Issue with while loop - c++

Question

For my project I am trying to messure the distance between my sensor and an object to trigger an alarm. If the alarm goes off, a message will be sent to my Telegram account with a library (UniversalTelegramBot). For messuring th distance, I'm using a loop to the distance between the sensor and the object, but to check if I get any messages through I also need to use a loop. I want to make it so that with the comment "/off" the distance get messured again, but when you type something else it waits till the comment "/off" gets used again. While the alarm is on and it's checking for messages, I want to use "/start" as comment to see which other comments to use and how to use it, without going to the messure loop again.
My main problem is that when the alarm goes off and I type anything, it doesn't matter what, the loop starts messuring again, but I only want it to go back to messuring when I type "/off" in telegram.
My code:
#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <WiFiClientSecure.h>
#include <UniversalTelegramBot.h>
UniversalTelegramBot bot(TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN, client);
int delayBetweenChecks = 250;
unsigned long lastTimeChecked;
void handleNewMessages(int numNewMessages) {
for (int i = 0; i < numNewMessages; i++) {
String chat_id = String(bot.messages[i].chat_id);
String text = bot.messages[i].text;
String from_name = bot.messages[i].from_name;
if (from_name == "")
from_name = "Gast";
Serial.print("De volgende knop is ingedrukt: ");
Serial.println(text);
if (text == F("/off")) {
digitalWrite(LED_PIN, LOW);
alarmStatus = 0;
noTone(buzzer);
}
if (text == "/start") {
String welcome = "Welkom bij jouw alarmsysteem, " + from_name + ".\n";
welcome += "/off : om het alarm uit te zetten\n";
bot.sendMessage(chat_id, welcome, "Markdown");
}
}
}
void loop() {
digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);
delayMicroseconds(5);
digitalWrite(trigPin, HIGH);
delayMicroseconds(10);
digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);
pinMode(echoPin, INPUT);
duration = pulseIn(echoPin, HIGH);
// Convert the time into a distance
cm = (duration / 2) / 29.1; // Divide by 29.1 or multiply by 0.0343
inches = (duration / 2) / 74; // Divide by 74 or multiply by 0.0135
Serial.print(inches);
Serial.print("in, ");
Serial.print(cm);
Serial.print("cm");
Serial.println();
while (cm <= 9) {
Serial.println("ALARM!");
digitalWrite(LED_PIN, HIGH);
tone(buzzer, 250);
alarmStatus = 1;
if (alarmStatus = 1) {
if (millis() > lastTimeChecked + delayBetweenChecks) {
int numNewMessages = bot.getUpdates(bot.last_message_received + 1);
handleNewMess ages(numNewMessages);
if (numNewMessages) {
Serial.println("got response");
handleNewMessages(numNewMessages);
}
lastTimeChecked = millis();
}
}
break;
}
delay(250);
}

Answer 1

If I understand it correctly, you could keep two separate state variables. One for turning the alarm on and off when you leave/return home and one for when triggering the alarm.
#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <WiFiClientSecure.h>
#include <UniversalTelegramBot.h>
const int delayBetweenChecks = 250;
bool alarmStatus = false; // off by default
bool alarmTriggered = false; // off by default
UniversalTelegramBot bot(TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN, client);
double measure_distance_in_cm() {
digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);
delayMicroseconds(5);
digitalWrite(trigPin, HIGH);
delayMicroseconds(10);
digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);
pinMode(echoPin, INPUT);
unsigned long duration = pulseIn(echoPin, HIGH);
// Convert the time into a distance
return static_cast<double>(duration) / (29.1 * 2.);
}
void trigger_on() {
digitalWrite(LED_PIN, HIGH);
alarmTriggered = true;
}
void trigger_off() {
digitalWrite(LED_PIN, LOW);
alarmTriggered = false;
}
void handleNewMessages() {
int numNewMessages = bot.getUpdates(bot.last_message_received + 1);
for (int i = 0; i < numNewMessages; i++) {
String text = bot.messages[i].text;
Serial.println(text);
if (text == "/start") { // when you're leaving home
alarmStatus = true;
trigger_off();
}
else if (text == "/stop") { // when you're returning home
alarmStatus = false;
trigger_off();
}
else if (text == "/off") { // turn off a triggered alarm
trigger_off();
}
else if (test == "/on") { // force triggering of the alarm
trigger_on();
}
}
}
void loop() {
static unsigned long lastTimeChecked = millis();
handleNewMessages();
if(alarmStatus) { // you only need to do this if the alarm is on
if(alarmTriggered == false) { // only measure if the alarm isn't already triggered
double cm = measure_distance_in_cm();
if(cm <= 9.) {
Serial.println("ALARM!");
trigger_on();
}
}
// If it's triggered: Sound the alarm in 200ms bursts until /off or /stop is received
if(alarmTriggered) tone(buzzer, delayBetweenChecks-50);
}
// try to keep the polling at a steady pace
lastTimeChecked += delayBetweenChecks;
unsigned long now = millis();
if(lastTimeChecked > now) delay(lastTimeChecked - now);
}
Disclaimer: I don't have an Arduino so I can't test it myself.