DIY Reef Controller

Dartier,

That would probably be possible, but the main purpose of this project is to learn as much as possible about electronics and programming, with the very nice side benefit of having a full reef controller when I'm done, haha.

So I want to make everything I can, myself. Unfortunately I don't know quite enough to make some of the more advanced things.

So I plan on making my own controllable power outlets. Once I know a lot more about the whole EE world am planning to re-make this controller with a 32-bit processor, with the goal of making the GUI even better and more interactive. The refresh rate is way to slow right now.

I also am thinking about adding internet support for the controller as to get my stats online and viewable from anywhere, but I think that would be pushing it with everything else I have the single atmega doing. Although I could probably add a another atmega into the project over the i2c bus and have its sole purpose be the internet functions.

I'll have some more updates later tonight or tomorrow,
Nick D.
 
DIY Reef Controller

fefegarcia1 said:
Hello!

The code is not very old but the comments at the beginning were a little messy.
Now packed and also did an update to version 2.3.7
Some libraries are not compatible with versions of IDE above 23 but I modified them to make them work.
The IDE 1.0.1 along with the required libraries can be found here: https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=4F0958C6A216EC!401

Hug.
Fernando Garcia
Click to expand...

Where do you have the actual coding example for the 2.3.7 that will work with the 1.0.1? I already have the IDE. Just curious of where the coding could be downloaded.
 
nkd5024 said:
So its been a few days and i've been working pretty hard on getting the basic layout done. So I have a bunch of pictures of what I have so far. I am planning on completing the display programming in a week or two, at which point I can start buying the remaining hardware to add into the design. (ph, ORP, etape for ATO, etc)

So are are a few pictures of whats running now.


Home Screen:

228832_10151074173117635_185501644_n.jpg


Led Home Screen (from led dock icon):

548855_10151074173197635_1060929955_n.jpg


Manually Change max Brightness Screen (from clocking on led channel buttons in the previous photo):

564438_10151074173142635_50770093_n.jpg


Temp Home Screen (from dock thermometer), their are status icons next to the three temp channels to show whether its to hot, cold, or within range.

399578_10151074173167635_1999768952_n.jpg


This is the temperature graphing screen (selected from any of the three temp channels on last photo. One channel for tank temp, Left and Right led fixture)

536158_10151074173372635_543149972_n.jpg


This screen controls the max/min temperatures for a single one of the temp channels as well as the outlets controlling heating and cooling for that channel. (selected by the top tab)

253112_10151074173247635_1347559593_n.jpg


This is the pH screen, outlet will control the sump light and turn it on early if the pH dips below min for some reason. (selected from dock beaker icon):

199342_10151074173297635_1986007892_n.jpg


pH graph:

photo.php


Settings Screen, I still have to make all the screens for the 10 settings plus one to change the password that I forgot about.

314246_10151074173337635_1795380282_n.jpg


I still have to make a screen for the clock icon that will be able to change the time and date of the RTC plus change from 12 to 24 hour for the display clock.

So that is what I have so far, once I have the whole display and everything done I will most likely just make a quick video showing the selections, etc.

Let me know what you think so far and any suggestions.

Nick D.
Click to expand...

I really like your screen display. Can you send me the code how you do it? By the way, do you have the spec for your screen? Thanks
 
So now that most of the UI is done, minus a few screens, i'm starting to plan out the controllable outlets. I was wondering if anyone knows of a good place to buy individual outlets that I'd be able to use? The only ones I can find are from home depot and cost around $4 a piece.

Thank,
Nick D.
 
Very nice.

Makes me want to get off my lazy butt and finish my new controller. I have an Arduino Uno just controlling my lights for now, but I have a Linksprite DiamondBack for my new build, which is a Duemilanove clone with built-in WiFi. I was going to go with a touch screen as well, but decided a 20x4 character screen was sufficient for a basic display. Since my setup will have WiFi, I plan to build an Android app and have a dedicated handset on the WiFi I can use as a wireless remote control. That will be the only interface, minus the web interface.

I would get a PDU with rocker switches and then get a relay board to add to it. I picked up a PDU from amazon for around $40 and an 8 channel SSR board for about $30. I was going to build them individually, and a few outlets still may need to be added based on location, but it's much cheaper than buying 8 individual SSRs, outlets, outlet boxes, etc.

Have you decided which pH probe and circuit you are using yet? I was thinking about using the Atlas Scientific one. They also have a salinity probe (conductivity) which I want to get, but I don't see many people with probes for that and I'm not sure why.
 
Rrasco,

I like the PDU idea, although I would want to put the Relay board inside the housing and I didn't see many options with room to spare.

I really like the neptune apex power modules basic design, plus they have an area to the left for chips.

I am also going to need room not only for a relay board, but also a small board with an 8-bit serial to parallel shift register to control the outlets.

Yes I am planning to use Atlas Scientific's pH and Orp stamp, I may add conductivity to the setup as I just check and atlas's kit is cheaper than I remember, but in all honestly I don't think it'd be much more accurate than a good ol' refractometer. Although maybe when I have some extra cash it'd be cool to add in.
 
I bought my PDU with the intention of hiding the relay board inside the housing. I have not opened it up yet to see how feasible this was yet though.

I'll let you know when I open it up if I have room.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0029L7KRY/
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006J4G45G/

I want the conductivity probe so I have a real-time reading of salinity, but that's not really worth $250 to me at this point. SG is pretty stable most of the time, and the only case it would be good is for an ATO fail safe.
 
That is the SSR board I was planning on using as it would cost a lot to make one, as well as a mechanical relay board they make.

That PDu had a few negative reviews but the unit looks nice, and it looks like there would be plenty of room to spare in there.

Atlas Scientific wants $127 for their conductivity kit (stamp, probe, BNC connector, and two calibration samples) so its not unreasonable, just a bit much for the uses of monitoring the conductivity, not even the true salinity.

be careful of some of the sainsmart products though, they are very poorly documented. I am using their 3.2" LCD Touch screen and it came with absolutely nothing other than the board itself, and all the info on their site wasn't very helpful. Plus the SD card reader with it never worked.
 
nkd will you be posting the code on something like code.google.com or are you keeping it private?

I'm using Jarduino right now, it does what I need but no where near as pretty as yours
 
megadeth,

I would return the sainsmart touch screen lcd you got and replace it with one from Iteadstudios. It's interesting that you had problems with your touch screen, as mine was placed upside down or something as the y-axis is inverted, so every time I enter in a value for a buttons y-axis I have to subtract the number from 240pixels, kind of annoying but I didn't feel like waiting for a replacement, although the sd card not working was the deal breaker on me not recommending this brand of lcd.

What exactly is the jarduino, just an arduino that can be programmed in java?
What microprocessor is it running?

The whole UI is just made in photoshop and then loaded into the lcd by the arduino, so you should be able to do it with the jarduino assuming its running at least an atmel 328. Although with the uno type boards you'll run out of space for code very quickly when making a fell scale controller.

I have no problem sharing my code, with that in mind, I do not have a degree in computer programming and am no expert. So while my code works it doesn't follow a standards of easy reading, etc. and still needs optimized, haha.

I would ideally like to get mine up and running nicely and then post an easy to follow tutorial with parts list so anyone can build one on their own. With guides to customizing the code and display, etc.
 
Most definitely not the cheapest as i'm planning on having 16 controllable outlets (around $400) and it doesn't say if its solid state or a TRIAC.

I personally have no problem with working with mains, it makes things a bit more interesting, haha.
 
Ah, my bad, I'm seeing the conductivity kit as $150. I got $250 from pH + EC.

https://www.atlas-scientific.com/product_pages/kits/ec-kit.html

I have not used either my PDU or relay board yet, so the jury is out on how well it will work. I did enough research on them prior that I was confident enough to try them out. It's only relays though, so even with poor or no documentation I should be able to figure it out.
 
nkd5024 said:
megadeth,

I would return the sainsmart touch screen lcd you got and replace it with one from Iteadstudios. It's interesting that you had problems with your touch screen, as mine was placed upside down or something as the y-axis is inverted, so every time I enter in a value for a buttons y-axis I have to subtract the number from 240pixels, kind of annoying but I didn't feel like waiting for a replacement, although the sd card not working was the deal breaker on me not recommending this brand of lcd.

What exactly is the jarduino, just an arduino that can be programmed in java?
What microprocessor is it running?

The whole UI is just made in photoshop and then loaded into the lcd by the arduino, so you should be able to do it with the jarduino assuming its running at least an atmel 328. Although with the uno type boards you'll run out of space for code very quickly when making a fell scale controller.

I have no problem sharing my code, with that in mind, I do not have a degree in computer programming and am no expert. So while my code works it doesn't follow a standards of easy reading, etc. and still needs optimized, haha.

I would ideally like to get mine up and running nicely and then post an easy to follow tutorial with parts list so anyone can build one on their own. With guides to customizing the code and display, etc.
Click to expand...

jarduino reef controller, it's arduino, I cant link to his site here but if you google it you can see what he's doing, the version 1 of his code is on google

he also has a really nice user manual that goes over it
 
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