Joe,

Please let your wife know that ~my~ wife is both founder and president of the now International “Why is this Chicken Coop so !@#$%^ Important” Support Group. Memberships are still free and typically include plenty of wine and fresh sour dough. =)

Sorry to hear about the errors. (hint: the error messages are infinitely important – typically the culprit is the very first line printed in the message itself… and sometimes there are multiple) If you copy and paste them into this comment thread, I (and i’m sure a few others would be willing to help)

Also, make sure to have all of the Arduino “libraries” installed… they are a common reason for errors.

Talk soon,
Dave “The Relationship Whisperer” Naves

Hiya Joe,

Please let your wife know that ~my~ wife is president and founder of The “Why is this #$%^&*!@#$%^ Chicken Coop More Important Than Family?” Support group. Membership is growing internationally and weekly meetings include plenty of wine and delicious bread. =)

Hehehehehe…

As far as the compiling, the error messages are most definitely important. Believe me, I’ve dealt with many hours of hair-pulling/frustration. (all part of the learning curve) Hint: typically the very 1st line in the message is the culprit… and sometimes there are multiple.

Also note: make ~sure~ you have all of the libraries installed (they are listed at the very top of the code and if not installed, will definitely throw errors)

If you copy/paste the errors to this thread of comments, I’d be happy to take a peek (and others here often like to chime in as well)

Cheers,
Dave “The Relationship Whisperer” Naves
=)

My wife has been demanding to know who the heck Dave Naves is, and WHY her husband carries with him, 24-7, a tattered, smudged multi-page document with computer code all over it! So PLEASE, I need just a little counsel on fixing this code problem. My problem is this: When I copy and paste your code into my arduino, and then use the check box to see if the code will compile, it NEVER does without various error messages, and at this point, I’m going crazy and more crucial, my chickens aren’t as safe as they could be with an operating Dave Naves Arduino Door. WHY do you think it might not be compiling. Thanks much, Dave.
Joe Walburn

Great question, Gil…

(and your English is perfect) =)

I’m not 100%, but I’d venture to guess it’s not debouncing properly. (meaning the switch is reading on/off/on/off very quickly and essentially bypassing a constant reading) I had exactly the same problem and it was driving me nuts! Take a careful look at my code within the debouncing section:

// bottom switch (for example- lines 56 – 60)

int bottomSwitchPinVal; // bottom switch var for reading the pin status
int bottomSwitchPinVal2; // bottom switch var for reading the pin delay/debounce status
int bottomSwitchState; // bottom switch var for to hold the switch state

and lines 122 – 138
//debounce bottom reed switch

void debounceBottomReedSwitch() {

//debounce bottom reed switch
bottomSwitchPinVal = digitalRead(bottomSwitchPin); // read input value and store it in val
delay(10);
bottomSwitchPinVal2 = digitalRead(bottomSwitchPin); // read input value again to check or bounce

if (bottomSwitchPinVal == bottomSwitchPinVal2) { // make sure we got 2 consistant readings!
if (bottomSwitchPinVal != bottomSwitchState) { // the switch state has changed!
bottomSwitchState = bottomSwitchPinVal;
}
Serial.print (” Bottom Switch Value: “); // display “Bottom Switch Value:”
Serial.println(digitalRead(bottomSwitchPin)); // display current value of bottom switch;
}
}

also read this, to get a better understanding of the importance of debouncing: http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/Debounce

Hope that helps,
//D

He got a LCD I2C unit, not just an LCD. I haven’t researched them much, but you send the screen info to it via I2C. You don’t use all the pins, just +,-, SDA,SCL. Ther must be a library available for these beasts, I just haven’t looked for it. It is basically a serial in / parallel out (to the LCD unit). Nice for low pin count, probably not terribly hard to use if the I2C comm is handled for you in the lib.

Mark: search for I2C 1602 LCD Library, and I’ll bet you get something…well, at least I did!

Dave

all but great work done so far, congrats…
I´m duplicating your coop door project with two mods, the switches and the way that the door is opened and closed, and for that I´m having a problem…

in my system the 24v (30rpm) motor is connected to the sliding door by a axle like a screw so as it turns it opens or closes very slowly (avoiding hurting the ladies… just in case and to avoid the lock system that you have, witch is great by the way) but as it closes/opens very slowly the motor doesn´t stop at the limit switch (my variation is a magnetic swicth(x2) connected to a relay(x2) when the top or bottom position is reached on the door and the both relays are connected to the same input pins of the mega as yours.

the only problem is that the motor doesn´t stop when the switch indicate the presence of the door, maybe because the door movement is too slow..I´m totally new to arduino and code,

So please can you help me out…

Thanks and best regards… and keep up the excellent job.

p.s Sorry for my poor English
Gil, Luxembourg

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the comment. Not sure exactly what part was sent to you without an image, but as my code shows, all you would need is to make the following connections:

lcd
LiquidCrystal lcd(38, 37, 36, 32, 33, 34, 35); // lcd pin assignments
int backLight = 13; // pin 13 controls backlight

LCD Pin > arduino Pin

lcd pin 1 VSS > gnd arduino pin
lcd pin 2 VDD > +5v arduino pin
lcd pin 3 VO(contrast) > 330 ohm resistor to gnd arduino pin
lcd pin 4 RS arduino pin 38
lcd pin 5 R/W arduino pin 37
lcd pin 6 Enable arduino pin 36
lcd pin 7 –
lcd pin 8 –
lcd pin 9 –
lcd pin 10 –
lcd pin 11 (Data 4) > arduino pin 32
lcd pin 12 (Data 5) > arduino pin 33
lcd pin 13 (Data 6) > arduino pin 34
lcd pin 14 (Data 7) > arduino pin 35
lcd pin 15 Backlight + > arduino pin 13 (built-in resistor)
lcd pin 16 Backlight > arduino gnd pin

Let me know if the labeling is different on your LDC display.

Cheers,
//D

I love your project and your efforts. I will provide information on my project as it gels more. Currently I am just building the coop for my Son and his Wife. I have the coop door control on the burner as well. Put I must have a coop first.

Thanks much Matt!

I’m *just* getting my 13 year old into Arduino projects, including more coop additions. (Arduino was one of his xmas presents this year) The Arduino actually inspired me to write an article to help put kids’ techno-obsessions to good use (instead of gaming): http://davenaves.com/blog/arduino/tired-of-fighting-your-kids-to-stay-off-computer-games-arduino-may-be-the-answer/ =)

Please feel free to ping me via comments if you have questions or comments. And keep me posted with your project… I’m big on sharing! =)

Cheers!

matt