while loop makes wifi unresponsive
Posted: Sun May 26, 2019 12:48 pm
Let me start by saying I am new to ESP32 but I do have some experience with Arduino. I'm probably somewhere between an advanced novice, or a low-level intermediate Arduino user. I have next to zero programming experience outside of Arduino. But I did make some nice custom Arduino projects.
I'm ready to take my hobby to the next level with the ESP32. I got a couple of dev boards off Amazon, they use the ESP-WROOM-32 module. I use Arduino 1.8.9 with the latest ESP32 Arduino core from github.
I started with some of the ESP32 examples to understand the board. Currently I'm working with the WiFiAccessPoint example, trying to have it make different things with the LED over WiFi.
For instance, what I am trying to do now is to add a third option to the web page served over WiFi that makes the LED blink. I made a function that makes the LED turn on and off, and called that from the web page. That makes the LED blink only once though, so I made a while loop inside the blink function that turns the LED on/off under the control of an external variable.
So whit that what happens is:
1. turning the LED on or off over WiFi works as intended
2. Starting the blinking over WiFi works, but when I call that function the WiFi server becomes unresponsive and will not serve the web page anymore.
So once the blinking starts, I cannot control the LED anymore. I think the while loop is saturating both cores and the WiFi server doesn't get any more CPU time at all.
Is there a better way of doing this?
FWIW here's the sketch as it is now:
I'm ready to take my hobby to the next level with the ESP32. I got a couple of dev boards off Amazon, they use the ESP-WROOM-32 module. I use Arduino 1.8.9 with the latest ESP32 Arduino core from github.
I started with some of the ESP32 examples to understand the board. Currently I'm working with the WiFiAccessPoint example, trying to have it make different things with the LED over WiFi.
For instance, what I am trying to do now is to add a third option to the web page served over WiFi that makes the LED blink. I made a function that makes the LED turn on and off, and called that from the web page. That makes the LED blink only once though, so I made a while loop inside the blink function that turns the LED on/off under the control of an external variable.
So whit that what happens is:
1. turning the LED on or off over WiFi works as intended
2. Starting the blinking over WiFi works, but when I call that function the WiFi server becomes unresponsive and will not serve the web page anymore.
So once the blinking starts, I cannot control the LED anymore. I think the while loop is saturating both cores and the WiFi server doesn't get any more CPU time at all.
Is there a better way of doing this?
FWIW here's the sketch as it is now:
Code: Select all
/*
WiFiAccessPoint.ino creates a WiFi access point and provides a web server on it.
Steps:
1. Connect to the access point "yourAp"
2. Point your web browser to http://192.168.4.1/H to turn the LED on or http://192.168.4.1/L to turn it off
OR
Run raw TCP "GET /H" and "GET /L" on PuTTY terminal with 192.168.4.1 as IP address and 80 as port
Created for arduino-esp32 on 04 July, 2018
by Elochukwu Ifediora (fedy0)
*/
#include <WiFi.h>
#include <WiFiClient.h>
#include <WiFiAP.h>
#define LED_BUILTIN 2 // Set the GPIO pin where you connected your test LED or comment this line out if your dev board has a built-in LED
int blinker = 0;
// Set these to your desired credentials.
const char *ssid = "ESPTEST";
const char *password = "password:)";
WiFiServer server(80);
void setup() {
pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);
Serial.begin(115200);
Serial.println();
Serial.println("Configuring access point...");
// You can remove the password parameter if you want the AP to be open.
WiFi.softAP(ssid, password);
IPAddress myIP = WiFi.softAPIP();
Serial.print("AP IP address: ");
Serial.println(myIP);
Serial.println(ssid);
Serial.println(password);
server.begin();
Serial.println("Server started");
}
void loop() {
WiFiClient client = server.available(); // listen for incoming clients
if (client) { // if you get a client,
Serial.println("New Client."); // print a message out the serial port
String currentLine = ""; // make a String to hold incoming data from the client
while (client.connected()) { // loop while the client's connected
if (client.available()) { // if there's bytes to read from the client,
char c = client.read(); // read a byte, then
Serial.write(c); // print it out the serial monitor
if (c == '\n') { // if the byte is a newline character
// if the current line is blank, you got two newline characters in a row.
// that's the end of the client HTTP request, so send a response:
if (currentLine.length() == 0) {
// HTTP headers always start with a response code (e.g. HTTP/1.1 200 OK)
// and a content-type so the client knows what's coming, then a blank line:
client.println("HTTP/1.1 200 OK");
client.println("Content-type:text/html");
client.println();
// the content of the HTTP response follows the header:
client.print("<br><br>Click <a href=\"/H\">here</a> to turn ON the LED.<br><br><br>");
client.print("Click <a href=\"/L\">here</a> to turn OFF the LED.<br><br><br>");
client.print("Click <a href=\"/B\">here</a> to make LED blink<br>");
// The HTTP response ends with another blank line:
client.println();
// break out of the while loop:
break;
} else { // if you got a newline, then clear currentLine:
currentLine = "";
}
} else if (c != '\r') { // if you got anything else but a carriage return character,
currentLine += c; // add it to the end of the currentLine
}
// Check to see if the client request was "GET /H" or "GET /L": or /B
if (currentLine.endsWith("GET /H")) {
digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH); // GET /H turns the LED on
blinker = 0;
}
if (currentLine.endsWith("GET /L")) {
digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW); // GET /L turns the LED off
blinker = 0;
}
if (currentLine.endsWith("GET /B")) {
blinker = 1;
blink(); // GET /B blinks
}
}
}
// close the connection:
client.stop();
Serial.println("Client Disconnected.");
}
}
void blink(){
while(blinker > 0) {
digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW); // Turn the LED on (Note that LOW is the voltage level
// but actually the LED is on; this is because
// it is active low on the ESP-01)
delay(random(40,100));
digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH); // Turn the LED off by making the voltage HIGH
delay(random(50,200));
}
}