DIY Reef Controller

InADream said:
Mark,

thanks for the response. i think i understand what you are saying, if i add another filter inline with the first, everything should work better for what i am trying to achieve.

i will be ordering parts tomorrow and once i have the lights working ill try my luck at the rest of the interface.

thanks
Click to expand...

Have you made any progress on the op amp you are building? i am a long time lurker and only had my mixed reef setup and established for the last 2 months so i am pretty much a newb when it comes to reefs but i have worked with op amps in many circuits classes in the past. as we speak i have someone from my college digging up some old lab equipment that i can use to test this feature out. Computer Engineering degree is coming in handy i see.

I wanted to also thank nkd5024 for all his hard word in this controller for past months and if i can lend a hand i will. I know of some one with a ton of experience and going to build a design and possibly have some acrylic cnc cut to fix this controller. If it works out i will be more than happy to see if i can build a sleek box for your setup as well.

I currently have 2 meanwell D drivers that i am trying to control with this reef controller program/arduino setup, and if i missed a link to somewhere where we have figured it out i appologize. otherwise let me know if anyone has figured it out.

Thanks!
 
AquaPorn,

Thanks for the support! I was a moron about coding when I started, although I still think I am, haha.


Sharkboy,

I can't say that I have tried it, but as long as the 5" screen is calibrated correctly it should work fine.
 
As of right now I have most of the UI completed with a few minor bugs I need to fix up. I just need to finish designing how the user will set alarms and that will be done.

I will be testing the accuracy of the pressure sensor tonight and will try to post a video of it on the facebook page so keep an eye out for that.

I am going to set March 1st as the release date for the beta release of the first functional firmware! I hope to start sending out the boards in roughly a weeks time and will start working on the build tutorials and user manuals after March 1st.

I will also be ordering more boards as I have more requests for them than boards so if your interested in getting a board to try and build your own please let me know before the 22nd which is when I will put in the orders for the boards. Otherwise you'll have to wait until the next batch is ordered or order 10 of them direct from Itead.
 
nightkidsi,

the circuit has been working flawlessly since day one. The circuit should still be posted in this thread, if not pm me and ill get it to you. It is a simple circuit and has great results.

good luck,
 
nightkid,

Thanks to mark, I have pwm to analog 0-10v dimming pcbs! If you use rail to rail op-amps you can use the 10v supply on the main board to power them.
 
I just uploaded the list of components needed for the circuit boards to the google code page.

Since Digikey offers quantity discounts, if anyone wants to go in on an order to save a few bucks, let me know since I have to mail out everyone's boards anyways.

Nick D.
 
I'm sure this answer is somewhere but I don't feel like digging through 49pgs...
Does the pressure sensor work off the main board or the ato?

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2
 
InADream said:
nightkidsi,

the circuit has been working flawlessly since day one. The circuit should still be posted in this thread, if not pm me and ill get it to you. It is a simple circuit and has great results.

good luck,
Click to expand...

inadream and nkd,

That's awesome! So if i go in the for this order on pcb board ill be good to go for at least controlling my lights? heck i may as well start to plan out the rest of the controller components while i am at it.i didnt think i would need it yet but i have a feeling i am going to be growing out of my biocube 14 very very quickly with a spair 55g and 29gallon sump/refugium project that is in progress on the side. lol.

thanks again im looking at the uploaded docs now and ill let you know about ordering. how does shipping work? and wondering how far we are from each other im in new jersey near the middle.
 
Nick,
I would like to get the boards, if you have spares and also would go in on digi-key with you for the parts. I have emailed you before
William
 
WSpepsilon,

The pressure sensor goes onto the Auto Top Off Board.

nighttkid,

If you get the main board it has all the circuitry for 6 led channels, 4 individually controlled moonlight leds, dimming of the lcd screen, and the RTC all on the motherboard.

If you want to control outlets, each outlet board will control 8 relays. The complete ATO setup components and board only adds $20 to the build!

As far as shipping goes, I'll order all the components from digikey for everyone and solder any that you need to me too. Then I will ship everything to you.

I am located in roughly an hour north east of Philadelphia so not too far.

wgraham,

I lost a lot of my emails, would you mind sending me another. :thumbsup:
 
nkd5024 said:
WSpepsilon,

The pressure sensor goes onto the Auto Top Off Board.

nighttkid,

If you get the main board it has all the circuitry for 6 led channels, 4 individually controlled moonlight leds, dimming of the lcd screen, and the RTC all on the motherboard.

If you want to control outlets, each outlet board will control 8 relays. The complete ATO setup components and board only adds $20 to the build!

As far as shipping goes, I'll order all the components from digikey for everyone and solder any that you need to me too. Then I will ship everything to you.

I am located in roughly an hour north east of Philadelphia so not too far.

wgraham,

I lost a lot of my emails, would you mind sending me another. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

nkd,

That sounds good, now with the current components i have being a mega 2560, with the 3.2in tft and sheild with your reef program already uploaded and working with sd and all would i be abandoning any of these guys with this extended build? i used this mega from an old school project i have done in college and so far its made a come back over the years of sitting in a box heh. Once i figure this out ill let you know about order.

hm im about 40 minutes from warrington if you know were that is? heh we probably have been to the same reef stores, as ive been around most in my area.

Thanks again. Ive seen some other builds but this seems to be more active and if documented then it takes the cake as i can search for many alternatives but making all different alternatives work in 1 is hard to find.

-B
 
I've always wanted to check out the LFSs in Jersey as I've heard some good things about some of them. I am really in the middle of nowhere as far as fish stores unfortunately. I usually go to thatfishplace although they have been letting me down lately :(

You can use the same arduino mega, lcd screen, sd card and everything you have now.

All the other builds i've seen that try to control more than just leds seem to pop up, promise a lot and than die off after everyone is excited. Jarduino is the only one I've seen actually move past that. In the end I would like this to be as easy to setup as possible with easy to read tutorials and many options to choose from feature wise.
 
nkd5024 said:
I've always wanted to check out the LFSs in Jersey as I've heard some good things about some of them. I am really in the middle of nowhere as far as fish stores unfortunately. I usually go to thatfishplace although they have been letting me down lately :(

You can use the same arduino mega, lcd screen, sd card and everything you have now.

All the other builds i've seen that try to control more than just leds seem to pop up, promise a lot and than die off after everyone is excited. Jarduino is the only one I've seen actually move past that. In the end I would like this to be as easy to setup as possible with easy to read tutorials and many options to choose from feature wise.
Click to expand...

Oh yea their are atleast 2-3 stores here that would blow your mind (and wallet) lol. alot of stores got hit back with the past hurricanes sandy, irene wtvr and lost nearly 50% of stock so some are just getting back to speed now but ive seen some spectacular scolys and chalices around here. Let me know what you want or need anything i can check out inventory and know most of the guys here could maybe get an order too you by vehicle as shipping is expensive and not to mention risky for pricey items :)

As for board, ok so if i get the main board and all the rest of this stuff i will atleast be able to controll and power my 2 drivers for now right? then i will need to get the relays etc for the outlets? as i didnt see that on those invoices. if getting this motherboard will help set this up better in future to keep up with you guys then i may pull trigger on this. Ill pm you.

sorry for maybe redundant questions, i have read all pages of this thread but before i commit to buy and before this tutorial comes out i wanna make sure i dont waste my money as this reef business is hella expensive already, only 2 months i feel like i got the bug.

Thanks,
-B
 
man, awesome project. makes me wish I didn't purchase my reef keeper a few weeks ago.. this looks like a lot of fun!
 
Ricky101,

I did a quick test of the pressure sensor for accuracy and with the code I am running now it seems to have an accuracy of +/- 0.25 inchs of water although I only did a few tests for about 10 minutes.

The up side is that compared to the etape sensor, the chip isn't super sensitive to movement, so if you bump into while working on your tank or it falls off its mounting place, as long as you have enough slack in the tubing it only seems to vary by 0.5" as much as I move it around!

By the way, the chip does need calibrating. There will be a function to do this in the UI of the controller. It will only require you to remove the tubing from your tank and let it sit on the ground for a few seconds out of water.

I would recommend doing this at least once a month to make sure it stays accurate.

I posted a crappy video of me demonstrating the pressure sensor in action in my messy work space.... Its posted on the facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/OkeanosReef

Nick D.
 
I have a quick question... with the ATO pressure sensor, how are you assuring there is no air leakage? It would have to be 105% air tight or else water level inside the tubing would normalize... are you just sealing it well and hoping or is there some piece of equipment that addresses this that I missed?

Awesome work so far! thank you for sharing this...
 
Nope. no special equipment, I am just using some spare RO tubing with a small adapter and is stays sealed. You could always glue it to ensure it never leaks but you wouldn't be able to remove it very easily.
 
Very intrigued by your dedication to the project. And looking forward to getting all the components to build one of these for myself. Hopefully I do t blow it all sky high when I plug it in...
 
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