you should find the cause of the dropped block and fix it. That is typically caused by an infrequent but expensive computation, for instance a large block of audio data processed at once, a large message parsed occasionally, an unusually large number of messages fired/processed in the same audio block. In your case it may well be this last one, and it only happens for certain distances perhaps?

When a dropout occurs, all the outputs send out zeros.

I seem to remember that the sensor detects objects not just in front of it but also at an angle of about 15 degrees.

    giuliomoro re: my second problem of not getting any printed messages in the console or any solenoids actuating, I tried to update my Bela board but got this error
    alt text
    🙁

        Previous to updating the Bela, this is all that would happen when I hit run. There should be printed messages in the console after this initiation (there used to be anyway) but it just stopped happening....

        alt text

        Okay so I reflashed the SD card and we're back to having no printed messages in the console. No more errors but none of my project is working anymore like before 🙂

        alt text

        Here is the test I was talking about, surely a bang should be being printed every 100ms? This was done in a new Pd project, with no render file.

        alt text

        Ok we're back up and running, realised that one of my resistors blew at some point (bit worrying but I think we're ok, might also have been disconnected slightly because I was messing around with the sensors. Basically the way I had the print object wired meant that it needed both sensors to send info in order to print (hot and cold inlet on the {list} object). Since the main sensor wasn't sending info because the circuit wasn't complete, I wasn't getting any printed messages, and because the main sensor is what actuates the solenoids, thats why they weren't getting any messages 🙂

        Sorry for all the posts, but it might help someone in the future, and is also helpful for my writeup next week.

        Good that it worked out for you in the end. Bad that the update boars didn't work, I will have to investigate that. Could you confirm what image used to be on your board, or when you received the board?
        Which image did you flash now?

          giuliomoro I flashed the latest Github zip to the board, don't know what was on it before I'm afraid as it belongs to the university. I flashed probably the latest version to the SD card, unless thats the same thing, in which case, yep the latest version.

            giuliomoro Just because I'm curious, in post 46 of this thread, why wasn't I receiving the bang message in the console?

              Well the metro was not enabled: you need a loadbang to start it. In fact, that patch would not work in Pd, either

                In pd that would work only if you bang the metro and then delete the bang object perhaps?

                  giuliomoro Perhaps it is because I made the metro object then edited it to have the 100 argument inside it... Who knows, maybe I was just seeing things

                    3 months later

                    @sambilbow would you mind sharing your wiring diagram, or describing the components to power and control solenoids?

                    I don't have much background in electronics but I'm trying to control an array of solenoids with bela and would love to understand your project as a starting point

                      a month later

                      jamesstaub I'm really sorry for not replying to this, I remember getting the notification but then being really busy.

                      alt text
                      Attached is my Fritzing diagram, its a simple solenoid circuit with transistor and diode that is just copied