The Five Tests

Smoothing-VL53L0X

Since one of the variables I will be using in the final installation is proximity or distance, I decided to use the Adafruit VL53L0X breakout board to test the smoothing code.  I played with the const int numReadings to see how this changed the output of the averaging. As expected the more values held in the array the slower the average changed, this will affect how fast the motor is told to change position.

#include "Adafruit_VL53L0X.h"

Adafruit_VL53L0X lox = Adafruit_VL53L0X();

const int numReadings = 50;

int readings[numReadings];      // the readings from the analog input
int readIndex = 0;              // the index of the current reading
int total = 0;                  // the running total
int average = 0;                // the average

int distance;
//int inputPin = A4;

void setup() {
  // initialize serial communication with computer:
  Serial.begin(115200);

 // initialize all the readings to 0:
  for (int thisReading = 0; thisReading < numReadings; thisReading++) {
    readings[thisReading] = 0;
  }
  
  // wait until serial port opens for native USB devices
  while (! Serial) {
    delay(1);
  }
  
  Serial.println("Adafruit VL53L0X test");
  if (!lox.begin()) {
    Serial.println(F("Failed to boot VL53L0X"));
    while(1);
  }
  
  // power 
  Serial.println(F("VL53L0X API Simple Ranging example\n\n")); 
  }

void loop() {
  VL53L0X_RangingMeasurementData_t measure;
  distance = measure.RangeMilliMeter;
    
//  Serial.print("Reading a measurement... ")
  lox.rangingTest(&measure, false); // pass in 'true' to get debug data printout!
//  Serial.print("Distance (mm): ");Serial.println(distance);
  delay(100);

  // subtract the last reading:
  total = total - readings[readIndex];
  // read from the sensor:
//  readings[readIndex] = analogRead(inputPin);
readings[readIndex] = distance;
  // add the reading to the total:
  total = total + readings[readIndex];
  // advance to the next position in the array:
  readIndex = readIndex + 1;

  // if we're at the end of the array...
  if (readIndex >= numReadings) {
    // ...wrap around to the beginning:
    readIndex = 0;
  }

  // calculate the average:
  average = total / numReadings;
  // send it to the computer as ASCII digits
  Serial.print("D");Serial.print(distance);Serial.print("A");Serial.println(average);
//  Serial.print("Average");Serial.println(average);
  delay(10);        // delay in between reads for stability
}