programming relays wit millis code

Question

Trainset info,

Turnout 1 = relay 1 - makes turnout track go left
 = relay 2 - makes turnout track go right
Turnout 2 = relay 3 - makes turnout track go left
 = relay 4 - makes turnout track go right
 Signal 1 = relay 5 - makes signal go green - train 1 starts driving
 = relay 6 - makes signal go red - train 1 stops for signal
 Signal 2 = relay 7 - makes signal go green - train 2 starts driving
 = relay 8 - makes signal go red - train 2 stops for signal

I have a arduino - uno and a 8 relay board. I want to run a program (loop) for 1/2 hour / 1800 seconds. Switching time should be 2 seconds (relay ON)

Can somebody help me with a millis code please.

Loop times should be:

relay 1 = (2),1250,(2),546 - total 1800 seconds
relay 2 = 620,(2),630,(2),546 - total 1800 seconds
relay 3 = 10,(2)1260,(2),526 - total 1800 seconds
relay 4 = 630,(2),640,(2),512 - total time 1800 seconds
relay 5 = 20,(2),1270,(2),505 - total time 1800 seconds
relay 6 = 600,(2),750,(2),446 - total time 1800 seconds
relay 7 = 640,(2),640,(2),516 - total time 1800 seconds
relay 8 = 1240,(2),450,(2),106 - total time 1800 seconds

Regards, Martinus van Walsum [email protected]

• Rudy: Start at the top of your question and read outloud. Only stop to take a breath after the end of a sentence. (when a period is inserted) Did you have a difficulty saying all that without stopping? Probably. You question is very hard to read. If you want help then please make it easier for someone to figure out what you want. Did you notice that my comment uses punctuation? If we were allowed line breaks in the comments, I would also use that. It all helps with understanding. But even if you used proper punctuation, your question is still not clear. Get rid of the train speak.
• Juraj: @Rudy, only newlines were lost without code block
• chrisl: What was your specific problem with writing the code? Have you read the BlinkWithoutDelay example, which shows, how this coding style works? Have you read some of the many tutorials for this on the web? Currently I don't know, how I could help you, without having to write the whole code myself.
• chrisl: Btw: Putting your email address directly on a public website will only get you tons of spam.
• sa_leinad: Do you realize that Turnout 1 will be switching both left and right (at the same time) at the 1250 mark? And that Turnout 2 will be switching both left and right at the 1260 mark? And so on.

Answer 1

This is functional. I would do more by making a function to be called with the time and state information. It would reduce the number of if statements. But this is simple to understand. I started with Blink without delay.

I did two relays. For the others, copy and paste, then change the relay numbers and times.

/*
 Blink without Delay
 http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/BlinkWithoutDelay
*/
const int On = 1;
const int Off = 0;
// constants won't change. Used here to set a pin number:
const int ledPin = LED_BUILTIN;// the number of the LED pin
const int relay1 = 5;
const int relay2 = 6;
// Variables will change:
int ledState = LOW; // ledState used to set the LED
// Generally, you should use "unsigned long" for variables that hold time
// The value will quickly become too large for an int to store
unsigned long previousMillis = 0; // will store last time LED was updated
int secondCount = 0;
// constants won't change:
const long interval = 1000; // interval at which to blink (milliseconds)
#define onTime 2 //relay on time
#define relay1_on1 0
#define relay1_on2 (relay1_on1+onTime+1250)
#define relay2_on1 62
#define relay2_on2 (relay2_on1+onTime+630)
void setup() {
 // set the digital pin as output:
 digitalWrite(relay1, Off);
 digitalWrite(relay2, Off);
 pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
 pinMode(relay1, OUTPUT);
 pinMode(relay2, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
 // here is where you'd put code that needs to be running all the time.
 // check to see if it's time to blink the LED; that is, if the difference
 // between the current time and last time you blinked the LED is bigger than
 // the interval at which you want to blink the LED.
 unsigned long currentMillis = millis();
 if (currentMillis - previousMillis >= interval) {
 // save the last time you blinked the LED
 previousMillis = currentMillis;
 //------------------------------
 // Relay 1
 if (secondCount == relay1_on1) {
 digitalWrite(relay1, On);
 }
 if (secondCount == (relay1_on1 + 2)) {
 digitalWrite(relay1, Off);
 }
 if (secondCount == relay1_on2) {
 digitalWrite(relay1, On);
 }
 if (secondCount == (relay1_on2 + 2)) {
 digitalWrite(relay1, Off);
 }
 //------------------------------
 // Relay 2
 if (secondCount == relay2_on1) {
 digitalWrite(relay2, On);
 }
 if (secondCount == (relay2_on1 + 2)) {
 digitalWrite(relay2, Off);
 }
 if (secondCount == relay2_on2) {
 digitalWrite(relay2, On);
 }
 if (secondCount == (relay2_on2 + 2)) {
 digitalWrite(relay2, Off);
 }
 //------------------------------
 // if the LED is off turn it on and vice-versa:
 if (ledState == LOW) {
 ledState = HIGH;
 } else {
 ledState = LOW;
 }
 // set the LED with the ledState of the variable:
 digitalWrite(ledPin, ledState);
 secondCount++;
 if (secondCount == 180) {
 secondCount = 0;
 }
 }
}