Trill Flex recognized but not sending any values

heikobloemers

Hello everybody!

I recently purchased a Trill Flex as well as a Craft.
I am using a Teensy 4.1 on Win10.
Both are recognized properly (running the detect-all-devices example).
I connected some jumper cables to the craft to see if everything is working before diving into my project and everything seems fine: I get proper reading using the craft-print example, even played around with the Prescalar and noiseThreshold already and I'm happy to see it working.
But when I connect the Flex it is recognized properly but does not send any values; nothing at all. I thought (and am still thinking) that I must be doing something wrong here but I'm out of ideas as of what I can test and I just want to rule out that the Flex I got may be faulty (which I highly doubt).

I'm ruling out the following:
- It cannot be the I2C connection itself having problems with the Teensy 4.1 because the Craft is working like a charm
- I connected things directly to the Teensy pins without using my bredboard to rule out possible bredboard connection issues
- I carefully followed the tutorial where the gif shows clearly how to connect the Flex to its board and made sure it's properly tucked into the connector (I repeated this process 4 times already to make sure it's properly connected and not upside down or something)

I'm clueless as to what to do now and get it to work and show any values :-(
Should I try (which might even impossible) to try and test the Flex PCB itself with a multimeter to see if the connections are actually working?
Looking forward to your help and thanks in advance!

Warm wishes,
Heiko

giuliomoro

Hi Heiko,
sorry to hear you are having troubles.

heikobloemers But when I connect the Flex it is recognized properly but does not send any values; nothing at all. I thought (and am still thinking) that I must be doing something wrong here but I'm out of ideas as of what I can test and I just want to rule out that the Flex I got may be faulty (which I highly doubt).

hmmm ... what program are you running? when you say "nothing at all" do you mean nothing at all gets printed or only zeros are printed?

heikobloemers

Hey guilomoro!

Thanks for your prompt reply!

I'm sorry that I was not making myself clear. With "getting nothing at all" I meant only zeros get printed.
I now did another thing (which hopefully did not damage anything but I doubt it): I opened the connector and loosely tucked in the Flex; gently moving it around slightly. Now I am getting kinda random values on random channels (which is to be expected). I was just thinking about doing that to see if there's at least something else happening than zeros. But Still it remains: When I connect the Flex properly all it prints ("sends") is zeros.
I will now take out my Teensy 3.2 from another project to test it there but as I mentioned in my first post: I doubt it's the Teensy as the Craft is working fine with it. Gonna report back in a sec about the Teensy 3.2

Additionally I'd like to mention that the Flex was shipped very well-packaged, protected from possible shocks and in anti-static bags, and I bought it directly from the bela shop. Everything looks to be in immaculate condition so I'm ruling out any transport damage.

giuliomoro

it could be that you need to modify the prescaler settings (normally 4 is a good value for FLEX), or that the sensor is damaged. I'd suggest you put the sensor in RAW mode and see what you read first. If you share the code you are using I can point you in the right direction.

heikobloemers

Yay! Got it to work! :-)

As I said I tried it with my Teensy 3.2 (using 4.7k Pull-Ups on SDA & SCL) with the same result: Flex gets recognized (using the detect-all-devices sketch) but when running the raw-multi-print sketch all it prints is zeros no matter where I touch it.
Now I know that it is vital to post the code one is using when in search for help but I didn't post it as I was merely using the sketch examples provided by bela, leaving them untouched.
Now that you've mentioned to share the code I'm using I was thinking to take my code I was using with the Craft (which is just a stripped down version of the craft print + some settings commands) and adapt it to use it with the Flex (which means the only change I did was changing int ret = trillSensor.setup(Trill::TRILL_CRAFT); to int ret = trillSensor.setup(Trill::TRILL_FLEX);) and voilà: It works! I get values, everything as expected!
So I believe there is something wrong with the "raw-multi-print" code, especially (or solely) when it comes to using it on Teensy (at least 3.2 and 4.1).
Let me know if I can help you debug it in any way with concerns to reconstructing the issue :-D

Thanks again for your lovely and promptly help! :-)

PS. So yeah the code I used now and it works fine with my Flex is:

#include <Trill.h>

Trill trillSensor;

//
int data = 0;

void setup()
{
	Serial.begin(115200);
 
	int ret = trillSensor.setup(Trill::TRILL_FLEX);
	if(ret != 0) {
		Serial.println("failed to initialise trillSensor");
		Serial.print("Error code: ");
		Serial.println(ret);
	}

  trillSensor.setMode(Trill::RAW);
  trillSensor.setScanSettings(0, 10);
  trillSensor.setNoiseThreshold(200);
  trillSensor.setPrescaler(4);
}

void loop()
{
	trillSensor.requestRawData();

	while(trillSensor.rawDataAvailable() > 0)
	{
    data = trillSensor.rawDataRead();
    if(data < 1000)
      Serial.print(0);
    if(data < 100)
      Serial.print(0);
    if(data < 10)
      Serial.print(0);
    Serial.print(data);
    Serial.print(" ");
  }
  Serial.println("");
}

PS². I love bela since the first time I randomly ran into Drew and the bela "booth / experiment-lab" at the Musikmesse Frankfurt (in god knows when...2014/2015/2016/2017?); it was before the kickstarter for Trill and I was looking forward to beta-test or tryout the what was going to become Trill Craft. But life got a hold of me and I had to pause all my projects concerning microcontrollers up until now. So thanks for all the work you do guys! It's highly appreciated! Once I'm done with my project I'm happy to share it with you guys :-D

Much love from Spain,
Heiko

giuliomoro

heikobloemers Yay! Got it to work! :-)

great news!

heikobloemers I didn't post it as I was merely using the sketch examples provided by bela

but I don't think you mentioned which example project you were using.

I am looking at the raw-multi-print example and ...

  if(trillFlex.setup(Trill::TRILL_FLEX) != 0)
    Serial.println("failed to initialise trill flex");

did you get a printout failed to initialise trill flex?

I am thinking that maybe all you need is to call

delay(10);
trillFlex.setPrescaler(4);
delay(10);
trillFlex.updateBaseline();

at the end of setup().

heikobloemers Drew and the bela "booth / experiment-lab" at the Musikmesse Frankfurt (in god knows when...2014/2015/2016/2017?)

that may have been Superbooth in Berlin ... possibly 2019 if Drew was there and Trill was mentioned ... ? Great that you managed to get back to your projects after a hiatus, looking forward to what comes out of it!

heikobloemers

but I don't think you mentioned which example project you were using.

you are absolutely right. I completely forgot to mention it in my first post (even though I had it in my head I forgot to actually write it down, haha). I was using the raw-multi-print example indeed.

did you get a printout failed to initialise trill flex?

No, I didn't. Here is the serial monitor print out of this sketch:


failed to initialise trill square

failed to initialise trill craft

failed to initialise trill ring

failed to initialise trill hex



FLEX    0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



FLEX    0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



FLEX    0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



FLEX    0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000

and it just keeps spitting out zeros, no matter touching the Flex or not.

I am thinking that maybe all you need is to call

delay(10);
trillFlex.setPrescaler(4);
delay(10);
trillFlex.updateBaseline();

at the end of setup().

Just added that and it makes this example sketch work flawlessly now!
I guess it would be good to include these lines in the example sketch for other users that may run into a similar or the same issue in the future. Because it's a provided example sketch a user (at least me) expects it to work flawlessly, usually haha :-D

that may have been Superbooth in Berlin ... possibly 2019 if Drew was there and Trill was mentioned ... ? Great that you managed to get back to your projects after a hiatus, looking forward to what comes out of it!

Hehe, no it was definitely at the Musikmesse Frankfurt and it was more of a "backyard hackerslab" than an actual booth if I remember correctly. Somebody in front of it was soldering pinheaders on what we now know as the Trill Craft and I went in and talked to Drew a bit about bela and was very excited to see people in there building their own synths and stuff. I mentioned that I had already experimented with the Capacitive Touch Pins on the Teensy 3.x as well as the Adafruit MPR 121 Capacitive Touch Board but was highly disappointed in the SNR of either of these (even though I did my best to handle things in software as well as trying everything to keep parasitic capacitance at a minimum) and Drew mentioned that they are working on something that would be part of a sensor line-up of capacitive touch sensing that was intended for audio applications and I should sign up for the beta testing. I just couldn't believe my ears as this was exactly what I was looking for but yeah life got me and I never signed up. But yeah, it was fortune to "stumble upon bela" on the way to the toilets. I still remember the moment. And honestly now finally being able to test the Trill series, I think you gurls and guys have done a remarkable job! Gotta keep you posted once I'm done :-D

Thanks again for your help and advice! <3

giuliomoro

heikobloemers I guess it would be good to include these lines in the example sketch for other users that may run into a similar or the same issue in the future. Because it's a provided example sketch a user (at least me) expects it to work flawlessly, usually haha :-D

of course!

heikobloemers Musikmesse Frankfurt

Then I am very confused ... I'll "investigate"

heikobloemers , I think you gurls and guys have done a remarkable job!

Thanks a lot! Glad you enjoy it and thanks for spotting the mistakes, that's the first step towards fixing them.

heikobloemers

of course!

cheers! :-)

Then I am very confused ... I'll "investigate"

haha :-D It must've been the early days of bela, possibly? In any way bela and especially Trill is revolutionary for ordinary musicians that know a little bit about coding and microcontrollers like me, haha! <3
I remember it was like a "meeting" room with a U-shaped row of tables and possibly around 10-15 people in there. There was a projector/canvas at the tip of the "U". Some people coding, others working on fancy synth hardware and such. By the way: Sorry for going a bit off-topic in this thread, I hope that's ok, for the sake of nostalgia and good memories, hahaha.

Thanks a lot! Glad you enjoy it and thanks for spotting the mistakes, that's the first step towards fixing them.

haha, I'm happy to be of service :-) But you did the work of fixing it! ;-)

giuliomoro

heikobloemers f fixing it! ;-

it should be fixed now https://github.com/BelaPlatform/Trill-Arduino/blob/master/examples/raw-multi-print/raw-multi-print.ino

heikobloemers

yes! it's working! :-)