Using Maxuino to read from an ultrasonic sensor

Sorry that it took time to reply, I had problems with loging in and posting.
It seems that folks at cycling are still soldering their wires arround new
authorisations - logins etc stuff
avrdue: stk500_getsync(): not in sync: resp=0x00
That error almost allways means that serial connection to the board is broken,
either the ftdi chip is faulty, or one did not select correct model of arduino,
processor or COMM port.
All lattepanda docs mention leonardo as built in board, so where did You get that
UNO modell ?
UNO has ATMEGA 328p cpu, and it has to be selected under processor menu.
And one has to restart Arduino IDE to make that setting active.
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As for Max 5 runtime, with removed parts, I can't upload it here - it is 5.7 MB
and that is too much for the forum upload.

here is download link :
https://files.fm/u/6nu4b5nc

I just had a look at lattepanda hardware.
It should run max 7 without problem for what You need.
I had several projects using Windows Tablets with less powerfull
CPU/GPU, and max 7 runs just fine to playback Audio, Video
and do "normal" tasks.
But Windows was 8.1 pro trimmed down to the bare bones,
simply nothing, just drivers, max and notepad ...

@Source Audio: Excuse the delay, was trouble shooting a few things at the same time. The good news I've got the latte panda onboard Arduino to work now.

It seems the latte panda will run ok, but I will invest in a pro version of windows and trim it down like you said in the near future.

The motors now work fine, and everything in regards to them works perfectly. However the sensor is not working now :(

I've tried a second sensor I have here, and it also doesn't work, so we can rule out the sensor.

Is there anything that needs to change in the Arduino Sketch now that I'm using an Arduino Leonardo, and not an Arduino Uno? I've checked my wiring twice, and but can't seen any issues there.

I've opened up Serial Monitor, and when I move my hand around the sensor nothing seems to happen. Apart form setting the Baud rate to 57600, is there anything else i need to do?

Any ideas?

(By the way, the issue with the arduino leonardo is in the uploading process. I have to hold down the re-set button when I upload a new sketch, and then everything works fine).

Hi there, I honestly lost a trace about what exactly was in the sketch - maxpatch,
I'll have a look into it and report back.
But in the meantime - I remember that serial USB communication has to be initialised differently for ATmega32U4 based boards, one had to insert
while (!Serial);  // for Leonardo/Micro/Zero boards in the setup,
so that part should look like :
void setup()
{ while (!Serial);  // for Leonardo/Micro/Zero
 Serial.begin(57600);
}
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The thing is - one has to wait till USB serial communication gets initialised.

Totally understandable! Excuse the time delay, as I said I was working between forums to try and get the problem solved, such a learning curve!

I've been doing some more tests, but I can't seem to the sensor to work even when I add the while (!Serial); command. This is how it looks:

int Direction1 = 2; int Speed1 = 3; int Direction2 = 4; int Speed2 = 5; //Motor Speed Control
const int trigPin = 6; const int echoPin = 7; long timeFront; int distanceFront; // Ultra Sensor

void setup() {while (!Serial); pinMode(2, OUTPUT); pinMode(4, OUTPUT); pinMode(trigPin, OUTPUT); pinMode(echoPin, INPUT);
Serial.begin(57600);
}

void loop() {
digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW); delayMicroseconds(2);
digitalWrite(trigPin, HIGH); delayMicroseconds(10); digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);
timeFront = pulseIn(echoPin, HIGH, 2940); distanceFront = timeFront*0.034/2; // NEED QUED TRIG > READ ?????
if (distanceFront < 20 and distanceFront > 0){Serial.println("CLOSE");} //stop ROBOT Serial.print(distanceFront);
delay(50);

if (Serial.available() > 0) {char val = Serial.read();
if (val == 'S'){digitalWrite(Direction1,LOW); digitalWrite(Speed1, 0); digitalWrite(Direction2,LOW); digitalWrite(Speed2, 0);}
if (val == 'M'){
int D1 = Serial.parseInt(); int S1 = Serial.parseInt(); int D2 = Serial.parseInt(); int S2 = Serial.parseInt();
if (Serial.read() == '\n') {
digitalWrite(Direction1, D1); analogWrite(Speed1, S1); digitalWrite(Direction2, D2); analogWrite(Speed2, S2);
}}}}

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One thing that I have noticed is that when I make changes in the max patch, the light on the arduino leonardo / latte panda blinks. For example, it blinks when I start a motor, or stop a motor. However nothing happens when I move my hand in front of the sensor.

The motors work fine, its just the sensor part that doesn't. Quite frustrating when it worked on the arduino uno totally fine. I assume its a difference between boards? Although there is now a windows operating system controlling it, but I assume that shouldn't matter?

maybe setup should be :
void setup() {while (!Serial); Serial.begin(57600);
pinMode(2, OUTPUT); pinMode(4, OUTPUT); pinMode(trigPin, OUTPUT); pinMode(echoPin, INPUT);}

I would do simple tests to find the problem.
Check if leonardo is sending anything to max using some simple method
like:
void setup() {while (!Serial); Serial.begin(57600);}
void loop() { Serial.println("CLOSE"); delay(500); Serial.println("Away");delay(500);}

if You receive the 2 messages in Max, then serial communication is ok,
and You go on to troubleshoot some other part.
It could be that pin numbering is different between UNO and that built in leonardo, and that tsensors are connected to wrong pins

Another possible problem which I overlooked : leonardo has different
Timer configuration than UNO or other 328p based arduinos.
Using pin 3 on leonardo for PWM output , could affect timing of delay.
That's because Timer 0 is used for delays, microseconds etc
and leonardo uses Timer 0 on pin 3...
this could be a better pin configuration :
int Direction1 = 4; int Speed1 = 5; int Direction2 = 8; int Speed2 = 9; //Motor Speed Control
const int trigPin = 3; const int echoPin = 2; long timeFront; int distanceFront; // Ultra Sensor
In this way Timers should not conflict on leonardo.

@Source Audio: excuse the delay, have wanted to be thorough with my testing.

First of all I changed the ordering this:
void setup() {while (!Serial); Serial.begin(57600); pinMode(2, OUTPUT); pinMode(4, OUTPUT); pinMode(trigPin, OUTPUT); pinMode(echoPin, INPUT);}

And didn't get any results. While you also state a simple test after this, I'm afraid I'm not entirely sure how that test works. I uploaded the code to the arduino, then opened up a max patch and checked the max patch for the window, and couldn't see anything. I also did the same in Arduino Serial, but also couldn't see any results.

Did I have to input anything into the Serial Window in order to see anything or should it just automatically print messages if it detects something from the ultrasonic sensor?

I then changed the pin configuration, re-uploaded it to the arduino and checked the max patch, but still nothing. In all cases the motors still operate as expected, but the ultrasonic sensor never works.

Would you be able to give me further instructions on how to test the ultrasonic sensor with that simple arduino sketch?