2, OUTPUT);   
  gw.present(RELAY_3, S_LIGHT);
  digitalWrite(RELAY_3,RELAY_OFF);
  pinMode(RELAY_3, OUTPUT);   
  gw.present(RELAY_4, S_LIGHT);
  digitalWrite(RELAY_4,RELAY_OFF);
  pinMode(RELAY_4, OUTPUT);   


  digitalWrite(red, HIGH);
  digitalWrite(green, LOW);
  digitalWrite(blue, LOW);
  
}

void loop()      
{
  unsigned long currentMillis = millis();
  if(currentMillis - previousMillis1 > interval1) {
    sendTemp();
    delay(500);
    sendHumid();
    previousMillis1 = currentMillis;
  }
  byte state = digitalRead(DIGITAL_INPUT_SENSOR);
  if (state == HIGH) {
     if (state != lastMo) {
      gw.send(msgPIR.set(state?"1":"0"));
      lastMo = state;
     }
  }
  if (state == LOW) {
     if (state != lastMo) {
      gw.send(msgPIR.set(state?"1":"0"));
      lastMo = state;
     }
  }
  previousMillis2 = currentMillis;
  gw.process();
}


void sendTemp(){
  float temperature = dht.getTemperature();
  if (isnan(temperature)) {
      Serial.println("Failed reading temperature from DHT");
  } else {
    lastTemp = temperature;
    temperature = dht.toFahrenheit(temperature);
    gw.send(msgTemp.set(temperature, 1));
    Serial.print("T: ");
    Serial.println(temperature);
  }
}

void sendHumid(){
  float humidity = dht.getHumidity();
  if (isnan(humidity)) {
      Serial.println("Failed reading humidity from DHT");
  } else {
      lastHum = humidity;
      gw.send(msgHum.set(humidity, 1));
      Serial.print("H: ");
      Serial.println(humidity);
  }
}

void incomingMessage(const MyMessage &message) {
  if (message.type==V_LIGHT) {
    if (message.sensor==3){
      digitalWrite(RELAY_1,RELAY_ON);
      digitalWrite(red, HIGH);
      digitalWrite(blue, HIGH);
      digitalWrite(green, LOW);
    } else if (message.sensor==4){
      digitalWrite(message.sensor, message.getBool()?RELAY_ON:RELAY_OFF);
      gw.saveState(message.sensor, message.getBool());
    } else if (message.sensor==5){
      digitalWrite(message.sensor, message.getBool()?RELAY_ON:RELAY_OFF);
      gw.saveState(message.sensor, message.getBool());
    } else if (message.sensor==6){
      digitalWrite(message.sensor, message.getBool()?RELAY_ON:RELAY_OFF);
      gw.saveState(message.sensor, message.getBool());
      if((digitalRead(RELAY_4))==LOW){  //If relay 4 is on:
       digitalWrite(red, LOW);
       digitalWrite(blue, HIGH);
       digitalWrite(green, HIGH);
     }
     if((digitalRead(RELAY_4))==HIGH){  //If relay 4 is off and the thing is on:
       digitalWrite(red, HIGH);
       digitalWrite(blue, LOW);
       digitalWrite(green, LOW);
     }

    }
  }
}

[BulldogLowell]

@thermistor1

So... all working OK now?

[thermistor1]

@BulldogLowell Yes, all is working, thanks. If you want to use this code for reference it is fully functional.