diy aquarium controller

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11031127#post11031127 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal
I had at first thought that there was a language barrier, but your subsuquent comments make it very clear that there is no barrier and your intention was to be rude, if not arrogant. Please DO take you discussion to e-mail and far away from here.

You see none of us understand zero crossing, phase angle, pulse width modulation, rc circuits or microcontroller design. We are not capable of discussing such advanced topics and certainly do no want to misinform A.T.T.R. Hell, we don't even know Ohm's law so how could be possibly contribute to the design of an aquariumn controller.

Erik do you package those FPGAs in an FCPGAs and stuff them into ZIFF sockets... or would those be FPGAs in BGAs? What a DIP I am!
Click to expand...

I use premade proto-boards like this one:

http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Catalog.cfm?Nav1=Products&Nav2=Programmable&Cat=Programmable%20Logic

You can download the free design software from Xilinx. It takes some work to get running, but for $60 you can just about do anything.
 
You could easily multiplex the parallel port to provide many more outputs. It would only take a few TTL logic chips and a few lines of code.

Phidgets.com, activewire usb, etc have USB I/O that is very inexpensive as well.

I will look into the FPGA stuff... I never took the time to delve into it.

I will let you guys know how the dev boards I ordered work out! That ARM ethernet board is going to be fun to play with.
 
Good point, 2^8 = 256 possible output combinations. Here again an FPGA may serve well in adapting the signals to allow for duplex communication so you can poll your sensors at specified intervals, or create a PS2/USB input controller.

What do you mean by a TTL chip? When I see TTL, I think time-to-live; is this what you mean? If so, you send the control signal first, then a cycle later the data signal?

I've been thinking of possibly making my own home automation/security controller using RS485 communication and FPGA's. You could connect the tank to this network as well.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11031363#post11031363 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal
And FWIW I have trouble wrapping my head around FPGAs.
Click to expand...

Just think of an FPGA as a chip that can simulate any (and multiple) digital circuits. It's composed of many (hundreds of thousands?) of CLBs, or cominational logic blocks. Each block can act as any basic digital device (and, or, nor, etc.) based on it's programming (the software will do this based on your design). The blocks are connected via large networks that are programmed connections. I took a senior level EE class on FPGA's and we barely scratched the surface. Amazing stuff. I'll be happy to clarify where I can.
 
TTL as in Transistor Transistor Logic (the cousin of CMOS). You know the good old logic chips that you simulate in your FPGA... all those old 74XX and 54XXseries logic gates, etc.

I understand what FPGAs are, I just have no reference point to begin working with them. It is hard for me to move from an inline code (microcontroller, application programming) methodology to a hardware basd methodology. If you are at home with FPGAs then you would be right at home with plain old discrete logic gates :)
 
Hey guys. Don't mean to hijack this thread in anyway. To start, I don't have any background in electronics but am a fast learner. So while I understand the concepts you guys are using I get lost very quickly in the technical terms. Do any of you guys have some links to 'intro' webpages that would be helpful to a person just getting their feet wet with controllers? I know there are many different approaches to this whole thing but maybe you guys know of a 'basic' or 'for dummies' source of information that could get an electronics newb's feet wet? (pun intended) :D
 
Sweet!! That should keep me busy for a while....

So far as tools needed, What's the required list? Soldering iron...?

Is this stuff bettered ordered off the net or from the local Radio Shack?
 
Off of the NET. Rat Shack has very little and it is very expensive.

Get a GOOD soldering iron....

Look for weller or Hakko soldering stations.

Stay away from the Weller WTCPT units, they are fixed temp and stay away from the low end hobby stuff like the weller WES51

A good station will make your learning experience much easier.
 
Yeah, what I have is a fixed temp unit..... probably not going to be very good for this kind of stuff. I know some of the professors at the local community college, they have an electronics program. I'll give a call and see what they have access to.....
 
You guys also look at the Rabbit Controller , cheap, open source code and quite powerful for the $$. Hell, the flex unit has a T/C already designed into the board. All but the low end are ethernet ready, monitor your tank at work, JOY.

I have used these in test development applications, but PLCs were easier for me.
 
Bean,

You mentioned in another thread the Dallas 1-wire EEPOT for controlling your icecap dimmer. Can you still get those? The Dallas site shows them as available to existing users only.

When did you get yours? If I cant get any, I will use the 1-wire dual switch to drive a Xicor EEPOT. You just need two TTL level signals to adjust the pot setting ( 1 dir - up/down, and pulse the other to step up or down ), then the position is saved in EEPROM.

I plan to use 1 to dim my icecap 660, and the other to control a PWM circuit to adjust the brightness of my LED moonlights.

Stu
 
I got a few as samples about a year ago. I was going to do the same thing, but did not like that fact that my software could lose track of the pot position.

I let the smoke out of two of the 1-wire pots (don't ask...)and am down to 2 units. So much for spares.

They are discontinued for some reason.... http://www.findchips.com/ shows that they are all gone too.. a few months ago you could still find them as NOS.
I am also looking for another solution :)
 
Bean,

Check out the X9241A at intersil.com

The Xicor devices have been discontinued but the replacement parts are now made by intersil. They are not directly controllable from 1-wire, but could be controlled by 1-wire switching device.

Have you looked at the closure of the 1-wire switches? Are they clean ( debounced )? If so, then we can use them to toggle the inputs to these EEPOT devices and control the wiper position. These wiper positions are stored in EEPROM, so they remember where they were aftor a power cycle.

I used the EEPOTs to control a 555 timer circuit in a robot in college used as a variable speed stepper motor controller. The microprocessor just set the value on the EEPOT for the motor speed, set a counter register for the number of steps desired, and enabled the motor driver. When the counter reached the desired # of steps, the driver was disabled. It was a perfect setup for driving the steppers without burdening the microprocessor.

Stu
 
so far i like the pic launguage oly 37 terms to really learn lol


so far my plans include pump speed control and thats about it,.... dont want to start out to big
i belive i have most of the external stuff down. i just need to learn the programing ( i used to know some basic c++ and was able to make some decent text based stuff with many variables) so the fact that this uses assembely is great

im pretty good at figuring stuff out
and have much of the programing drawn down in a chart ( not yet in the real launguage yet)
but i am quickly learning that a plc would of been easyier for alot of the stuff that has inputs then responds to inputs



blaaa anyways.. im gonna type more out when im not half asleep mainly about how i plan to make this work
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

F
DYI Perestaltic Pump Kit
Replies
0
Views
1K
Fishkin
F
A
Aquarium Temperature Control: How I Hacked My Air Conditioner to control my tanks temperatures
Replies
6
Views
2K
Naso180
N
S
Help with Overflow Design Issue
Replies
0
Views
129
SFMAquariums
S
S
Novice Aquarist - Sump & Equipment Questions
Replies
9
Views
304
wvned
wvned
R
DIY AI-coded ESP32 based aquarium controller
Replies
0
Views
1K
ronnyking
R
Back
Top