The Watchdog Timer on Arduino

In this video we take a look at the Watchdog Timer on Arduino and the three different ways to configure it. We show a simple example using the Watchdog Timer and you can find the code from the example below.

//**********************Arduino Code*******************************
#include <avr/wdt.h> //Watch dog timer functions
#include <EEPROM.h> //library for using EEPROM

// Pin 13 has an LED connected on most Arduino boards.
int led = 13;
volatile int wSetting = 1; //variable to store WDT setting, make it volatile since it will be used in ISR

void setup() {
  wdt_disable(); //Datasheet recommends disabling WDT right away in case of low probabibliy event
  pinMode(led, OUTPUT); //set up the LED pin to output
  pinMode(2,INPUT_PULLUP); //setup pin 2 for input since we will be using it with our button
  getSettings(); //start serial settings menu to choose WDT setting
  //setup the watchdog Timer based on the setting
  if(wSetting == 1) setWDT(0b01000000); //set for interrupt
  else if(wSetting == 2) setWDT(0b00001000); //set for reset
  else setWDT(0b01001000); //set for interrupt and then reset
}

void loop() {
  
  if(!digitalRead(2)) { //check if button to reset WDT was pressed
    digitalWrite(led, LOW);    // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW
    wdt_reset(); //Reset the WDT 
  }
}

//This function gets the WDT setting from the user using Serial comm
void getSettings() {
  Serial.begin(57600);
  Serial.println("We just started up......");
  byte b; //variable to store interrupt / reset tracker
  if(EEPROM.get(10, b)) { //check if interrupt occurred before reset
    Serial.println("...and an interrupt occurred.....");
    b = 0; //reset variable
    EEPROM.put(10,b);
  }
  Serial.println("Select the WDT setting: 1 --> interrupt, 2 --> reset, 3 --> interrupt and reset");
  //wait for user to input setting selection
  while (!Serial.available()) { }
  wSetting = Serial.parseInt(); //get entry and ensure it is valid
  if(wSetting < 1 || wSetting > 3) {
      wSetting = 1;
   }
   Serial.print("WDT setting is ");
   Serial.println(wSetting);
   Serial.println();
   Serial.end(); //don't want to mix serial comm and interrupts together
}

/*
void setSleepInterval(byte timer) {
  sleep_enable(); //enable the sleep mode
  set_sleep_mode(SLEEP_MODE_PWR_DOWN); //set the type of sleep mode. Default is Idle. power down saves the most power
  ADCSRA &= ~(1<<ADEN); //Turn off ADC before going to sleep (set ADEN bit to 0). this saves even more power
  WDTCSR |= 0b00011000;    //Set the WDE bit and then clear it when set the prescaler, WDCE bit must be set if changing WDE bit   
  WDTCSR = 0b01000000 | timer; //This sets the WDT to the interval specified in the function argument
  wdt_reset(); //Reset the WDT 
  sleep_cpu(); //enter sleep mode. Next code that will be executed is the ISR when interrupt wakes Arduino from sleep
  sleep_disable(); //disable sleep mode
  ADCSRA |= (1<<ADEN); //Turn the ADC back on
}*/

//this function setups up and starts the watchdog timer
void setWDT(byte sWDT) {
   WDTCSR |= 0b00011000;
   WDTCSR = sWDT |  WDTO_2S; //Set WDT based user setting and for 2 second interval
   wdt_reset();
}


//This is the interrupt service routine for the WDT. It is called when the WDT times out and is in interrupt mode. 
//This ISR must be in your Arduino sketch or else the WDT will not work correctly
ISR (WDT_vect) 
{
  digitalWrite(led, HIGH); 
  if(wSetting == 3) {
    byte b = 1;
    EEPROM.put(10, b);
  }
  //wdt_disable();
}  // end of WDT_vect