Python- Firmata and Arduino, script structure effecting firmata

Question

When using this script to blink an LED on pin12, the script will not get past line27 where pin12 is set high. There is no error message.

    import json
    import urllib
    from firmata import *
    from pprint import pprint
    import time
    import serial

    countTweet = 0
    a = Arduino('COM13') #Insert this before the while loop = it never actually works
    a.delay(2)          

    while True:
        try:
            response = urllib.urlopen('http://search.twitter.com/search.json?q=%23happy&result_type=recent&rpp=1&filter:retweets').read()
        except IOError:
            pprint('no internet connection')
            time.sleep(5)
            continue
        j = json.loads(response)
        if j['results']:
            text = j['results'][0]['text']
            tID = j['results'][0]['id']
        else:
            pprint('bad JSON')
        if countTweet != 0 and lastID != tID:
            pprint('new ID')
            a.pin_mode(12, firmata.OUTPUT)  #Gets stuck here
            a.delay(2)
            a.digital_write(12, firmata.HIGH)
            a.delay(2)
            a.digital_write(12, firmata.LOW)
            pprint('done firmata')
            lastID = tID
            pprint (text)
            pprint ('1')
        else:
            pprint("FLC") #First loop complete: To gather the existing tweet before we start
            lastID = tID
            countTweet += 1
        time.sleep(15)

How do I structure this script so that Firmata/Serial works on each loop? I am interested to learn why the above script doesn't work at all but the LED example below will.

    from firmata import * 

a = Arduino('COM13')
a.pin_mode(12, firmata.OUTPUT)
a.delay(2)

while True:
    a.digital_write(12, firmata.HIGH)
    a.delay(2)
    a.digital_write(12, firmata.LOW)
    a.delay(2)

The Arduino is running oldStandardFirmata

#include <EEPROM.h>
#include <Firmata.h>

/*==============================================================================
 * GLOBAL VARIABLES
 *============================================================================*/

/* analog inputs */
int analogInputsToReport = 0; // bitwise array to store pin reporting
int analogPin = 0; // counter for reading analog pins

/* digital pins */
byte reportPINs[TOTAL_PORTS];   // PIN == input port
byte previousPINs[TOTAL_PORTS]; // PIN == input port
byte pinStatus[TOTAL_PINS]; // store pin status, default OUTPUT
byte portStatus[TOTAL_PORTS];

/* timer variables */
unsigned long currentMillis;     // store the current value from millis()
unsigned long previousMillis;    // for comparison with currentMillis


/*==============================================================================
 * FUNCTIONS                                                                
 *============================================================================*/

void outputPort(byte portNumber, byte portValue)
{
  portValue = portValue &~ portStatus[portNumber];
  if(previousPINs[portNumber] != portValue) {
        Firmata.sendDigitalPort(portNumber, portValue); 
        previousPINs[portNumber] = portValue;
        Firmata.sendDigitalPort(portNumber, portValue); 
    }
}

/* -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 * check all the active digital inputs for change of state, then add any events
 * to the Serial output queue using Serial.print() */
void checkDigitalInputs(void) 
{
    byte i, tmp;
    for(i=0; i < TOTAL_PORTS; i++) {
        if(reportPINs[i]) {
            switch(i) {
            case 0: outputPort(0, PIND &~ B00000011); break; // ignore Rx/Tx 0/1
            case 1: outputPort(1, PINB); break;
            case 2: outputPort(2, PINC); break;
            }
        }
    }
}

// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
/* sets the pin mode to the correct state and sets the relevant bits in the
 * two bit-arrays that track Digital I/O and PWM status
 */
void setPinModeCallback(byte pin, int mode) {
    byte port = 0;
    byte offset = 0;

    if (pin < 8) {
      port = 0;
      offset = 0;
    } else if (pin < 14) {
      port = 1;
      offset = 8;     
    } else if (pin < 22) {
      port = 2;
      offset = 14;
    }

    if(pin > 1) { // ignore RxTx (pins 0 and 1)
        pinStatus[pin] = mode;
        switch(mode) {
        case INPUT:
            pinMode(pin, INPUT);
            portStatus[port] = portStatus[port] &~ (1 << (pin - offset));
            break;
        case OUTPUT:
            digitalWrite(pin, LOW); // disable PWM
        case PWM:
            pinMode(pin, OUTPUT);
            portStatus[port] = portStatus[port] | (1 << (pin - offset));
            break;
        //case ANALOG: // TODO figure this out
        default:
            Firmata.sendString("");
        }
        // TODO: save status to EEPROM here, if changed
    }
}

void analogWriteCallback(byte pin, int value)
{
    setPinModeCallback(pin,PWM);
    analogWrite(pin, value);
}

void digitalWriteCallback(byte port, int value)
{
    switch(port) {
    case 0: // pins 2-7 (don't change Rx/Tx, pins 0 and 1)
        // 0xFF03 == B1111111100000011    0x03 == B00000011
        PORTD = (value &~ 0xFF03) | (PORTD & 0x03);
        break;
    case 1: // pins 8-13 (14,15 are disabled for the crystal) 
        PORTB = (byte)value;
        break;
    case 2: // analog pins used as digital
        PORTC = (byte)value;
        break;
    }
}

// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
/* sets bits in a bit array (int) to toggle the reporting of the analogIns
 */
//void FirmataClass::setAnalogPinReporting(byte pin, byte state) {
//}
void reportAnalogCallback(byte pin, int value)
{
    if(value == 0) {
        analogInputsToReport = analogInputsToReport &~ (1 << pin);
    }
    else { // everything but 0 enables reporting of that pin
        analogInputsToReport = analogInputsToReport | (1 << pin);
    }
    // TODO: save status to EEPROM here, if changed
}

void reportDigitalCallback(byte port, int value)
{
    reportPINs[port] = (byte)value;
    if(port == 2) // turn off analog reporting when used as digital
        analogInputsToReport = 0;
}

/*==============================================================================
 * SETUP()
 *============================================================================*/
void setup() 
{
    byte i;

    Firmata.setFirmwareVersion(2, 0);

    Firmata.attach(ANALOG_MESSAGE, analogWriteCallback);
    Firmata.attach(DIGITAL_MESSAGE, digitalWriteCallback);
    Firmata.attach(REPORT_ANALOG, reportAnalogCallback);
    Firmata.attach(REPORT_DIGITAL, reportDigitalCallback);
    Firmata.attach(SET_PIN_MODE, setPinModeCallback);

    portStatus[0] = B00000011;  // ignore Tx/RX pins
    portStatus[1] = B11000000;  // ignore 14/15 pins 
    portStatus[2] = B00000000;

//    for(i=0; i<TOTAL_PINS; ++i) { // TODO make this work with analogs
    for(i=0; i<14; ++i) {
        setPinModeCallback(i,OUTPUT);
    }
    // set all outputs to 0 to make sure internal pull-up resistors are off
    PORTB = 0; // pins 8-15
    PORTC = 0; // analog port
    PORTD = 0; // pins 0-7

    // TODO rethink the init, perhaps it should report analog on default
    for(i=0; i<TOTAL_PORTS; ++i) {
        reportPINs[i] = false;
    }
    // TODO: load state from EEPROM here

    /* send digital inputs here, if enabled, to set the initial state on the
     * host computer, since once in the loop(), this firmware will only send
     * digital data on change. */
    if(reportPINs[0]) outputPort(0, PIND &~ B00000011); // ignore Rx/Tx 0/1
    if(reportPINs[1]) outputPort(1, PINB);
    if(reportPINs[2]) outputPort(2, PINC);

    Firmata.begin(115200);
}

/*==============================================================================
 * LOOP()
 *============================================================================*/
void loop() 
{
/* DIGITALREAD - as fast as possible, check for changes and output them to the
 * FTDI buffer using Serial.print()  */
    checkDigitalInputs();  
    currentMillis = millis();
    if(currentMillis - previousMillis > 20) {  
        previousMillis += 20;     // run this every 20ms
        /* SERIALREAD - Serial.read() uses a 128 byte circular buffer, so handle
         * all serialReads at once, i.e. empty the buffer */
        while(Firmata.available())
            Firmata.processInput();
        /* SEND FTDI WRITE BUFFER - make sure that the FTDI buffer doesn't go over
         * 60 bytes. use a timer to sending an event character every 4 ms to
         * trigger the buffer to dump. */

        /* ANALOGREAD - right after the event character, do all of the
         * analogReads().  These only need to be done every 4ms. */
        for(analogPin=0;analogPin<TOTAL_ANALOG_PINS;analogPin++) {
            if( analogInputsToReport & (1 << analogPin) ) {
                Firmata.sendAnalog(analogPin, analogRead(analogPin));
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

I have the impression that your serial communication to arduino is not working. I cannot see where and how you open the serial port and the port parameters. Your program gets stuck on the first line that try to communicate to serial port.

    import serial
    ser = serial.Serial()
    ser.port = "/dev/ttyUSB0" # may be called something different
    ser.baudrate = 115200 # may be different
    ser.open()