Whereabouts Software, Part 4 - Arduino Code

-
The Arduino code is responsible for connecting to the Wifi network, getting the latest data from the server (with the help of the fetch_current.php script), and moving the servos to the correct location.

Arduino sketch:  Whereabouts.ino

Before you download and install the sketch to your Arduino, you will need to update some of the code for your specific environment:

/* Network Information */
char ssid[] = "your_SSID";      //  your network SSID (name) 
char pass[] = "your_WPA_pass";  // your network password

// WiFi/Ethernet vars
IPAddress server(10,10,10,10);



This is all pretty self-explanatory. Add the Wifi SSID, WPA password, and server IP address to the sketch.






// Servo control vars
// The number of people (or hands) that I have on the clock
#define NUM_PEOPLE 5
// Names of the people we track (must match what is returned from the server
String peopleNames[NUM_PEOPLE] = {String("DAD"), String("MOM"), String("CHILD1"), String("CHILD2"), String("CHILD3")};
// The locations that we will fill from the server
String peopleLocations[NUM_PEOPLE] = {String(""), String(""), String(""), String(""), String("")};





This requires coordinating the sketch with the database user table. The strings "DAD", "MOM", etc. are usernames in the user table. These will be matched in the fetch_current.php script. If you have more or fewer users, they will need to be adjusted here.






// Make the HTTP request
client.println("GET /server_path/fetch_current.php HTTP/1.0");



Update the 'server_path' with the URL path to the fetch_current.php script on the server.



There are a few other tuning parameters in the sketch to control the servo movement, but these should get you started.



Enjoy!







































Comments











Post a Comment



















Popular posts from this blog









V-22 Osprey Project - Design Changes for v3






-














Image







It's been a busy end of 2021, and as we start 2022 I'm getting closer to building version 3 of the Osprey wing.  The single biggest problem I've faced is the amount of backlash in the direct spur gear drive of the tilt mechanism.  It introduces some nasty instability that, left unchecked, would likely destroy the model in flight. I've investigated other tilt mechanisms, but the one I keep coming back to is the rack and pinion design that Tom Mast uses in his model at Rotormast.  His design uses a high-torque digital servo with a small pinion gear driving a rack attached to the rotor nacelle.  The servo has been modified with an external potentiometer that's driven by a gear on the translation tube to give positional feedback to the servo.  I like this design a lot because 1) It works, and his model is proof, and 2) it requires less torque from the servo and has less backlash. I ordered the pair of modified servos, potentiometer, and rack from Tom's site and star








Read more










V-22 Osprey Project - Flight Control






-














Image







Now that I have a conceptual idea of how to build a V-22 using leftover mCPX BL parts, how do I go about controlling such an aircraft?  I own a Taranis X9D+, and it can control up to 32 channels using dual receivers, so that won’t be a problem.  I’m sure that I can create a mixing profile in the transmitter to handle just about anything, but I’m also sure that just like any multi-rotor “drone," this thing will need some form of automatic flight stabilization.      I own a few multirotor aircraft and I’m familiar with how they function.  Some research into the popular flight control software (Betaflight, iNav, Cleanflight, LIbrepilot, etc.) all came up short.  No one has written code for off-the-shelf flight controllers to manage a dual-swashplate aircraft.  I would have to build my own. I have not delved into writing code for flight controllers, but I have built a number of Arduino projects, and some of them utilize RC inputs to control servos and motors.  It occurred to me that I








Read more










Whereabouts Clock Update






-














Image







After a few months, Life360 has gone the way of Apple and locked down the API I used to get location data from the phones.  This is disappointing, but inevitable. I found on a forum for Home Assistant that the app OwnTracks might be a suitable alternative. It's a neat little app that will trigger the phone to send its location data via MQTT to a server that you specify. I had to rework the code a bit, but the new operation is as follows: OwnTracks  on the phone will push location data per its configuration to the MQTT server (Docker container) The Mosquitto  (MQTT Broker) container will receive the data and forward the data to its subscribers The MQTTWarn  container is a subscriber and translates the received data and adds it to the MariaDB  database The Apache  web server hosts a Python CGI script that is checked each minute by the Arduino  microcontroller.  If the data has changed, the hands are moved to the new location. The only exposed port to the Internet is TCP 1883 for MQTT








Read more