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I am running a control program for an ebike on an Arduino MEGA2560 which uses this MCU: http://www.atmel.com/devices/atmega2560.aspx. Currently, the program loops every 100ms which gives me a sample rate of 10Hz for measurements and control signal. I would like at least 10 times that so 100Hz. How can I work out which specs I need based on the arduino MEGA2560 and the perf it's giving me? Thanks!

Here is my code, it basically calculates battery capacity, range as well as controls and smooths the throttle inputs:

#include <EEPROM.h>
#include <memorysaver.h>
//#include <TFT_HX8357.h> // Hardware-specific library
#include <URTouch.h>
#include <URTouchCD.h>
#include <memorysaver.h>
#include <UTFT.h>


//TFT_HX8357 myGLCD = TFT_HX8357();       // Invoke custom library#include <TFT_HX8357.h> // Hardware-specific library
//
//TFT_HX8357 myGLCD = TFT_HX8357();       // Invoke custom library

UTFT myGLCD(ILI9481,38,39,40,41);
URTouch myTouch(6, 5, 4, 3, 2);

int buttonst, horn=5, throttle=8, powermode=1, alarmsystem=1, xtouch, ytouch, k1=0, k2=0,modechange,ncycles, p=9, divider=12, addresstd=0;
float pushed, pushedt, timesp, timespm1, powtimesm, factor, powtimesp, start, elapsed, powtime, powresttime, shuntvoltage, batvoltage,  internresistance=0.00112, current, power, consumah, capacstore, consumwh, consumbatper, consumbatrange, distance, distanceint, throttlein, throttleout, distancedisp, Totaldist, velocity, Totaldistcheck;
float throttlesmooth, capaccheck, capacactual,consumahstore, kpow[3]={0,0,0}, kcur[3]={0,0,0}, ksp[3]={0,0,0}, errorpower[2], errorpoweri, errorpowerli, errorcuri, errorcurrent[2], errorpowerl[2], diff, errorspeed[2], errorisp, outspeed, outcurrentctl, outspeedctl, elapsedtot, errorsmooth[2];

float batteryspec[6][56]={{4.2,4,3.94,3.90,3.876,3.86,3.852,3.844,3.826,3.809,3.795,3.783,3.765,3.744,3.728, 3.710,3.692,3.672,3.650,3.631,3.613,3.591,3.573,3.556,3.532,3.508,3.488,3.463,3.439,3.417,3.399,3.380,3.366,3.352,3.332,3.312,3.291,3.273,3.253,3.237,3.217,3.196,3.176,3.150,3.123,3.087,3.051,2.994,2.929,2.868,2.796,2.727,2.650,5.261,2.502},//5A discharge 18650GA SPEC
  {0.001,0.002,0.015,0.047,0.085,0.133,0.186,0.244,0.309,0.383,0.447,0.506,0.554,0.612,0.681,0.735,0.793,0.852,0.921,1.007,1.081,1.150,1.236,1.300,1.358,1.438,1.518,1.587,1.667,1.747,1.822,1.888,1.955,2.014,2.072,2.152,2.232,2.317,2.389,2.466,2.524,2.594,2.658,2.722,2.786,2.847,2.925,2.983,3.063,3.133,3.186,3.245,3.293,3.330,3.357,3.368},
  {4.20,4.02,3.980,3.945,3.927,3.914,3.904,3.890,3.874,3.860,3.843,3.821,3.797,3.776,3.756,3.734,3.713,3.695,3.675,3.652,3.634,3.614,3.593,3.569,3.543,3.522,3.5,3.480,3.459,3.441,3.419,3.398,3.378,3.360,3.339,3.321,3.301,3.278,3.254,3.230,3.199,3.164,3.128,3.085,3.037,2.990,2.937,2.878,2.837,2.795,2.746,2.693,2.648,2.598,2.549,2.496},
  {0,0.007,0.033,0.084,0.151,0.223,0.294,0.377,0.457,0.521,0.574,0.646,0.718,0.785,0.851,0.931,1.011,1.091,1.171,1.251,1.323,1.397,1.469,1.547,1.632,1.701,1.778,1.853,1.928,1.994,2.088,2.175,2.258,2.333,2.413,2.487,2.562,2.634,2.706,2.775,2.842,2.908,2.697,3.023,3.074,3.116,3.159,3.205,3.234,3.261,3.287,3.314,3.333,3.352,3.365,3.379},//3A discharge 18650GA SPEC
  {4.2,4.131,4.094,4.073,4.054,4.038,4.028,4.015,4.003,3.985,3.965,3.945,3.921,3.894,3.870,3.850,3.830,3.811,3.795,3.775,3.759,3.739,3.716,3.692,3.674,3.648,3.623,3.601,3.578,3.561,3.542,3.522,3.502,3.486,3.467,3.445,3.423,3.401,3.374,3.350,3.324,3.291,3.253,3.210,3.168,3.123,3.075,3.026,2.964,2.897,2.838,2.781,2.715,2.652,2.585,2.502},
  {0,0,0.036,0.084,0.154,0.223,0.289,0.356,0.420,0.489,0.553,0.620,0.686,0.761,0.838,0.908,0.985,1.054,1.134,1.214,1.283,1.358,1.438,1.523,1.584,1.667,1.755,1.835,1.920,2.002,2.085,2.170,2.255,2.327,2.402,2.482,2.567,2.644,2.724,2.791,2.850,2.908,2.964,3.015,3.058,3.095,3.132,3.167,3.207,3.245,3.271,3.295,3.320,3.336,3.354,3.365}}; //1A discharge 18650GA SPEC

float cyclicspec[2][44]={{0,0.894,7.151,16.09,26.4,37.5,50.95,61.68,74.19,85.36,96.54,107.26,118.88,130.95,142.12,154.64,168.04,182.35,194.86,208.27,219.89,234.2,246.7,262.8,276.2,291.4,303.9,317.3,327.15,341.5,354,364,374.5,383.46,395.08,405.8,418.3,431.7,444,455.9,468.8,481.9,491.6,499.7},
  {3441.3,3435.7,3342.9,3292.9,3235.7,3178.6,3121.4,3078.6,3014.28,2957.1,2921.4,2892.9,2842.9,2792.9,2750,2721.4,2678.6,2642.9,2607.1,2564.3,2542.9,2507.1,2478.6,2435.7,2407.1,2378.6,2357.1,2335.7,2335.7,2335.7,2335.7,2335.7,2335.7,2321.4,2300,2278.6,2271.4,2242.9,2228.6,2214.3,2192.9,2178.6,2164.3,2157.1}};

extern uint8_t BigFont[];
extern uint8_t SevenSegNumFont[];

void EEPROMWritelong(int address, long value)
      {
      //Decomposition from a long to 4 bytes by using bitshift.
      //One = Most significant -> Four = Least significant byte
      byte four = (value & 0xFF);
      byte three = ((value >> 8) & 0xFF);
      byte two = ((value >> 16) & 0xFF);
      byte one = ((value >> 24) & 0xFF);

      //Write the 4 bytes into the eeprom memory.
      EEPROM.write(address, four);
      EEPROM.write(address + 1, three);
      EEPROM.write(address + 2, two);
      EEPROM.write(address + 3, one);
      }

float EEPROMReadlong(int address)
      {
      //Read the 4 bytes from the eeprom memory.
      long four = EEPROM.read(address);
      long three = EEPROM.read(address + 1);
      long two = EEPROM.read(address + 2);
      long one = EEPROM.read(address + 3);

      //Return the recomposed long by using bitshift.
      return ((four << 0) & 0xFF) + ((three << 8) & 0xFFFF) + ((two << 16) & 0xFFFFFF) + ((one << 24) & 0xFFFFFFFF);
      }

float pidcurrent_control() {
 float dt, outcurrent=0, outpower=0;
 int i=0, descurrent, despower;
 i++;
 dt=millis()-powtime;
 powtime = millis();
 if (powermode==1) { //Furo default mode
  if (current>40) {
    descurrent=40;
    errorcurrent[1]=descurrent-current;
    if (i>=2) {
      //Integrate the error
    errorcuri+=errorcurrent[1]*dt;

    outcurrent=(kcur[0]*errorcurrent[1]+kcur[1]*errorcuri+kcur[2]*((errorcurrent[1]-errorcurrent[0])/dt));
    }
    errorcurrent[0]=errorcurrent[1];
    return outcurrent;
    }  
    if ((batvoltage*current)>2000) {
     despower=2000;
      errorpower[1]=despower-batvoltage*current;
      if (i>=2) {
    //Integrate the error
    errorpoweri+=errorpower[1]*dt;
    outpower=kpow[0]*errorpower[1]+kpow[1]*errorpoweri+kpow[2]*((errorpower[1]-errorpower[0])/dt);
    }
    errorpower[0]=errorpower[1];
    return outpower;
    } 
    }
  else { //Eco mode
   despower=550;
   errorpowerl[1]=despower-batvoltage*current;
      if (i>=2) {
      //Integrate the error
      errorpowerli+=errorpowerl[1]*dt;
      outpower=kpow[0]*errorpowerl[1]+kpow[1]*errorpowerli+kpow[2]*((errorpowerl[1]-errorpowerl[0])/dt);
    }
    errorpowerl[0]=errorpowerl[1];
    return outpower;
    }  
    }

void cyclescaling() {
int j=1;
 if (ncycles<=499) {
 while ((ncycles<cyclicspec[0][j-1])||(ncycles>cyclicspec[0][j])){    
           j++;
    }
    factor=(cyclicspec[1][j-1]+(ncycles-cyclicspec[0][j-1])*(cyclicspec[1][j]-cyclicspec[1][j-1])/(cyclicspec[0][j]-cyclicspec[0][j-1]))/cyclicspec[1][0];
}
else {
    factor=(cyclicspec[1][41]+(ncycles-cyclicspec[0][41])*(cyclicspec[1][42]-cyclicspec[1][41])/(cyclicspec[0][42]-cyclicspec[0][41]))/cyclicspec[1][0];
}
}

float pidspeed_control() {
int isp, dtsp;
isp++;
dtsp=millis()-powtimesp;
powtimesp = millis();
errorspeed[1]=46-velocity;
if (isp>=2) {
    errorisp+=errorspeed[1]*dtsp;  
    outspeed=(ksp[0]*errorspeed[1]+ksp[1]*errorisp+ksp[2]*((errorspeed[1]-errorspeed[0])/dtsp));
    }
    errorspeed[0]=errorspeed[1];
    return outspeed;
}



void throttlesmoothing() {
 int i=0, dtsm;
 i++;
 float currentmap=map(throttlein,0.8,3.6,0,40);
 dtsm=millis()-powtimesm;
 powtimesm = millis();
 errorsmooth[1]=currentmap-current;
      if (i>=2) {
      //Integrate the error
      throttlesmooth=kcur[0]*errorsmooth[1]+kcur[2]*((errorsmooth[1]-errorsmooth[0])/dtsm);
    }
    errorsmooth[0]=errorsmooth[1];
}

void SOC() {
  float currentref=current/p;
  int j=1,l=1;
  float stateofc1=0, stateofc2=0;

  if (currentref<=1){
    while (((batvoltage/14)>batteryspec[0][j-1])||((batvoltage/14)<batteryspec[0][j])){    
           j++;
    }
    capacactual=(batteryspec[1][55]-(batteryspec[1][j-1]+(batvoltage/14-batteryspec[0][j-1])*(batteryspec[1][j]-batteryspec[1][j-1])/(batteryspec[0][j]-batteryspec[0][j-1])))*p;

  }

 if ((currentref>1)&&(currentref<=3)){
    while (((batvoltage/14)>batteryspec[0][j-1])||((batvoltage/14)<batteryspec[0][j])){    
           j++;
    }
    stateofc1=(batteryspec[1][55]-(batteryspec[1][j-1]+(batvoltage/14-batteryspec[0][j-1])*(batteryspec[1][j]-batteryspec[1][j-1])/(batteryspec[0][j]-batteryspec[0][j-1])))*p;

     while (((batvoltage/14)>batteryspec[2][l-1])||((batvoltage/14)<batteryspec[2][l])){    
           l++;
    }
    stateofc2=(batteryspec[3][55]-(batteryspec[3][l-1]+(batvoltage/14-batteryspec[2][l-1])*(batteryspec[3][l]-batteryspec[3][l-1])/(batteryspec[2][l]-batteryspec[2][l-1])))*p;
    capacactual=stateofc1+(currentref-1)*(stateofc2-stateofc1)/(3-1);
  }

   if ((currentref>3)&&(currentref<=5)){
    while (((batvoltage/14)>batteryspec[2][j-1])||((batvoltage/14)<batteryspec[2][j])){    
           j++;
    }
//    stateofc1=(batteryspec[3][55]-(batteryspec[3][j-1]+(batvoltage/14-batteryspec[2][j-1])*(batteryspec[3][j]-batteryspec[3][j-1])/(batteryspec[2][j]-batteryspec[2][j-1])))*p;

     while (((batvoltage/14)>batteryspec[2][l-1])||((batvoltage/14)<batteryspec[2][l])){    
           l++;
    }
//    stateofc2=(batteryspec[3][55]-(batteryspec[3][l-1]+(batvoltage/14-batteryspec[2][l-1])*(batteryspec[3][l]-batteryspec[3][l-1])/(batteryspec[2][l]-batteryspec[2][l-1])))*p;
    capacactual=(batteryspec[3][55]-(batteryspec[3][j-1]+(batvoltage/14-batteryspec[2][j-1])*(batteryspec[3][j]-batteryspec[3][j-1])/(batteryspec[2][j]-batteryspec[2][j-1])))*p+(currentref-1)*((batteryspec[5][55]-(batteryspec[5][l-1]+(batvoltage/14-batteryspec[4][l-1])*(batteryspec[5][l]-batteryspec[5][l-1])/(batteryspec[4][l]-batteryspec[4][l-1])))*p-(batteryspec[3][55]-(batteryspec[3][j-1]+(batvoltage/14-batteryspec[2][j-1])*(batteryspec[3][j]-batteryspec[3][j-1])/(batteryspec[2][j]-batteryspec[2][j-1])))*p)/(5-3);

  }


if (currentref>5) {
   while (((batvoltage/14)>batteryspec[4][j-1])||((batvoltage/14)<batteryspec[4][j])){    
           j++;
    }
    capacactual=(batteryspec[5][55]-(batteryspec[5][j-1]+(batvoltage/14-batteryspec[4][j-1])*(batteryspec[5][j]-batteryspec[5][j-1])/(batteryspec[4][j]-batteryspec[4][j-1])))*p;
}

}


void autonomy() {

  if (modechange==1) {
   consumah=0;
  }

    power=batvoltage*current;
    SOC();
    if (capacactual!=capaccheck) {
      capaccheck=(capacactual+capaccheck)/2;
    }

  if (abs(capacactual-capacstore)>=0.1){   
     EEPROMWritelong(8,roundf(capacactual*1000));
     capacstore=capacactual;
  }

  consumah += current*elapsed/1000/3600;
  capaccheck -= current*elapsed/1000/3600;
  consumwh += current*elapsed/1000/3600*batvoltage;
  elapsedtot += elapsed;
  consumbatper = (capaccheck)/(batteryspec[1][55]*p)*100;
  if (distance==0) {
    switch (powermode) {
      case 1: consumbatrange=45*batvoltage*capaccheck/980;
      break;
      case 2: consumbatrange=35*batvoltage*capaccheck/550;
      break;
    }

  } else {
  consumbatrange = distance/consumah*(capaccheck);
  }
  myGLCD.printNumF(consumbatrange, 2, 350,275);
  myGLCD.printNumF(power, 2, 350,205);
  myGLCD.printNumF(current, 1, 30,50);
  myGLCD.printNumF(ncycles, 1, 30,50+16*2);
  myGLCD.printNumF(consumbatper,1,350,50);
  myGLCD.printNumF(batvoltage,1,350,50+16*2);

  return 0;

}



void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once:
  Serial.begin(9600);
  start=millis();
  pinMode(43, OUTPUT);//Speedo power
  pinMode(46, INPUT);//Speedometer
  pinMode(A2, INPUT);//Throttle in
  pinMode(A7, INPUT);//Battery voltage
  pinMode(A4, INPUT);//Shunt
  pinMode(throttle, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(11, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(10, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(47, INPUT);

  analogWrite(10,255);
  analogWrite(11,255);

  myGLCD.InitLCD(LANDSCAPE);
  myTouch.InitTouch(LANDSCAPE);
  myGLCD.fillScr(0,0,0);
  myGLCD.setColor(VGA_WHITE);
  myGLCD.setBackColor(0,0,0);
  myGLCD.setFont(BigFont);
  myGLCD.print("FURO SYSTEMS",(480-16*12)/2,16);
  myGLCD.print("WELCOME",(480-16*7)/2,(320-16)/2);
  myGLCD.setDisplayPage(0);
  delay(2000);
  myGLCD.clrScr();
  myGLCD.print("FURO SYSTEMS",(480-16*12)/2,16);
  myGLCD.fillRoundRect((480-3*16-8)/2,320-16*2-4,(480-3*16-8)/2+3*16+6,228);
  myGLCD.print("ECO", (480-3*16)/2, 320-16*5);
//  EEPROMWritelong(4,1);
  ncycles=EEPROMReadlong(4);
  cyclescaling();

  for (int m=1; m<=5;m+=2) {
  for (int n=0; n<=55;n++) {
    batteryspec[m][n]*=factor;
    }
  }


  current=analogRead(A4);
  current=current/internresistance*5/1023/75;;

  batvoltage=analogRead(A7);
  batvoltage=batvoltage*5*divider/1023;

  SOC();
  capaccheck=capacactual;
  capacstore=EEPROMReadlong(8)/1000;

  if (capacactual>capacstore) {
  ncycles++;
  EEPROMWritelong(4,ncycles);
  EEPROMWritelong(8,roundf(capacactual*1000));
  }

  if (capacactual<0.5) {
    powermode=2;
    myGLCD.fillRoundRect((480-4*16-8)/2,320-16*2-4,(480-4*16-8)/2+4*16+6,228);
    myGLCD.print("FURO", (480-4*16)/2, 320-16*5);
  }//3.21V per cell
  EEPROMReadlong(addresstd);
  Totaldist=EEPROMReadlong(addresstd);
  Totaldistcheck=Totaldist;
  digitalWrite(43,HIGH);
}

void loop() {

   throttlein=analogRead(A2);
   throttlein=throttlein*5/1023;
   throttlesmoothing();
   throttleout=round((0.4+throttlein)*255/5);
   analogWrite(8,throttleout);


   modechange=0;
    if (digitalRead(47)==LOW)
    { 
      if (buttonst==1) {
      pushed = millis();
      }
      buttonst=0;

      if ((millis()-pushed)>=2000)
      {
       distancedisp=0;
      }
      }

     if (digitalRead(47)==HIGH) {
      if (buttonst==0) {
        modechange=1;
        pushedt=millis()-pushed;
        if (pushedt<1900){
       if (powermode==1) 
      { powermode=2;
       myGLCD.clrScr();
       myGLCD.print("FURO SYSTEMS",(480-16*12)/2,16);
       myGLCD.fillRoundRect((480-4*16-8)/2,320-16*2-4,(480-4*16-8)/2+4*16+6,228);
       myGLCD.print("FURO", (480-4*16)/2, 320-16*5);
      }
      else  
      { 
        powermode=1;
        myGLCD.clrScr();
        myGLCD.print("FURO SYSTEMS",(480-16*12)/2,16);
        myGLCD.fillRoundRect((480-3*16-8)/2,320-16*2-4,(480-3*16-8)/2+3*16+6,228);
        myGLCD.print("ECO", (480-3*16)/2, 320-16*5);
      }
      }
      }
      buttonst=1;
     }


batvoltage=analogRead(A7);
batvoltage=batvoltage*5*divider/1023;
current=analogRead(A4);
current=current/internresistance*5/1023/75;
elapsed = millis() - start;
start = millis();

if (modechange==1) {
   distance=0;
}
distanceint = (velocity/3.6*elapsed*0.001)/1000;
distance += distanceint;
distancedisp += distanceint;
Totaldist += distanceint;

if (abs(Totaldist-Totaldistcheck)>=0.1) { //later do it upon switch off
  EEPROMWritelong(addresstd,round(Totaldist));
  Totaldistcheck=Totaldist;
}

autonomy();

if (velocity>45) {
outspeedctl=pidspeed_control();
outcurrentctl=pidcurrent_control();
float throttleout1=min(outspeedctl,outcurrentctl);
throttleout=min(throttleout1,throttlesmooth);
analogWrite(throttle, map(throttleout, 0,5,0,255));
} else{
outcurrentctl=5;
outcurrentctl=pidcurrent_control();
throttleout=min(throttlesmooth,outcurrentctl);
analogWrite(throttle, map(throttleout, 0,5,0,255));
}

myGLCD.setFont(SevenSegNumFont);
myGLCD.printNumI(velocity, (480-32*3)/2, (320-50)/2);
myGLCD.setFont(BigFont);
myGLCD.printNumF(distancedisp, 1, 30,175);
myGLCD.printNumI(Totaldist, 30,175+2*16);

}
Improve this question
3
  • 1
    Why is your loop so slow?
    – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
    Oct 19 '16 at 13:07
  • I have 3 PIDs running, complicated calculations, as well as multiple circuits to sample. I edited my question to display my code.
    – Eliott W
    Oct 19 '16 at 13:35
  • 6
    Stop using floating point math! Just scale your numbers into integers of whatever precision you need. The AVR processors don't have an FPU so all float math is implmented in software. A simple addition takes many, many clock cycles as opposed just a few for integers.
    – bss36504
    Oct 19 '16 at 14:05
4

There are three things that i can see that are holding your code back.

AnalogRead in Arduino is very slow. The ADC in the chip is not the greatest but also the AnalogRead function will hold you there until a full read and conversion are complete. It may be possible to trigger a sample and conversion and read the answer later. Look for a chip that can sample multiple ADC channels without processor intervention. A digital signal processor (DSP) such as a dspic33epxxxxxx could be of great service. They have very high analog sampling capability.

Also EEPROM writes are very slow. Finding a way around them or using external memory could help increase your speed. The EEPROM write has to hold your code until the write is complete. This is very similar the the ADC.

Float calculations inside a processor that has no float math core is like shooting yourself in the foot, all you can do from there is limp. Find the minimum number of decimal places that you can live with and push them into the integer world. For example 12.7325 X 10000, could instead be 127325. Then scale all your other calculation with that scale factor in mind. The math is more tricky but 10 to 15 cycles to multiply an integer is better then 200 to over a 1000 cycles to multiply a float. By properly including some other scale factor the ADC reading can be used directly without a conversion.

Improve this answer
4
  • Thank you! I'll do that! If I timed my floats by a thousand and then used the round function to get an integer would that be useful or would the round function be very computationally expensive too?
    – Eliott W
    Oct 19 '16 at 14:37
  • 1
    @EliottW I'm not familiar with the inner workings of the round function. Handling any kind of floats in software would be a mistake. For instance I see your using AnalogWrite. That function takes a value of 0 to 255. Scale all your functions and constants such that when you calculate the pwm output the answer is between 0 and 255. Same with AnalogRead. The function returns 0 to 1023. Scale everything to use that value directly. No floats at all or whatsoever. Redo all the look up tables at the beginning to include the scaling.
    – vini_i
    Oct 19 '16 at 14:57
  • Do all processors require this? I want to move away from Arduino later and do my own platform, are there processors that would allow me to use float points, write faster to the EEPROM, sample without processor intervention, etc?
    – Eliott W
    Oct 19 '16 at 15:47
  • 1
    You almost never want to use floats in an embedded environment; the investment for a MCU with a FPU is rarely worth it. Writing to EEPROM is always slow. AVRs can sample without busying out the CPU; your problem is the Arduino libraries, not the MCU. Most likely the ATmega2560 is just fine for this application.
    – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
    Oct 19 '16 at 18:19

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