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| − | <sidebar>Sidebar: Controlling Electronic Devices With Flowcode</sidebar>
| + | For an excellent introduction guide, we recommend Introduction to microcontroller programming CP4375 which can be found at https://www.matrixtsl.com/learning/ |
| − | This exercise assumes that you have already built the Flowcode flowchart described in the exercise [[Exercise - Creating a Flowchart|Creating a Flowchart]].<br />
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| − | To set up and program the flowchart you must configure the icons and variables to create an effective and functioning process.<br />
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| − | This will prepare the program to interact with components connected to the specific ports.
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| − | __TOC__
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| − | ==Load the Flowcode flowchart==
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| − | * Open the flowchart, called 'Lamp1.fcf' which you created in the exercise [[Exercise - Creating a Flowchart|Creating a Flowchart]].
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| − | :(For help with this, see the article [[Opening an Existing Flowchart]])
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| − | : The System Panel and Panel Properties should be visible. If not, use the [[View]] menu to select them.
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| − | ==Program the sequence==
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| − | Now that the flowchart icons are correctly set up, we need to program them to carry out the following process:
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| − | :Check if the switch is pressed.
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| − | ::If it isn't, go back to the beginning.
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| − | ::If it is:
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| − | :::Switch on the lamp;
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| − | :::Wait for 10 seconds;
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| − | :::Switch off the lamp;
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| − | :::Go back to the beginning.
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| − | It takes such a short time for the microcontroller to carry this out, that we don't need to worry whether the switch latches on or not.
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| − | ==Program the input==
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| − | :* Double click on the [[Input Icon Properties|Input icon]].
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| − | :: This opens the 'Properties: Input' dialogue box, allowing you to configure the way the program treats information from the switch.
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| − | :: This information will be contained in a variable called 'switch'.
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| − | ::* Click on the down arrow at the right-hand end of the 'Variable:' box to open the variables dialogue box.
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| − | ::* Hover to the left of the 'Variables' label and click on the down arrow that appears.
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| − | ::* Click on the 'Add new' option to open the 'Create a New Variable' dialogue box.
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| − | ::* [[Creating Variables|Create a new variable]] named "switch" with initial value "0" and description "Copies the state of the switch"
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| − | ::* Leave the 'Variable type:' as 'Byte'.
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| − | ::: (For more information about variables, see [[Creating Variables]] and [[Variable Types]].
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| − | ::: (The resulting dialogue box is shown opposite.)
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| − | [[File:Exercise_Configuring_Icons_and_Variables_Input_Properties.png|250px|right]]
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| − | :* Finish configuring the input properties as follows:
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| − | ::* Change the 'Display name:' to "Read the switch".
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| − | ::* In the 'Variable:' box, type the name of the variable you created "switch".
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| − | ::* Leave the 'Port:' as PORT A.
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| − | ::* Select to 'Input from:' 'Single Bit' and choose bit 0.
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| − | ::: (The resulting dialogue box is shown opposite.)
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| − | [[File:Exercise_Configuring_Icons_and_Variables_New_Variable.png|250px|right]]
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| − | : Set up like this, the program monitors the state of the switch, which will be connected to bit 0 of Port A of the microcontroller.
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| − | : When the program looks at the input switch if it is pressed, the variable 'switch' contains logic 1. If unpressed, it contains logic 0.
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| − | ==Check the Switch==
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| − | :* Double click on the [[Decision Icon Properties|Decision icon]] to open the configuration dialogue box, and then: [[File:Exercise_Configuring_Icons_and_Variables_Decision_Properties.png|250px|right]] | |
| − | ::* Rename it "Switch pressed?".
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| − | ::* In the 'If:' box, type "switch=1".
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| − | ::* Leave the 'Swap Yes and No' box unchecked.
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| − | ::* Click on 'OK'.
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| − | : This will cause the program to perform what is known as a conditional branch.
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| − | : The subsequent course of the program depends on the outcome of the condition specified in the 'Decision' icon.
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| − | : In this case, it depends on whether or not the variable 'switch' = 1.
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| − | : If it is, the program follows the 'Yes' route. If not, it follows the 'No' route.
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| − | ==Control the Lamp==
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| − | : The 'No' branch is easy to set up. All we want is that the program returns to the beginning (taken care of by the 'Loop' icon.)
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| − | : No further configuration is needed.
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| − | [[File:Exercise_Configuring_Icons_and_Variables_Output_Properties_01.png|250px|right]]
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| − | :* Double click the [[Output Icon Properties|Output icon]] to open the configuration dialogue box, and then:
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| − | ::* Change the 'Display name:' to "Switch on".
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| − | ::* In the 'Variable or value:' box, type value "1".
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| − | ::* Change the 'Port:' to PORT B.
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| − | ::* Select to 'Output to: 'Single Bit' and choose bit 0.
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| − | ::* Click on 'OK'.
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| − | ::: (The resulting dialogue box is shown opposite.)
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| − | : The effect of this icon is to send a logic 1 signal (high voltage) to the lamp, connected to Port B, bit 0 of the microcontroller.
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| − | : This turns on the lamp.
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| − | : Now, we tackle the requirement that it stays on for ten seconds and then goes off.
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| − | [[File:Exercise_Configuring_Icons_and_Variables_Delay_Properties.png|250px|right]]
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| − | * Drag and drop a [[Delay Icon Properties|Delay icon]] after the 'Output' icon.
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| − | :* Double click on it to open the configuration dialogue box, and then:
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| − | ::* Change the 'Display name:' to "For 10 seconds".
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| − | ::* Change the 'Delay value:' to '10'.
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| − | ::* Change the unit to 'seconds'.
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| − | ::* Click on 'OK'.
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| − | ::: (The resulting dialogue box is shown opposite.)
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| − | [[File:Exercise_Configuring_Icons_and_Variables_Output_Properties_02.png|250px|right]]
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| − | : Finally, we need to turn off the lamp, after the ten second delay.
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| − | * Double click on the second 'Output' icon to allow you to configure it.
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| − | :* Rename it "Switch off", and configure it to deliver value "0" to single bit 0 of Port B.
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| − | :: (The resulting dialogue box is shown opposite.)
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| − | You should now [[Saving a Flowchart|save the flowchart]] as "Lamp1.fcf", and [[Closing Flowcode|close Flowcode]].
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| − | ==Download the exercise==
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| − | You can download the file created by this exercise and open it in Flowcode to identify errors in your program/file or you could also download the file to skip to the next exercise.
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| − | *To download the file, click on the link below and then either:
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| − | :*Click on the file name.
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| − | :*Right click the file name and select 'Save link as...' or 'Save target as...' (depending on your browser).
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| − | :[[File:Exercise - Configuring Icons and Variables.fcfx]]
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| − | ==What next==
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| − | The next step is to add the switch and lamp to the flowchart. This is covered in the exercise [[Exercise - Adding Devices to a Program|Adding Devices to a Program]].
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