How To Do Daily Tasks with Arduino

28 thoughts on “How To Do Daily Tasks with Arduino”

1. Hello, Rui, as usual, a very good explanation for a basic circuit. However… 😉 Since quite a while I use DS3231 as RTC. This module is on one hand compatible with the 1307 but is way more accurate. After a week or so, DS1307 is some minutes ahead… DS3231 keeps time much better. And… It has also two built-in alarms. Definitely worth using as a clock!
   Greetings from Marc, and keep posting 🙂

   Reply

   • Hi Marc.
     Thank you for sharing that.
     Many people have pointed that out – the DS3231 is way more accurate than the DS1307 RTC module and both work in a similar way.
     So, if people have both modules, the DS3231 is the best alternative.
     Regards,
     Sara

     Reply

2. I agree completely with Marc – the DS1307 is VERY prone to drifting, the DS3231 is much more stable…

   Reply

3. The following code for setting an alarm for Saturday does not ‘explain’ how the day of Saturday is selected:
   //setTime(8,29,0,1,1,11); // set time to Saturday 8:29:00am Jan 1 2011

   What did I miss?

   Reply

   • Hi v fisher.
     You don’t select the Saturday. You select the day.
     That day 1 Jan 2011 happens to be a Saturday.
     Regards.

     Reply

   • Also note that you can set an alarm for a particular day of the week with this library (TimeAlarms)
     Here’s an example: github.com/PaulStoffregen/TimeAlarms/blob/master/examples/TimeAlarmExample/TimeAlarmExample.ino

     Take a look at line 31:
     Alarm.alarmRepeat(dowSaturday,8,30,30,WeeklyAlarm); // 8:30:30 every Saturday

     That runs the WeeklyAlarm() function every saturday (ignore the print that says Monday) (line 53).

     void WeeklyAlarm() {
     }

     Regards 🙂

     Reply

4. gan something like this be used with multiply on and off time for more than one devices

   Reply

   • Hi Andrew.
     This definitely can be used to turn on and off several devices at different times. You just have to create alarms for what you want to do.
     Regards.
     Sara 🙂

     Reply

5. Hi.Thank you for helping me. I am going to use this code to switch a light on in the morning, run for 2 hours and switch off. Then, the same light must switch on at Night and run for 3 hours, then switch off. This must happen daily. This is one of the first projects that really work as explained. thank you for that. Just need to add more code to the project.

   Reply

6. Ik wil een led laten branden van 9-17 uur. Hiervoor heb ik een programma gevonden.
   Deze werkt via een DS1307 clock. Ik wil nu een programma programmeren voor een DS 3231 clock maar weet niet hoe ik het programma juist moet programmeren.
   Kunnen jullie mij soms hulp verlenen?
   Alvast bedankt

   Hieronder het programma voor de DS1307 clock.

   /*
   *
   * Complete project details at https://randomnerdtutorials.com
   * Based on TimeAlarmExample from TimeAlarms library created by Michael Margolis
   *
   */

   #include
   #include
   #include
   #include // a basic DS1307 library that returns time as a time_t

   const int led = 7;

   void setup() {
   // prepare pin as output
   pinMode(led, OUTPUT);
   digitalWrite(led, LOW);

   Serial.begin(9600);
   // wait for Arduino Serial Monitor
   while (!Serial) ;

   // get and set the time from the RTC
   setSyncProvider(RTC.get);
   if (timeStatus() != timeSet)
   Serial.println(“Unable to sync with the RTC”);
   else
   Serial.println(“RTC has set the system time”);

   // to test your project, you can set the time manually
   //setTime(8,29,0,1,1,11); // set time to Saturday 8:29:00am Jan 1 2011

   // create the alarms, to trigger functions at specific times
   Alarm.alarmRepeat(9,0,0,MorningAlarm); // 9:00am every day
   Alarm.alarmRepeat(19,0,0,EveningAlarm); // 19:00 -> 7:00pm every day
   }

   void loop() {
   digitalClockDisplay();
   // wait one second between each clock display in serial monitor
   Alarm.delay(1000);
   }

   // functions to be called when an alarm triggers
   void MorningAlarm() {
   // write here the task to perform every morning
   Serial.println(“Tturn light off”);
   digitalWrite(led, LOW);
   }
   void EveningAlarm() {
   // write here the task to perform every evening
   Serial.println(“Turn light on”);
   digitalWrite(led, HIGH);
   }

   void digitalClockDisplay() {
   // digital clock display of the time
   Serial.print(hour());
   printDigits(minute());
   printDigits(second());
   Serial.println();
   }
   void printDigits(int digits) {
   Serial.print(“:”);
   if (digits < 10)
   Serial.print('0');
   Serial.print(digits);
   }

   Reply

   • Hi.
     I’m sorry, but I don’t understand dutch.
     We have a tutorial about RTC with Arduino, if that is what you are looking for:
     https://randomnerdtutorials.com/guide-for-real-time-clock-rtc-module-with-arduino-ds1307-and-ds3231/
     Regards,
     Sara

     Reply

     • So I answered in Dutch 🙂

       Reply

7. Hallo, Beginner…
   Je kan het volledige programma van de DS 1307 gewoon stap per stap overnemen. De 3231 heeft dezelfde commando’s en dezelfde adressen als de 1307. Als het werkt met de 1307, werkt het ook met de 3231.De 3231 heeft als voordeel dat je ook alarmen kan programmeren.

   Groeten van Marc.;

   Reply

   • Thanks for the answer 🙂

     Reply

     • Please how can I turn On and Off a sensor instead of an led. Could it be the same process

       Reply

       • Hi.
         What do you mean?
         If your sensor has a VCC pin and you want to turn it on and off, you can connect its VCC pin to an Arduino pin.
         Then, in your code, send a HIGH signal to that pin to turn it on digitalWrite(Pin, HIGH). If you want to remove power, send a LOW signal.
         Regards,
         Sara

         Reply

         • Thanks for the response, I tried that out but instead the sensor kept turning On and Off. I’m making use of a PIR sensor. Could the problem be from my arduino board.

8. Hi
   I have followed your good explanation of “How To Do Daily Tasks with Arduino”, uploaded to the “Esp32 DOIT DevKit v1” board, and I use RTC “DS3231”. Arduino IDE compiler sketch without error. When I connect my board to Serial Monitor, the following appears:
   22: 09: 13.751 -> Rebooting … 22: 09: 13.751 -> ets Jun 8 2016 00:22:57 22: 09: 13.751 -> 22: 09: 13.751 -> rst: 0xc (SW_CPU_RESET), boot: 0x13 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT) 22: 09: 13.751 -> configsip: 0, SPIWP: 0xee 22: 09: 13.751 -> clk_drv: 0x00, q_drv: 0x00, d_drv: 0x00, cs0_drv: 0x00, hd_drv: 0x00, wp_drv: 0x00 22: 09: 13.751 -> mode: DIO, clock div: 1 22: 09: 13.751 -> load: 0x3fff0018, len: 4 22: 09: 13.751 -> load: 0x3fff001c, len: 928 22: 09: 13.751 -> ho 0 tail 12 room 4 22: 09: 13.751 -> load: 0x40078000, len: 8740 22: 09: 13.751 -> load: 0x40080400, len: 5788 22: 09: 13.751 -> entry 0x4008069c 22: 09: 13.843 -> Guru Meditation Error: Core 0 panic’ed (LoadProhibited). Exception was unhandled. 22: 09: 13.843 -> Core 0 register dump: 22: 09: 13.843 -> PC: 0x400d15d3 PS: 0x00060930 A0: 0x800d177e A1: 0x3ffe3b70 22: 09: 13.891 -> A2: 0x3ffc0310 A3: 0x00000000 A4: 0x00000000 A5: 0x00000000 22: 09: 13.891 -> A6: 0x00ff0000 A7: 0xff000000 A8: 0x800d15c7 A9: 0x3ffe3b40 22: 09: 13.891 -> A10: 0x3ffc0310 A11: 0x3ffbebe8 A12: 0x00000000 A13: 0x00000000 22: 09: 13.891 -> A14: 0x00000000 A15: 0x3ffbebe8 SAR: 0x00000020 EXCCAUSE: 0x0000001c 22: 09: 13.891 -> EXCVADDR: 0x0000001c LBEG: 0x4000c2e0 LEND: 0x4000c2f6 LCOUNT: 0xffffffff 22: 09: 13.891 -> 22: 09: 13,891 -> Backtrace: 0x400d15d3: 0x3ffe3b70 0x400d177b: 0x3ffe3b90 0x400d1786: 0x3ffe3bb0 0x400d5d13: 0x3ffe3bd0 0x40083261: 0x3ffe3bf0 0x4008343d: 0x3ffe3c20 0x40079017: 0x3ffe3c40 0x4007907d: 0x3ffe3c70 0x40079088: 0x3ffe3ca0 0x40079251: 0x3ffe3cc0 0x400806ce: 0x3ffe3df0 0x40007c31: 0x3ffe3eb0 0x4000073d: 0x3ffe3f20.
   It writes the same thing all the time at a very fast speed, and the LED does not turn on / off. Where is the error? Can you help me, so I can make it work.
   Sincerely Georg

   Reply

   • Hi.
     That error means that the code is crashing the ESP32 board.
     We built this example for the Arduino. So, it’s probably not compatible with the ESP32.
     Regards,
     Sara

     Reply

9. can you look at this code. i took your temperature alarm code and applied it with this code so i can have it send a email at 7:00am every day but it gives me a error of ‘alarm’ does not name a type. thank you for your help.
   #include <WiFi.h>
   #include <AsyncTCP.h>
   #include <ESPAsyncWebServer.h>
   #include <OneWire.h>
   #include <DallasTemperature.h>
   #include “ESP32_MailClient.h”
   #include <TimeLib.h>
   #include <TimeAlarms.h>

   const char* ssid = “123456”;
   const char* password = “123456”;

   #define emailSenderAccount “[email protected]”
   #define emailSenderPassword “1234”
   #define smtpServer “smtp.gmail.com”
   #define smtpServerPort 465
   #define emailSubject “[ALERT] CES Building Loop Temperature”

   String inputMessage = “[email protected]”;
   String enableEmailChecked = “checked”;
   String inputMessage2 = “true”;
   // Default Temperature Thresholds
   String inputMessage3 = “95”;
   String inputMessage4 = “65”;
   String lastTemperature;

   const char index_html[] PROGMEM = R”rawliteral(

   Email Notification with Temperature

   DS18B20 Temperature

   %TEMPERATURE% °F

   ESP Email Notification

   Email Address
   Enable Email Notification
   Upper Temperature Threshold
   Lower Temperature Threshold

   )rawliteral”;

   void notFound(AsyncWebServerRequest *request) {
   request->send(404, “text/plain”, “Not found”);
   }

   AsyncWebServer server(80);

   String processor(const String& var){
   //Serial.println(var);
   if(var == “TEMPERATURE”){
   return lastTemperature;
   }
   else if(var == “EMAIL_INPUT”){
   return inputMessage;
   }
   else if(var == “ENABLE_EMAIL”){
   return enableEmailChecked;
   }
   else if(var == “UPPER_THRESHOLD”){
   return inputMessage3;
   }
   else if(var == “LOWER_THRESHOLD”){
   return inputMessage4;
   }
   return String();
   }

   bool emailSent = false;

   const char* PARAM_INPUT_1 = “email_input”;
   const char* PARAM_INPUT_2 = “enable_email_input”;
   const char* PARAM_INPUT_3 = “upper_threshold_input”;
   const char* PARAM_INPUT_4 = “lower_threshold_input”;

   unsigned long previousMillis = 0;
   const long interval = 5000;

   const int oneWireBus = 4;
   OneWire oneWire(oneWireBus);
   DallasTemperature sensors(&oneWire);

   SMTPData smtpData;

   void setup() {

   Serial.begin(115200);
   WiFi.mode(WIFI_STA);
   WiFi.begin(ssid, password);
   if (WiFi.waitForConnectResult() != WL_CONNECTED) {
   Serial.println(“WiFi Failed!”);
   return;
   }
   Serial.println();
   Serial.print(“ESP IP Address: http://“);
   Serial.println(WiFi.localIP());

   sensors.begin();

   server.on(“/”, HTTP_GET, [](AsyncWebServerRequest *request){
   request->send_P(200, “text/html”, index_html, processor);
   });

   server.on(“/get”, HTTP_GET, [] (AsyncWebServerRequest *request) {

   if (request->hasParam(PARAM_INPUT_1)) {
inputMessage = request->getParam(PARAM_INPUT_1)->value();

   if (request->hasParam(PARAM_INPUT_2)) {
   inputMessage2 = request->getParam(PARAM_INPUT_2)->value();
   enableEmailChecked = "checked";
   }
   else {
   inputMessage2 = "false";
   enableEmailChecked = "";
   }

   if (request->hasParam(PARAM_INPUT_3)) {
inputMessage3 = request->getParam(PARAM_INPUT_3)->value();
}
if (request->hasParam(PARAM_INPUT_4)) {
inputMessage4 = request->getParam(PARAM_INPUT_4)->value();
}
}
else {
inputMessage = "No message sent";
}
Serial.println(inputMessage);
Serial.println(inputMessage2);
Serial.println(inputMessage3);
Serial.println(inputMessage4);
request->send(200, "text/html", "HTTP GET request sent to your ESP.<br><a href=\"/\">Return to Home Page</a>");


   });
   server.onNotFound(notFound);
   server.begin();
   }
   Alarm.alarmRepeat(7,0,0, MorningAlarm); // 7:00am every day
   void loop() {

   unsigned long currentMillis = millis();
   if (currentMillis – previousMillis >= interval) {
   previousMillis = currentMillis;
   sensors.requestTemperatures();
   // Temperature in Fahrenheit degrees
   float temperature = sensors.getTempFByIndex(0);
   Serial.print(temperature);
   Serial.println(” *F”);

   // Temperature in Fahrenheit degrees
/*float temperature = sensors.getTempFByIndex(0);
SerialMon.print(temperature);
SerialMon.println(" *F");*/

   lastTemperature = String(temperature);

   // Check if temperature is above threshold and if it needs to send the Email alert
if(temperature > inputMessage3.toFloat() && inputMessage2 == "true" && !emailSent){
String emailMessage = String("Temperature above threshold. Current temperature: ") +
String(temperature) + String("F");
if(sendEmailNotification(emailMessage)) {
Serial.println(emailMessage);
emailSent = true;
}


   void MorningAlarm () {
   Serial.println(temerature);
   }
   else {
   Serial.println(“Email failed to send”);
   }
   }
   // Check if temperature is below threshold and if it needs to send the Email alert
   if(temperature < inputMessage4.toFloat() && inputMessage2 == “true” && !emailSent){
   String emailMessage = String(“Temperature below threshold. Current temperature: “) +
   String(temperature) + String(“F”);
   if(sendEmailNotification(emailMessage)) {
   Serial.println(emailMessage);
   emailSent = true;
   }
   else {
   Serial.println(“Email failed to send”);
   }
   }
   }
   }

   bool sendEmailNotification(String emailMessage){
   // Set the SMTP Server Email host, port, account and password
   smtpData.setLogin(smtpServer, smtpServerPort, emailSenderAccount, emailSenderPassword);

   // For library version 1.2.0 and later which STARTTLS protocol was supported,the STARTTLS will be
   // enabled automatically when port 587 was used, or enable it manually using setSTARTTLS function.
   //smtpData.setSTARTTLS(true);

   // Set the sender name and Email
   smtpData.setSender(“CES Loop Sensor”, emailSenderAccount);

   // Set Email priority or importance High, Normal, Low or 1 to 5 (1 is highest)
   smtpData.setPriority(“High”);

   // Set the subject
   smtpData.setSubject(emailSubject);

   // Set the message with HTML format
   smtpData.setMessage(emailMessage, true);

   // Add recipients
   smtpData.addRecipient(inputMessage);

   smtpData.setSendCallback(sendCallback);

   // Start sending Email, can be set callback function to track the status
   if (!MailClient.sendMail(smtpData)) {
   Serial.println(“Error sending Email, ” + MailClient.smtpErrorReason());
   return false;
   }
   // Clear all data from Email object to free memory
   smtpData.empty();
   return true;
   }

   // Callback function to get the Email sending status
   void sendCallback(SendStatus msg) {
   // Print the current status
   Serial.println(msg.info());

   // Do something when complete
   if (msg.success()) {
   Serial.println(“—————-“);
   }
   }

   Reply

10. Hi
    I´m a beginner and trying to figure it out. It took me weeks before i discovered that my DS3231 device was damaged which was very frustrating because i thought i was doing something wrong.
    Now i have it finally running and i´m using your sketch to switch a LEd on and off just like it´s explained here.
    But what happens is that when i upload the sketch the LED goes on…when it reaches the Time for “MorningAlarm it goes off…when it reaches the time for the “EveningAlarm” it goes on again !!!!
    What am i doing wrong !!! Can somebody help me please…this is so frustrating.

    Reply

11. Hello
    I have obtained the date and time by connecting to Wi-Fi and I want to write one or more alarms in the program, can anyone help me?
    my Program:
    /*
    Rui Santos
    Complete project details at https://RandomNerdTutorials.com/esp32-date-time-ntp-client-server-arduino/

    Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
    of this software and associated documentation files.

    The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
    copies or substantial portions of the Software.
    */

    #include <WiFi.h>
    #include “time.h”

    const char* ssid = “1234”;
    const char* password = “1234”;

    const char* ntpServer = “pool.ntp.org”;
    const long gmtOffset_sec = 12600;
    const int daylightOffset_sec = 3600;

    void setup(){
    Serial.begin(115200);
    // Connect to Wi-Fi
    Serial.print(“Connecting to “);
    Serial.println(ssid);
    WiFi.begin(ssid, password);
    while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
    delay(500);
    Serial.print(“.”);
    }
    Serial.println(“”);
    Serial.println(“WiFi connected.”);

    // Init and get the time
    configTime(gmtOffset_sec, daylightOffset_sec, ntpServer);
    printLocalTime();

    //disconnect WiFi as it’s no longer needed
    WiFi.disconnect(true);
    WiFi.mode(WIFI_OFF);
    }

    void loop(){

    printLocalTime();

    delay(1000);

    }

    void printLocalTime(){
    struct tm timeinfo;
    if(!getLocalTime(&timeinfo)){
    Serial.println(“Failed to obtain time”);
    return;
    }
    Serial.println(&timeinfo, “%A, %B %d %Y %H:%M:%S”);

    }

    Reply

12. Alarm.alarmRepeat(HH,MM,SS,MyFunction);
    Is there a set cap, I need 20 to run my function

    Reply

13. Hello to everyone, I would like to resettable time schedule via Nextion HMI screen.

    I am using Arduino mega and would like to make a kind of greenhouse. That’s why I need the resettable time scheduled watering system. When I put Alarm.alarmRepeat into void setup() function it works but I can not set it again without rebooting.

    When I put Alarm.alarmRepeat into void loop() function only the first alarm is triggered. The second alarm doesn’t trigger.

    Are there any suggestions for me?

    Reply

    • “onceOnly Alarms and Timers are freed when they are triggered so another onceOnly alarm can be set to trigger again.
      There is no limit to the number of times a onceOnly alarm can be reset.

      The following fragment gives one example of how a timerOnce task can be rescheduled:
      Alarm.timerOnce(random(10), randomTimer); // trigger after random number of seconds

      void randomTimer(){
      int period = random(2,10); // get a new random period
      Alarm.timerOnce(period, randomTimer); // trigger for another random period”
      …From the docs.

      He is using a random variable, but you could also use one you have chosen in place of “period”. I didn’t try it, but I suspect this would need to reside in loop() or a function run from loop(), otherwise the alarm would not see the variable change.

      Late, but maybe it will help?
      Dave

      Reply

14. Is there a possibility to have an “on-auto-off” switch which has priority over the timer?
    Say I want to turn the lights “on” manually already one hour earlier. Before I leave, I turn to “auto” that in the next morning they turn on again.
    Or I come earlier in the morning and switch manually “off”. When I leave I switch to “auto” to get back to the original rhythm.

    Reply

15. I tried running the code, but I get an error -“tm eLements_t-tm does not name a type. Did you mean TimeLib_month_t?

    What should I do?

    Reply

16. Hi, I would love to get this sketch working to open and close my shades every morning. This would be perfect….I included the libraries below… (Wire) because I read there is some dependency with one of the other libraries??
    #include <Wire.h>
    #include <TimeLib.h>
    #include <DS1307RTC.h>
    – I tried installing TimeLib, but Arduino installs TIme.
    I’m using a DS3231, but still trying to use DS1307RTC library. When I changed it to DS3231RTC library I had errors. But now I am getting an error on the following line in the sketch– ‘tmElements_t’
    the error is—“does not name a type; did you mean ‘timelib_month_t’?”
    What do I do?

    tmElements_t tm;

    Reply