Arduino interrupt not called using PinChangeInterrupt

Question

I am new to Arduino and I was trying to figure out how to use an interrupt. When I ran this it would read my magnet but the interrupt would never be called and I couldn't figure out if anyone can help me that would be great.

Thanks.

Here is the code

#include <PinChangeInterrupt.h>
//#define INTERRUPT_PIN 12
#include <Math.h>
#define RADIUS 3
const int hallPin = 7; // the number of the hall effect sensor pin
const int ledPin = 13; // the number of the LED pin
// variables will change:
int hallState = 0; // variable for reading the hall sensor status
double inital_val = 0.0;
double distance = inital_val;
void setup() {
 // initialize the LED pin as an output:
 pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
 pinMode(hallPin, INPUT);
 //attachInterrupt(hallPin, calc_distance, HIGH);
 // initialize the hall effect sensor pin as an input:
 attachInterrupt(digitalPinToInterrupt(hallPin), calc_distance , HIGH);
 Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop() {
 //read the state of the hall effect sensor:
 hallState = digitalRead(hallPin);
 if (hallState == LOW) {
 // turn LED on:
 Serial.print("Main Loop: HallState LOW\n");
 digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);
 Serial.print(distance, 2);
 Serial.print("\n");
 } else {
 Serial.print("Main Loop: HallState HIGH\n");
 // turn LED off:
 digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);
 }
}
void calc_distance() {
 Serial.print("INTERRUPT! \n");
 if (digitalRead(hallPin) == HIGH) {
 Serial.print("YES!\n");
 distance += PI * 2 * RADIUS;
 } else {
 Serial.print("NO!\n");
 }
}

• Dave X: Are you sure hallPin=7 has an interrupt on your particular board? Unos interrupt on 2,3 only.

Answer 1

The attachInterrupt function is only for normal interrupts. Read the reference: attachInterrupt

When you need the Pin Change Interrupts, there is a library for that: EnableInterrupt

Try to keep the interrupt routine as short as possible. Do not use the Serial functions in calc_distance because the Serial functions themself use also interrupts.

The Arduino Mega does not have 'double' floating point variables, the compiler changes it into 32-bit 'float' variables. You are reading the interrupt pin for a test ? I don't understand why you do that. Please make "distance" a volatile variable. In the loop function, the interrupts should be turned off when reading "distance". Because "distance" is a 4 bytes 'float' variable and the Arduino Mega is a 8-bits microcontroller. An interrupt could occur when the "distance" is only read for a part from memory.

• Dave X: Yes to moving the serial stuff out of the interrupt, but attachInterrupt should be able to handle pin changes just fine. Maybe attachInterrupt(digitalPinToInterrupt(hallPin),calc_distance , RISING); or attachInterrupt(digitalPinToInterrupt(hallPin),calc_distance , CHANGE); would be better than whenever it is HIGH.
• Jot: The attachInterrupt function is only for pin 2 and 3 for an Arduino Uno, according to the reference. Because it uses the normal interrupts. The special "Pin Change Interrupt" (PCINT) requires specific code or a library. When a library is used, the functions from that library should be used for the interrupt. This code seems to use a little of both.