How do I call a functions from serial input in Arduino? - c++

Question

I'm super new to programming so apologies if this is a badly phrased question or just confusing code! I have some Arduino code that automates things inside my campervan. The arduino reads data from temperature and battery sensors, and also controls the heating system. I had everything working, but the code was really inefficient and buggy, and I'd frequently get gibberish back when reading from the sensors. The internet suggested I use start and end markers to identify the useful information and discard the rest. Some copy and pasting and editing, I've ended up with the code below. However while the start and end markers are filtering out the information, I can't seem to make it call functions which actually do the controlling of things (e.g., move a servo, switch the heater on etc.).
// Van control system.
// Heater and sensor control code
// 20.03.2021
// This code controls the heater and reads from temp and power sensors.
#include <Servo.h> //Controls the heater air flow
#include <DHT.h> //temp sensor
#define DHT_SENSOR_TYPE DHT_TYPE_11
#include <Adafruit_INA260.h> //this breakout board monitors battery level and power consumption
Adafruit_INA260 ina260 = Adafruit_INA260();
Servo myservo; // servo to turn on heater
int pos = 90;// variable to store the servo position
#define DHTPIN 3 // temp sensor pin
#define DHTTYPE DHT11 // DHT 11
DHT dht(DHTPIN, DHTTYPE);
// Set up pins, the controller uses a common ground, so only one
// ground connection is needed. Pin A and B are used as pairs to
// generate a quadrature signal that mimics a rotary encoder (which controllers the heater)
int pinA = 9; //Pin A of encoder output
int pinB = 10; // Pin B of encoder output
int offPin = 11; // Acts as momentary on button
int onPin = 12; // Act as momentary off button
const byte numChars = 32; //serial input buffer
char receivedChars[numChars];
boolean newData = false;
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
dht.begin(); //initalise temp sensor
myservo.attach(5); //attaches servo to pin.
pinMode(pinA, OUTPUT);
pinMode(pinB, OUTPUT);
pinMode(onPin, OUTPUT);
pinMode(offPin, OUTPUT);
digitalWrite(pinA, LOW);
digitalWrite(pinB, LOW);
digitalWrite(onPin, LOW);
digitalWrite(offPin, LOW);
ina260.begin(); //initalise power sensor
Serial.println("<ATMega is ready>"); //confirms that microcontroller is ready
}
//End of set up process.
void loop() {
recvWithStartEndMarkers(); //for maximum efficiency, loop should be as short as possible.
showNewData();
}
void recvWithStartEndMarkers() {
static boolean recvInProgress = false;
static byte ndx = 0;
char startMarker = '<';
char endMarker = '>';
char rc;
while (Serial.available() > 0 && newData == false) {
rc = Serial.read();
if (recvInProgress == true) {
if (rc != endMarker) {
receivedChars[ndx] = rc;
ndx++;
if (ndx >= numChars) {
ndx = numChars - 1;
}
}
else {
receivedChars[ndx] = '\0'; //terminate string
recvInProgress = false;
ndx = 0;
newData = true;
}
}
else if (rc == startMarker) {
recvInProgress = true;
}
}
}
void showNewData() {
if (newData == true) {
Serial.println(receivedChars); //this works and I get the character back in the serial monitor.
if (receivedChars == "H") {
upHeat(); //this doesn't work, if the character is H I want to call this function
}
else if (receivedChars == "C") {
downHeat();
}
else if (receivedChars == "O") {
heatOn();
}
else if (receivedChars == "F") {
heatOff();
}
else if (receivedChars == "a") {
servoPosOne();
}
else if (receivedChars == "s") {
servoPosTwo();
}
else if (receivedChars == "d") {
servoPosThree();
}
newData = false;
}
}
void upHeat() { //this generates a quadrature to simulate a rotary encoder.
digitalWrite(pinB, HIGH);
delay(200);
digitalWrite(pinA, HIGH);
delay(200);
digitalWrite(pinB, LOW);
delay(200);
digitalWrite(pinA, LOW);
delay(200);
digitalWrite(pinB, HIGH);
delay(200);
digitalWrite(pinA, HIGH);
delay(200);
digitalWrite(pinB, LOW);
delay(200);
digitalWrite(pinA, LOW);
}
//I haven't included the rest of the functions because, if one works, the rest will.
Any help would be amazing. I feel like it could be something really simple that I'm missing. Equally it could all be completely terrible!