I'm not sure if I should be posting this here or under Arduino but here's my problem. I purchased an Arduino Mega before I found DIYC. I set up a profile and sequence for its 32 channels and it worked fine. I used the "Generic Serial" plugin and Com port 4. I then added the Renards. I added the extra channels to Vixon and used the "Renard Dimmer (modified)" plugin and Com port 6. When I run the sequence, the Arduino relays start clicking on and off with no rhyme or reason. If I uncheck the Renard plugin and run the sequence the Arduino runs as programmed. the Arduino is plugged into a USB port and I'm using a USB to RS485 converter for the Renards. Obviously, there is a conflict between Arduino and Renard. Is there something that needs to be changed in order to run both together?
Trying to run Arduino Mega and Renard SS24 on Vixon 2.1.1
- Thread starter Bob_nj
- Start date
Each device has its own channel set. In other words, the channels assigned to the Arduino board are not sent to the Renard device, or vice versa. Each COM port should work on its own. You have verified that your Arduino sketch uses the Vixen Arduino COM port, and not the Renard COM port number.
Are you using a header for the Arduino sketch to ensure a better sync?
Is there a possible power interaction between the way you power the Renard and Arduino boards?
The Renard board works fine when the Arduino acts up?
Thanks for responding, LightsUp. I'm new to all of this. I started with the Arduino but once I found this forum, I quickly realized that I wanted the dimming so I bought the Renards. I assigned channels 1 through 72 to the 3 Renards which are daisy chained and 73 through 104 to the Arduino. The Arduino is plugged into a USB port and a Renard is connected to a RS 485 to USB converter. I copied the sketch from someone on this forum. How would I verify that the Arduino sketch is using the Vixen Arduino COM port? The sketch does not have a header. I don't know how to write a sketch. Let me know what to do to add a header and I'll try that. I don't know what you mean if there is a power interaction? The Arduino uses 5VDC which it gets from the USB, the mechanical relays use 12VDC and the Renards use 120VAC. The Renards work fine while the Arduino does not. If I uncheck the Renard in Vixen Plugin and run the sequence, the Arduino works fine. It does look like the Renards somehow interfere with the output from Vixen to the Arduino. Let me know if you need any other info. Thanks!
You would see the Generic Serial COM port setup in Vixen and match the COM number to be the same as the Arduino COM port as shown in the Control Panel of your PC.
Also, ensure that you are not using the Serial Monitor of the Arduino IDE while Vixen is running.
I usually refer beginners to victorpv's thread as he has incorporated a header using the "~!" as shown in post # 1 of this link http://doityourselfchristmas.com/fo...48-realy-SSR-channels-with-Random-mode/page11
You will have to add the 2 characters in the header box in Vixen's Generic Serial COM port setup. Your Arduino will ignore all characters received until it reads these 2 header characters. It then stores then next 32 channels in your sketch's array and process them.
I thought that you might have a common power supply and the 2 boards were interacting. But in your case they are separate.
Is the Arduino ground connected to the relay board's 12V ground? If so, do you have an option to remove it while maintaining a good connection for the opto-isolators of the relay board? Maybe your 12V supply is picking up noise via its ground connection from the Renard SSRs. I was thinking of the Arduino USB connection picking up noise, either a ground loop or induced, when the Renard is running.
OK. Here's what I did. I added the header to Vixen but it didn't help. I decided to remove the Generic Serial from the Profile, removed the extra channels and made sure the Renards still worked, which they did. I then setup a separate profile and sequence with just the Arduino and it worked fine. I then tried to open both sequences and run them at the same time. The Arduino relays were coming on and off with no rhyme or reason. Then I opened a second Vixen session and was able to run the Arduino sequence. I then started the Renard sequence in the other session and they both ran together without any problems. I'm not sure what this means but it seems to show that the problem lies in Vixen. Any ideas?
The good news is that you were able to try different things to more accurately assess the problem. If we had assumed it was interference, then we would not have been able to resolve it.
I don't use Vixen and have a very limited understanding of it, but I was under the impression that multiple COM ports could be successfully used.
Perhaps it works best if the protocol is the same (all Renard, or all Generic Serial)?
I don't use Vixen and have a very limited understanding of it, but I was under the impression that multiple COM ports could be successfully used.
Perhaps it works best if the protocol is the same (all Renard, or all Generic Serial)?
IaRoadKill
New member
Bob_nj,
I ran multiple Arduino's with Vixen3 last season with great success, after I got help from LightUp and others of course. Lol
I plan to run the Arduinos along with Renard's this year and just assumed I would have no problem.
Let me set up a quick test and get back to you.
I ran multiple Arduino's with Vixen3 last season with great success, after I got help from LightUp and others of course. Lol
I plan to run the Arduinos along with Renard's this year and just assumed I would have no problem.
Let me set up a quick test and get back to you.
IaRoadKill
New member
I won't be able to get back until later tonight.
I bought a new laptop and will have to reload Arduino stuff and get it running again.
I bought a new laptop and will have to reload Arduino stuff and get it running again.
IaRoadKill
New member
I never tried to run 2 sequence at the same time. You should be able to run every thing from 1 sequence.
I'm fighting my computer at the moment, but I will get to it yet tonight. We are the same time zone.
I'm fighting my computer at the moment, but I will get to it yet tonight. We are the same time zone.
IaRoadKill
New member
Sorry I haven't replied yet but when I transfered info to new laptop, guess what didn't come over!?
I've been fighting computer for HOURS.
My brain is mush. I need to stop for tonight. I will work on it again in the morning.
ttyl
I've been fighting computer for HOURS.
My brain is mush. I need to stop for tonight. I will work on it again in the morning.
ttyl
IaRoadKill
New member
My brain is a bit clearer this morning.
The reason I could not find my Arduino sketch, is that I never finished it. LOL
I use Vixen3 and the zparticle's dimming sketch, if memory serves me, is only made for Vixen2. It was on my to do list to hack it to work on Vixen3.
Then I started working on new display builds and never went back to it.
Did you want to dim with arduino or just on/off, along with the Renard's?
The reason I could not find my Arduino sketch, is that I never finished it. LOL
I use Vixen3 and the zparticle's dimming sketch, if memory serves me, is only made for Vixen2. It was on my to do list to hack it to work on Vixen3.
Then I started working on new display builds and never went back to it.
Did you want to dim with arduino or just on/off, along with the Renard's?
One reason it worked only for Vixen 2 was that it used a long footer, which vixen 3 doesn't accept. The code will need to be modified to work with a shorter footer for Vixen 3. I don't recall if I actually tried to mod it. I liked his later VER 2, as it was a more optimized sketch and could do 32 channel dimming.
IaRoadKill
New member
Yes, his version 2 is what I was going to modify.
The version 2 I'm thinking of didn't need conversion and it used "STRT" for header and "END" for a footer. This should work on both Vixen_2 and Vixen_3 versions.
I think this was his most current version - but I could be wrong.
Link; https://code.google.com/p/arduino-c...tail?name=XmasLightControllerForVixenSSRs.ino
dmcole
New member
You can run multiple iterations of Vixen 2.x on the same computer, which would allow you to run multiple sequences at the same time, sync'd with the schedule feature.
This, of course, would require that you have multiple Arduinos that used multiple COM ports.
HTH.
\dmc
I have 1 Arduino and 3 Renard SS24's. The schedule feature only allows you to pick 1 sequence. I can open up a second schedule feature and schedule the 2nd sequence. However, neither schedule will start at the time they were set for. If I only set 1 schedule with 1 sequence then it will start as set but that doesn't solve my problem. I had read in some of the other posts about using Renard protocol on the Arduino. Would this solve my problem by running the Arduino and Renards in the same sequence?
It is not clear what is going on to definitively give you an answer. What would help if we had access to the raw datastreams of the Renard COM port and the Arduino COM port, while both are running, to see if there is corruption of the datastream. Currently we are guessing.
If you only have one protocol running then your experiment suggests all is well. So I would say that using only the Renard protocol for all your channels and then divide them up between your Renard boards and a Renard-on-Arduino board, it should work. This approach still doesn't give clarity why 2 different protocols didn't work at the same time. Perhaps an experiment for others to determine what is happening.