AccelStepper issue during while loop

[ajsketti]

I'm trying to get a stepper to run on my teensy 4.1 using the accelstepper library. The motor has to move up or down a certain amount depending on which key is pressed and stop if the estop button is pressed. I know the stepper.run() command has to be called continuously to move so i placed it in a while loop with conditions. Unfortunately whenever i press a button nothing happens. I added serial communication to try and troubleshoot the issue. The while function is called and the teensy thinks the motor is running since it will returne "done" after a few seconds. So far it seems the problem is with the while loop. The motor moves just fine if placed in the void loop but doesnt inside a while loop, even when theres no digital read condition (while is always == 1). Is there something I'm missing here? I've been able to run accelstepper code in a while loop before on an arduino mega, but for some reason it wont work on a teensy. I've even changed the minimum pulse width and clock speeds in case it was a speed issue but still no luck.

Code is attached below:

#include <AccelStepper.h>


AccelStepper stepper(1,6,5); //step = 6, dir = 5
int upp = 0; //not used
int downn = 0; //not used
int estop = 0; //not used
const int up = 30;
const int down = 9;
const int stopp = 24;
const int enablee = 4;


void setup() {
  stepper.setMaxSpeed(500);
  stepper.setAcceleration(100);
  stepper.setMinPulseWidth(50); //for troubleshooting
  pinMode(up, INPUT);
  pinMode(down, INPUT);
  pinMode(stopp, INPUT);
  pinMode(enablee, OUTPUT); //not used
  Serial.begin(9600);


  
  
}

void loop() {
  if (digitalRead(up)==HIGH) {
    Serial.println("GOING UP");
    stepper.move(5000);                                                   //set relative distance
    while (stepper.isRunning()==1 && digitalRead(stopp)==0) {
      stepper.run();                                                          //keep running until conditions are met
     }
     Serial.println("DONE");
   }
   if (digitalRead(down)==HIGH) {
    Serial.println("GOING DOWN");
    stepper.move(-5000);                                                   //set relative distance
    while (stepper.isRunning()==1 && digitalRead(stopp)==0) {
      stepper.run();                                                            //keep running until conditions are met
     }
     Serial.println("DONE");
   }
 }

 

[PaulS]

I know the stepper.run() command has to be called continuously to move so i placed it in a while loop with conditions

The stepper.run() command has to be called as "as frequently as possible", see here. That is slightly different from "continuously".
All the Accelstepper examples show that the stepper.run() command is in the main loop, never within a while or if function.
So, my suggestion would be re-order your code such that the stepper.run() command is always called in loop().

Paul

 

[MarkT]

Doesn't matter where you call it, just that you call it frequently enough for all the steps to go out in a timely manner.

However I note this:

    if (stepper.isRunning()==1 && .......

No, that's wrong, isRunning returns bool, so you must say:

    if (stepper.isRunning()!=0 && .......

or (much better):

    if (stepper.isRunning() && .......

bool is defined as zero or non-zero.