Node / sketch with Dallas and Relay starts behaving weird after one day



  • Hi,

    I am having trouble with a node. It is a combined Dallas temperature sensor with a relay.

    Everything works fine, but after about a day the node starts to behave weird. Sketch attached.

    Once it kept on sending the temperature, but did not react to requests to switch the relay anymore.
    A power cycle did not help, maybe some capacitors were not fully empty, another power cycle and everything was back to normal.
    Another time the same thing happened: The node kept sending the temperatures, but no reaction on the relay.
    Another time it failed like this: It kept sending the same temperature over and over again, the true temperature was definitely different (so it was not reading the temperature from the Dallas). It just sent the same temperature, in some strange regular interval, every 7 minutes or so. No matter that the sketch only sends the temperature if it is different from the previous one. Also no reaction on the relay.

    I do not know what happens, the node somehow works and operates and sends temperatures, but somehow gets confused. The issue is reproducible it seems, I just need to let it run for 24 hours or more.

    Any ideas? Anything wrong in the sketch? Maybe some variable or number that is overflowing? Or the time or the Atmega (millis)?

    It is a self built node with an Atmega328p running at 8 MHz with the internal clock. I have built other nodes like this some with 1 MHz that read the temperature around the house, all working fine. But totally different sketches.

    Thanks very much in advance for any ideas!

    // if you uncomment this, you can get test and debug updates about everything the sensor is doing by using the serial monitor tool.
    //#define MY_DEBUG
    
    // Enable and select radio type attached
    #define MY_RADIO_NRF24                            // A 2.4Ghz transmitter and receiver, often used with MySensors.
    // #define MY_RF24_PA_LEVEL RF24_PA_MIN           // This sets a low-power mode for the radio. Useful if you use the verison with the bigger antenna, but don't want to power that from a separate power source. It can also fix problems with fake Chinese versions of the radio.
    // #define MY_RADIO_RFM69                         // 433Mhz transmitter and reveiver.
    
    // Choose if you want this sensor to also be a repeater.
    // #define MY_REPEATER_FEATURE                    // Just remove the two slashes at the beginning of this line to also enable this sensor to act as a repeater for other sensors. If this node is on battery power, you probably shouldn't enable this.
    
    // Are you using this sensor on battery power?
    // #define BATTERY_POWERED                        // Just remove the two slashes at the beginning of this line if your node is battery powered. It will then go into deep sleep as much as possible. While it's sleeping it can't work as a repeater!
    
    //#define MY_RF24_PA_LEVEL RF24_PA_LOW
    #define MY_PARENT_NODE_ID 99
    #define MY_PARENT_NODE_IS_STATIC
    #define MY_NODE_ID 8
    #define MY_BAUD_RATE 9600
    
    // LIBRARIES (in the Arduino IDE go to Sketch -> Include Library -> Manage Libraries to add these if you don't have them installed yet.)
    #include <SPI.h>
    #include <MySensors.h>
    #include <DallasTemperature.h>
    #include <OneWire.h>
    
    #define RELAY_1  4  // Arduino Digital I/O pin number for first relay (second on pin+1 etc)
    #define NUMBER_OF_RELAYS 1 // Total number of attached relays
    #define RELAY_ON 1  // GPIO value to write to turn on attached relay
    #define RELAY_OFF 0 // GPIO value to write to turn off attached relay
    
    //Added this nteger to avoid stupid collect2.exe: error: ld returned 5 exit status.
    //It seems adding one or removing one (or plenty) solves the error.
    //int stupidinteger=0;
    //int stupidintegertwo=0;
    //int stupidintegerthree=0;
    
    // VARIABLES YOU CAN CHANGE
    #define COMPARE_TEMP 1                            // Send temperature only if changed? 1 = Yes 0 = No. Can save battery.
    #define ONE_WIRE_BUS 7                            // Digital pin where Dallas sensor(s) is/are connected.
    #define maxAttachedDS18B20 16                     // Maximum amount of teperature sensors you can connect to this arduino (16).
    unsigned long measurementInterval = 9250;        // Time to wait between reads (in milliseconds).
    //float tempThreshold = 0.1;                        // How big a temperature difference has to be before an update is sent. Makes the sensor less precise, but also less jittery, and can save battery.
    
    
    //VARIABLES YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T CHANGE
    #define TEMP_CHILD_ID 0                           // for MySensors. Within this node each sensortype should have its own ID number.
    OneWire oneWire(ONE_WIRE_BUS);                    // Setup a oneWire instance to communicate with any OneWire devices (not just Maxim/Dallas temperature ICs)
    DallasTemperature sensors(&oneWire);              // Pass the oneWire reference to Dallas Temperature.
    float lastTemperature[maxAttachedDS18B20];        // creates an array to hold the previous temperature measurements for each possible sensor.
    int numSensors = 0;                               // variable to contain the number of found attached sensors.
    unsigned long measurementSleepTime = 0;           // variable to store the calculated Sleep time if the node is battery powered.
    bool metric = true;                               // Variable that stores if the sensor will output the temperature in Fahrenheit of Celsius. The gateway sends this preference to the node.
    bool receivedConfig = false;                      // This is not used in the code, but perhaps MySensors requires this?
    
    
    // Mysensors settings
    MyMessage msg(TEMP_CHILD_ID,V_TEMP);              // Sets up the message format that we'l be sending to the MySensors gateway later. The first part is the ID of the specific sensor module on this node. The second part tells the gateway what kind of data to expect.
    
    
    void before()
    {
       sensors.begin();                               // Startup up the OneWire library. It allows multiple sensors to talk over one wire (one pin).
    
    for (int sensor=1, pin=RELAY_1; sensor<=NUMBER_OF_RELAYS; sensor++, pin++) {
        // Then set relay pins in output mode
        pinMode(pin, OUTPUT);
        // Set relay to last known state (using eeprom storage)
        digitalWrite(pin, loadState(sensor)?RELAY_ON:RELAY_OFF);
     
    }
    }
    
    
    void setup()
    {
       for(int i=0; i<maxAttachedDS18B20; i++) 
       {
          lastTemperature[i] = 0;  //Pre-filling array with 0's.
       }
       sensors.setWaitForConversion(false); // requestTemperatures() will not block current thread
    
    #ifdef BATTERY_POWERED // If the node is batter ypowered, we'll let Sleep take over the scheduling.
       measurementSleepTime = measurementInterval;
       measurementInterval = 0; // When the Arduino is asleep, millis doesn't increment anymore (time stops as it were). To fix this, we'll set the measurement interval time to 1, so that when the arduino wakes up it will immediately try to measure again.
    #endif
    
       //Serial.begin(115200); // for serial debugging.
       //Serial.println("Hello world, I am a sensor node.");
    }
    
    
    void presentation()
    {
      // Send the sketch version information to the gateway and Controller
      sendSketchInfo("Maischen relay and Dallas", "1.0");
    
      for (int sensor=1, pin=RELAY_1; sensor<=NUMBER_OF_RELAYS; sensor++, pin++) {
        // Register all sensors to gw (they will be created as child devices)
        present(sensor, S_BINARY);
      }
    
       numSensors = sensors.getDeviceCount();          // Fetch the number of attached temperature sensors
       for (int i=0; i<numSensors && i<maxAttachedDS18B20; i++) {
          present(i, S_TEMP);     
       }
    }
    
    
    
    void loop()
    {     
      // Fetch temperatures from Dallas sensors
      sensors.requestTemperatures();
    
      // query conversion time and sleep until conversion completed
      int16_t conversionTime = millisToWaitForConversion(sensors.getResolution());
      // sleep() call can be replaced by wait() call if node need to process incoming messages (or if node is repeater)
    //    Serial.print("Library");
    //    Serial.print(" says its conversion time is ");
    //    Serial.print(conversionTime);
    //    Serial.println(" ms");
      wait(conversionTime);
    
      // Read temperatures and send them to controller 
      for (int i=0; i<numSensors && i<maxAttachedDS18B20; i++) {
     
        // Fetch and round temperature to one decimal
        float temperature = static_cast<float>(static_cast<int>((getControllerConfig().isMetric?sensors.getTempCByIndex(i):sensors.getTempFByIndex(i)) * 10.)) / 10.;
    //    Serial.print("Sensor #");
    //    Serial.print(i);
    //    Serial.print(" says it is ");
    //    Serial.print(temperature);
    //    Serial.println(" degrees");
     
        // Only send data if temperature has changed and no error
        #if COMPARE_TEMP == 1
        if (lastTemperature[i] != temperature && temperature != -127.00 && temperature != 85.00) {
        #else
        if (temperature != -127.00 && temperature != 85.00) {
        #endif
     
          Serial.print(temperature - lastTemperature[i]);
          Serial.print("Sending the new temperature to the gateway.\n");
          // Send in the new temperature
          send(msg.setSensor(i).set(temperature,1));
          // Save new temperatures for next compare
          lastTemperature[i]=temperature;
        }
    //  else {
    //  Serial.print(temperature - lastTemperature[i]);
    //  Serial.print("- difference too small, so not sending the new measurement to the gateway.\n");
    //  }
      }
      wait(measurementInterval);
    }
    
    
    // This function helps to avoid a problem with the latest Dallas temperature library.
    int16_t millisToWaitForConversion(uint8_t bitResolution)
    {
       switch (bitResolution) 
       {
         case 9:
            return 94;
         case 10:
            return 188;
         case 11:
            return 375;
         default:
            return 750;
       }
    }
    
    
    void receive(const MyMessage &message)
    {
      // We only expect one type of message from controller. But we better check anyway.
      if (message.type==V_STATUS) {
        // Change relay state
        digitalWrite(message.sensor-1+RELAY_1, message.getBool()?RELAY_ON:RELAY_OFF);
        // Store state in eeprom
        saveState(message.sensor, message.getBool());
        // Write some debug info
        //Serial.print("Incoming change for sensor:");
        //Serial.print(message.sensor);
        //Serial.print(", New status: ");
        //Serial.println(message.getBool());
      }
    }
    
    
    

  • Mod

    Is there a particular reason why are you sending temperature avery 10 seconds and asking controllerconfig each loop?



  • Yes, the 10 seconds is, because I am using it to control the heating of a mash (beer). So I want the temperature (if it changed) to be sent very often.

    The line with getControllerConfig() I have from the mysensors temperature sensor sketch example.

    Actually my initial post has an error, maybe I can correct. Yes, the temperature should be checked every 10 seconds. But when the sensor failed it kept sending the same temperature every 6 or 7 minutes in the same interval. So not as specified by the sketch.


  • Mod

    @karl261 said in Node / sketch with Dallas and Relay starts behaving weird after one day:

    getControllerConfig().isMetric

    I'd put that in the setup function and maybe you could try to use older versions of boards definitions; maybe a different temperature sensor, just to see if anything changes.



  • How would you do this?Like this? I tried to move it to the setup function.
    This is also a version I found using non blocking (millis()) code.

    // if you uncomment this, you can get test and debug updates about everything the sensor is doing by using the serial monitor tool.
    //#define MY_DEBUG
    
    // Enable and select radio type attached
    #define MY_RADIO_NRF24                            // A 2.4Ghz transmitter and receiver, often used with MySensors.
    // #define MY_RF24_PA_LEVEL RF24_PA_MIN           // This sets a low-power mode for the radio. Useful if you use the verison with the bigger antenna, but don't want to power that from a separate power source. It can also fix problems with fake Chinese versions of the radio.
    // #define MY_RADIO_RFM69                         // 433Mhz transmitter and reveiver.
    
    // Choose if you want this sensor to also be a repeater.
    // #define MY_REPEATER_FEATURE                    // Just remove the two slashes at the beginning of this line to also enable this sensor to act as a repeater for other sensors. If this node is on battery power, you probably shouldn't enable this.
    
    // Are you using this sensor on battery power?
    // #define BATTERY_POWERED                        // Just remove the two slashes at the beginning of this line if your node is battery powered. It will then go into deep sleep as much as possible. While it's sleeping it can't work as a repeater!
    
    //#define MY_RF24_PA_LEVEL RF24_PA_LOW
    #define MY_PARENT_NODE_ID 99
    #define MY_PARENT_NODE_IS_STATIC
    #define MY_NODE_ID 8
    #define MY_BAUD_RATE 9600
    
    // LIBRARIES (in the Arduino IDE go to Sketch -> Include Library -> Manage Libraries to add these if you don't have them installed yet.)
    #include <SPI.h>
    #include <MySensors.h>
    #include <DallasTemperature.h>
    #include <OneWire.h>
    
    #define RELAY_1  4  // Arduino Digital I/O pin number for first relay (second on pin+1 etc)
    #define NUMBER_OF_RELAYS 1 // Total number of attached relays
    #define RELAY_ON 1  // GPIO value to write to turn on attached relay
    #define RELAY_OFF 0 // GPIO value to write to turn off attached relay
    
    //Added this nteger to avoid stupid collect2.exe: error: ld returned 5 exit status.
    //It seems adding one or removing one (or plenty) solves the error.
    //int stupidinteger=0;
    //int stupidintegertwo=0;
    //int stupidintegerthree=0;
    
    // VARIABLES YOU CAN CHANGE
    #define COMPARE_TEMP 1                            // Send temperature only if changed? 1 = Yes 0 = No. Can save battery.
    #define ONE_WIRE_BUS 7                            // Digital pin where Dallas sensor(s) is/are connected.
    #define maxAttachedDS18B20 16                     // Maximum amount of teperature sensors you can connect to this arduino (16).
    const long measurementInterval = 10000;        // Time to wait between reads (in milliseconds).
    float tempThreshold = 0.1;                        // How big a temperature difference has to be before an update is sent. Makes the sensor less precise, but also less jittery, and can save battery.
    
    
    //VARIABLES YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T CHANGE
    #define TEMP_CHILD_ID 0                           // for MySensors. Within this node each sensortype should have its own ID number.
    OneWire oneWire(ONE_WIRE_BUS);                    // Setup a oneWire instance to communicate with any OneWire devices (not just Maxim/Dallas temperature ICs)
    DallasTemperature sensors(&oneWire);              // Pass the oneWire reference to Dallas Temperature.
    float lastTemperature[maxAttachedDS18B20];        // creates an array to hold the previous temperature measurements for each possible sensor.
    int numSensors = 0;                               // variable to contain the number of found attached sensors.
    unsigned long measurementSleepTime = 0;           // variable to store the calculated Sleep time if the node is battery powered.
    bool metric = true;                               // Variable that stores if the sensor will output the temperature in Fahrenheit of Celsius. The gateway sends this preference to the node.
    bool receivedConfig = false;                      // This is not used in the code, but perhaps MySensors requires this?
    
    
    // Mysensors settings
    MyMessage msg(TEMP_CHILD_ID,V_TEMP);              // Sets up the message format that we'l be sending to the MySensors gateway later. The first part is the ID of the specific sensor module on this node. The second part tells the gateway what kind of data to expect.
    
    
    void before()
    {
       sensors.begin();                               // Startup up the OneWire library. It allows multiple sensors to talk over one wire (one pin).
    
    for (int sensor=1, pin=RELAY_1; sensor<=NUMBER_OF_RELAYS; sensor++, pin++) {
        // Then set relay pins in output mode
        pinMode(pin, OUTPUT);
        // Set relay to last known state (using eeprom storage)
        digitalWrite(pin, loadState(sensor)?RELAY_ON:RELAY_OFF);
     
    }
    }
    
    
    void setup()
    {
      metric = getControllerConfig().isMetric;
       for(int i=0; i<maxAttachedDS18B20; i++) 
       {
          lastTemperature[i] = 0;  //Pre-filling array with 0's.
       }
       sensors.setWaitForConversion(false); // requestTemperatures() will not block current thread
    
    #ifdef BATTERY_POWERED // If the node is batter ypowered, we'll let Sleep take over the scheduling.
       measurementSleepTime = measurementInterval;
       measurementInterval = 0; // When the Arduino is asleep, millis doesn't increment anymore (time stops as it were). To fix this, we'll set the measurement interval time to 1, so that when the arduino wakes up it will immediately try to measure again.
    #endif
    
       //Serial.begin(115200); // for serial debugging.
       //Serial.println("Hello world, I am a sensor node.");
    }
    
    
    void presentation()
    {
      // Send the sketch version information to the gateway and Controller
      sendSketchInfo("Maischen relay and Dallas non blocking", "1.0");
    
      for (int sensor=1, pin=RELAY_1; sensor<=NUMBER_OF_RELAYS; sensor++, pin++) {
        // Register all sensors to gw (they will be created as child devices)
        present(sensor, S_BINARY);
      }
    
       numSensors = sensors.getDeviceCount();          // Fetch the number of attached temperature sensors
       for (int i=0; i<numSensors && i<maxAttachedDS18B20; i++) {
          present(i, S_TEMP);     
       }
    }
    
    
    
    void loop()
    {
    
       // You should not change these variables:
       static boolean dallasIsMeasuring = true;                        // Used to indicate when the time is right for a new measurement to be made.
       static boolean dallasIsCalculating = false;                     // Used to bridge the time that is needed to calculate the temperature values by the Dallas library.
       unsigned long currentMillis = 0;                          // The millisecond clock in the main loop.
       static unsigned long previousMeasurementMillis = 0;       // Used to remember the time of the last temperature measurement.
       static int16_t conversionTime = 0;                        // Used to store the time needed to calculate the temperature from measurements.
    
       currentMillis = millis(); // The time since the sensor started, counted in milliseconds. This script tries to avoid using the Sleep function, so that it could at the same time be a MySensors repeater.
    
       // Let's measure the temperature
       if(dallasIsMeasuring == true && currentMillis - previousMeasurementMillis >= measurementInterval) { // If we're not calculating, and enough time has passed, we'll start again.
          dallasIsMeasuring = false; // We're measuring, so let's take it off our to-do list.
          //Serial.println("Starting new measurement(s)");
          previousMeasurementMillis = currentMillis; // Mark the time of the initialiation of this measurement.
    
          // Fetch temperatures from Dallas sensors
          sensors.requestTemperatures();
    
          // query conversion time. Apparently it takes a while to calculate.
          //conversionTime = sensors.millisToWaitForConversion(sensors.getResolution());
          conversionTime = millisToWaitForConversion(sensors.getResolution()); // This is a modified version of the line above, to deal with the problem in the current Dallas library.
          dallasIsCalculating = true; //Next step is to re-calculate the temperature again.
       }
    
    
       // Next, let's calculate and send the temperature
       if(dallasIsCalculating == true && currentMillis - conversionTime > previousMeasurementMillis) {
          dallasIsCalculating = false; // We're doing this now, so check calculating off the to-do list too.
          for (int i=0; i<numSensors && i<maxAttachedDS18B20; i++){  // Loop through all the attached temperature sensors.   
            //float temperature = getControllerConfig().isMetric?sensors.getTempCByIndex(i):sensors.getTempFByIndex(i); // Fetch the temperature form the current sensor
            float temperature = static_cast<float>(static_cast<int>((metric?sensors.getTempCByIndex(i):sensors.getTempFByIndex(i)) * 10.)) / 10.;
             //Serial.print("Sensor #");
             //Serial.print(i);
             //Serial.print(" says it is ");
             //Serial.print(temperature);
             //Serial.println(" degrees");
             if(temperature != -127.00 && temperature != 85.00) { // Avoids working with measurement errors.
                if (COMPARE_TEMP == 1 && abs(temperature - lastTemperature[i]) < tempThreshold) { // is the temperature difference bigger than the threshold?
                   //Serial.print(temperature - lastTemperature[i]);
                   //Serial.print("- difference too small, so not sending the new measurement to the gateway.\n");
                } else {
                   //Serial.print(temperature - lastTemperature[i]);
                   //Serial.print("Sending the new temperature to the gateway.\n");
                   send(msg.setSensor(i).set(temperature,1));
                   lastTemperature[i] = temperature; // Save new temperatures to be able to compare in the next round.
                }
             }
          }
    
          // Both tasks are done. Time to wait until we should measure again.
          //Serial.print("zzzzZZZZzzzzZZZZzzzz\n");
    
    #ifdef BATTERY_POWERED
          unsigned long quicktimecheck = millis(); // check how much time has passed during the measurement (can be up to 750 milliseconds), and then calculate from that how long to sleep until the next intended measuring time.
          unsigned long sleeptime = measurementSleepTime - (quicktimecheck - previousMeasurementMillis); //How much time has passed already during the calculating? Subtract that from the intended interval time.
          sleep (sleeptime);
    #endif
    
          dallasIsMeasuring = true;
       }
    }
    
    
    // This function helps to avoid a problem with the latest Dallas temperature library.
    int16_t millisToWaitForConversion(uint8_t bitResolution)
    {
       switch (bitResolution) 
       {
         case 9:
            return 94;
         case 10:
            return 188;
         case 11:
            return 375;
         default:
            return 750;
       }
    }
    
    
    void receive(const MyMessage &message)
    {
      // We only expect one type of message from controller. But we better check anyway.
      if (message.type==V_STATUS) {
        // Change relay state
        digitalWrite(message.sensor-1+RELAY_1, message.getBool()?RELAY_ON:RELAY_OFF);
        // Store state in eeprom
        saveState(message.sensor, message.getBool());
        // Write some debug info
        //Serial.print("Incoming change for sensor:");
        //Serial.print(message.sensor);
        //Serial.print(", New status: ");
        //Serial.println(message.getBool());
      }
    }
    

Log in to reply
 

Suggested Topics

  • 3
  • 3
  • 2
  • 24
  • 1
  • 10

0
Online

11.2k
Users

11.1k
Topics

112.5k
Posts