How to Independently run positional and continuous servos using millis()?

Question

I am setting up 3 servos (2 position servos and 1 '360' continuous rotational servo) with Arduino. but I failed to run these independently. It runs one after another. I wish to run it in loop independent to each other. Here is the code which I use to run positional servo and CR (360) servo. default servo positions are 90. *CR 360 servo should be running independently 90-60-120-90 (in loop) *Pos servo should be running one after another (in loop)

To run positional servos (tilt/pan):

//tilt servo
 for (pos = 90; pos >= 60; pos -= 1) //90 ~ 60
 {
 tiltservo.write(pos);
 delay(30);
 }
 for (pos = 60; pos <= 120; pos += 1) //60 ~ 120
 {
 tiltservo.write(pos);
 delay(30);
 }
 for (pos = 120; pos >= 90; pos -= 1) //120 ~ 90
 {
 tiltservo.write(pos);
 delay(30);
 }
//pan servo
for (pos = 90; pos >= 60; pos -= 1) //90 ~ 60
 { 
 panservo.write(pos);
 delay(30);
 }
 for (pos = 60; pos <= 120; pos += 1) //60 ~ 120
 { 
 panservo.write(pos);
 delay(30);
 }
 for (pos = 120; pos >= 90; pos -= 1) //120 ~ 90
 { 
 panservo.write(pos);
 delay(30);
 }

To run CR 360 servo:

 legservo.writeMicroseconds(1600); //CW
 delay(5000); //run for 5s
 legservo.writeMicroseconds(1300); //CCW
 delay(5000); //run for 5s 

Tried this to independently run CR servos, but how to put some wait (3s-4s) in between FW and RW.

if (millisNow - lastMillis >= 10000) 
{ 
lastMillis = millisNow; 
if (crservoState == 0) 
 { 
 legservo1.writeMicroseconds(2150); //FW
 crservoState = 1; 
 } 
 else 
 { 
 legservo1.writeMicroseconds(850); //RW
 crservoState = 0; 
 } 
} 

Trial code after suggestions:

uint32_t milliSNow = millis();
 if (milliSNow - lastTimeServoRotate >= 1000)
 {
 if (crservoState == 0)
 {
 if (milliSNow - lastTimeServoRotate >= 10000)
 {
 legservo1.writeMicroseconds(2150); //FW run
 crservoState = 2;
 lastTimeServoRotate = milliSNow;
 }
 }
 if (crservoState == 1)
 {
 if (milliSNow - lastTimeServoRotate >= 10000)
 {
 legservo1.writeMicroseconds(850); //RW run
 crservoState = 3;
 lastTimeServoRotate = milliSNow;
 }
 }
 if (crservoState == 2)
 {
 if (milliSNow - lastTimeServoRotate >= 3000)
 {
 legservo1.writeMicroseconds(1500); //FW STOP
 crservoState = 1;
 lastTimeServoRotate = milliSNow;
 }
 }
 if (crservoState == 3)
 {
 if (milliSNow - lastTimeServoRotate >= 3000)
 {
 legservo1.writeMicroseconds(1500); //RW STOP
 crservoState = 0;
 lastTimeServoRotate = milliSNow;
 }
 }
 }

• ArduinoFan: arduino.stackexchange.com/questions/83977/…
• Emlinux: @ArduinoFan thanks for sharing the link, I tried this but this is for controlling same type of servos, in my case i need to set up positional servo and CR as well, so its getting mixed operation. while running pan/tilt one after another with continuously running CR servo CW/CCW with wait time of 2s. any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
• Edgar Bonet: The last code snippet you posted should work, albeit with 10 second (rather than 3–4 s) pauses between FW and RW. If it doesn't work, you have an issue elsewhere in your code. Maybe you are sharing the lastMillis variable with the code handling the positional servos?
• Emlinux: @EdgarBonet Thanks for your comment. This code works to run CR in this manner.. 1. when start, it run after 10s 2. servo1 run for 10s FW then immediately run for 10s RW in loop. but I wish to hold/wait for 3s after 10s FW and 10s RW run each. 3. 'lastMillis' is only used for CR servo, its not clashing with POS servo variable.
• Edgar Bonet: Re "I wish to hold/wait for 3s after 10s FW and 10s RW run each": This is not in your code snippet. If you want these pauses, you have to explicitly ask the servo to stop, and your cycle has four phases: FW, pause, RW, pause.

Answer 1

This is covered in the Blink Without Delay Arduino tutorial. Let me paraphrase the main part of the example code here:

uint8_t ledState = LOW;
uint32_t lastTimeLedChanged = 0;
void loop() {
 uint32_t now = millis();
 if (now - lastTimeLedChanged >= 1000) {
 // Save the last time we updated the LED.
 lastTimeLedChanged = now;
 // Compute the new state of the LED.
 if (ledState == LOW) {
 ledState = HIGH;
 } else { // ledState is HIGH
 ledState = LOW;
 }
 // Set the LED to the computed state.
 digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, ledState);
 }
}

This will make the LED cycle between its two possible states at the desired rate. You can apply this principle as-is to your continuous rotation servo.

For the positional servos, the same principle can still be applied, but there is a catch. Whereas both the LED and the CR servo cycle between two states, the pair of positional servos goes through many states ((削除) 92 (削除ここまで) 240 if I counted correctly). You will thus need:

• more variables to store the current state of the servo pair
• more code to compute the new desired state
• more code to update the state

In order to figure out how to represent the state, you have to look at your current delay()-based code, see how many calls to delay() are performed on each full cycle, and figure out how to identify each of these calls. Each of these delays corresponds to one state of your system. I would say that you need one variable to know in which of the for loops you are, and another variable to know the last position you wrote to the servo in that loop. I will call each of the original for loops a "phase". There are (削除) two (削除ここまで) six such phases:

• phase 0: tilt: 90° → 60°
• phase 1: tilt: 60° → 120°
• phase 2: tilt: 120° → 90°
• phase 3: pan: 90° → 60°
• phase 4: pan: 60° → 120°
• phase 5: pan: 120° → 90°

Note there were only two for loops in the original question, but it was then edited to include six loops, thus I edited my answer.

An then you will need to store the time of the last update, thus:

int phase = 0; // which of the six phases we are in
int pos = 90; // last position written to a servo
uint32_t lastTimeServoMoved = 0;

Once you have the proper variables to describe the state, updating it is not hard. If you have reached the end of a phase, move to the next one. Then update the position by one step. Thus:

void loop() {
 uint32_t now = millis();
 if (now - lastTimeServoMoved >= 30) {
 // Save the last time we updated a positional servo.
 lastTimeServoMoved = now;
 // Compute the new state. 
 if (phase == 0 && pos == 60)
 phase = 1;
 else if (phase == 1 && pos == 120)
 phase = 2;
 else if (phase == 2 && pos == 90)
 phase = 3;
 else if (phase == 3 && pos == 60)
 phase = 4;
 else if (phase == 4 && pos == 120)
 phase = 5;
 else if (phase == 5 && pos == 90)
 phase = 0;
 if (phase == 1 || phase == 4)
 pos += 1;
 else
 pos -= 1;
 // Set the servo to the computed state.
 if (phase < 3)
 tiltservo.write(pos);
 else
 panservo.write(pos);
 }
}

I personally do not like this kind of repetitive code. If you are comfortable with data structures, I would recommend using an array of structs to store all the information describing the moves that are done in each phase:

struct {
 Servo *servo; // which servo to move
 int step; // steps by which it moves
 int final_pos; // final angular position
} moves[] = {
 { &tiltservo, -1, 60 }, // tilt: 90 -> 60
 { &tiltservo, +1, 120 }, // tilt: 60 -> 120
 { &tiltservo, -1, 90 }, // tilt: 120 -> 90
 { &panservo, -1, 60 }, // pan: 90 -> 60
 { &panservo, +1, 120 }, // pan: 60 -> 120
 { &panservo, -1, 90 } // pan: 120 -> 90
};

Then the actual code becomes simpler:

void loop() {
 uint32_t now = millis();
 if (now - lastTimeServoMoved >= 30) {
 // Save the last time we updated a positional servo.
 lastTimeServoMoved = now;
 // Compute the new state.
 if (pos == moves[phase].final_pos) {
 phase +=1;
 if (phase == 6)
 phase = 0;
 }
 pos += moves[phase].step;
 // Set the servo to the computed state.
 moves[phase].servo->write(pos);
 }
}

• Emlinux: thank you so much for your detailed explanation with example. Its good to understand. I tried this but CR servo doesn't wait for 5s between CW and CCW move. The actual operation should be: ` CR servo: (in loop) running CW for 5s, wait for 2s, CCW for 5s ` ` Pos (pan/tilt) servo: (in loop) 1st pan move from 90~60, 60~120, 120~90 then 2nd tilt move from 90~60, 60~120, 120~90 ` Please suggest.
• Edgar Bonet: @Emlinux: This doesn't seem to match the code in your question. Please, update the question with the relevant information. Try to be as clear as possible, in order to avoid more misunderstandings of your requirements.
• Emlinux: sorry for the misunderstanding. I updated it accordingly. Thanks.
• Emlinux: Thanks for updating the solution. I understood it. Though I didn't use data structure much, but its good to use it here efficiently. I will prefer to learn and use it like this. since there is 1 more leg_servo (CR 360) included, I tried to add that in loop with position servos like this. but I am unable to pause that for 2~3 seconds after CW/CCW run for 10s. if (millisNow - lastMillis >= 10000) { lastMillis = millisNow; if (crservoState == 0) { legservo1.writeMicroseconds(2150); crservoState = 1; } else { legservo1.writeMicroseconds(850); crservoState = 0; } }
• Emlinux: Please suggest some. Thanks.