DIY Reef Controller
- Thread starter nkd5024
- Start date
nkd5024
New member
megadeath72, I do plan on putting up a google code page but would rather wait until I have a working model before posting it. Then afterwords I will be going over the code to make it smoother, as I learn more and more the further I go and always end up thinking of better ways of writing the previous sections, haha. Plus as I do not even have the ph, orp, or outlets yet I can't provide a list of parts. Although if you just want the code where its at now to look at and review, feel free to pm me and I can email it to you. If you have the mega and the lcd screen you'll be able to view the entire UI, etc which is working as of now.
chup90, if you'd like some help with your coding i'd be more than willing to give you a hand. Just pm me with the details of where you are in your project.
Denzil, I was actually thinking about that but figured it would be way overkill for my needs. The gertboard seems like a good way to go although I don't know too much about them yet. Although they are on my to fiddle with list after the arduino due.
Time for a quick update. I currently have the UI done and all the buttons and selection inputs are working. I now just have to write the code to control the outlets, buzzer, etc.
I am currently working on the weather, sunrise/set, moon phases program. I decided that I will constantly have a weather simulation running which can be turned off if desired. This weather program will produce clouds and storms. The user will input the percentage of days in a month for slightly cloudy days (0-10% dim) cloudy days (10-25% dim) and storm (25-50% dim) and whether or not to have lightning with the storms.
The weather program will pick a random number to determine the next weather action (cloudy, storm, etc.) as well as the exact amount to dim the lighting. It will also determine the length of time the weather action will run. When this action is done, a new one will be determined.
This way, a storm could move in quickly around midnight with lightning for say 4 hours, then it could either clear up completely or lighten up to a 15% cloud cover, etc.
This weather program will affect the max lighting levels so the lights running at 50% due to the sunrise could go down to 25% from a storm. This way almost anything could happen!
sorry if this isn't very clear, its getting late.
chup90, if you'd like some help with your coding i'd be more than willing to give you a hand. Just pm me with the details of where you are in your project.
Denzil, I was actually thinking about that but figured it would be way overkill for my needs. The gertboard seems like a good way to go although I don't know too much about them yet. Although they are on my to fiddle with list after the arduino due.
Time for a quick update. I currently have the UI done and all the buttons and selection inputs are working. I now just have to write the code to control the outlets, buzzer, etc.
I am currently working on the weather, sunrise/set, moon phases program. I decided that I will constantly have a weather simulation running which can be turned off if desired. This weather program will produce clouds and storms. The user will input the percentage of days in a month for slightly cloudy days (0-10% dim) cloudy days (10-25% dim) and storm (25-50% dim) and whether or not to have lightning with the storms.
The weather program will pick a random number to determine the next weather action (cloudy, storm, etc.) as well as the exact amount to dim the lighting. It will also determine the length of time the weather action will run. When this action is done, a new one will be determined.
This way, a storm could move in quickly around midnight with lightning for say 4 hours, then it could either clear up completely or lighten up to a 15% cloud cover, etc.
This weather program will affect the max lighting levels so the lights running at 50% due to the sunrise could go down to 25% from a storm. This way almost anything could happen!
sorry if this isn't very clear, its getting late.
nkd5024
New member
So now that thanksgiving break is coming up I am planning to get a bunch of work done on this project. I haven't done much with it in the past weeks due to school work, etc. One thing I need to do is to design the main power board in eagle to get PCB's made. I am also planning on getting the shift register breakouts I made produced as well.
I don't know how to use eagle very well and am wondering if anyone out there is willing to give me a hand with getting the main power board designed and ready to send to a LCB manufacturer? Since there is always a minimum requirement of boards anyone who contributes obviously would get one free of change when I order them.
I don't know how to use eagle very well and am wondering if anyone out there is willing to give me a hand with getting the main power board designed and ready to send to a LCB manufacturer? Since there is always a minimum requirement of boards anyone who contributes obviously would get one free of change when I order them.
ReSiStAnCe
New member
I can help you with that. Just send me the schematics and i'll have a go at it.
If you are only in the 'concept'-phase , maybe we can brainstorm a little about it..
megadeth72
New member
doubtful they are not good for controlling and sensors due to latency, it's really comparing apples to oranges
will that make a dif all the PIE is doing is reading data from the sensors and serving it none of it is done or needs speed?
beat me to it.
Real great project. Im about to get started on my own. You inspired me to actually make a UI. I was just going to have a uno hooked up to my router and send me updates over my ethernet. That is going to take some tinkering too. I havent tried anything wireless with arduino yet.
nkd5024
New member
Swine, I'm glad to have inspired you! I'd be very interested to see your UI when you get started. I am also planning to connect mine to the internet. I am thiking of using the WiFi board instead of the ethernet, so it will come ready for internet connectivity. I was very annoyed that the neptune apex required additional hardware to make a wireless connection.
I was actually looking into making an iphone app for this as well, but apple wants $100 bucks just to make an app. So we'll see how that goes, I might just make a jailbroken app to get it up and running and then if other people actually end up using this controller pay apple to make it available.
I was actually looking into making an iphone app for this as well, but apple wants $100 bucks just to make an app. So we'll see how that goes, I might just make a jailbroken app to get it up and running and then if other people actually end up using this controller pay apple to make it available.
Have you looked into android sdk? I've been meaning to look at that too.
Yeah i was going to do wireless but i figured since the tank is right next to my router id save a bit of money going with Ethernet. Wireless would be great to future proof it.
Cant wait to see what you end up with
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Yeah i was going to do wireless but i figured since the tank is right next to my router id save a bit of money going with Ethernet. Wireless would be great to future proof it.
Cant wait to see what you end up with
Sent from my SCH-I510 using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2
Shopping list Price quote
Shopping list Price quote
I am looking to build one of these also. Initially I just need it to control lights, and pumps and create a wavemaker affect. Eventually I would like to add more functions. I am hoping for a shopping list for the project so I can estimate the initial and overall cost.
Shopping list Price quote
I am looking to build one of these also. Initially I just need it to control lights, and pumps and create a wavemaker affect. Eventually I would like to add more functions. I am hoping for a shopping list for the project so I can estimate the initial and overall cost.
nkd5024
New member
I haven't actually looked at the android sdk, but I've heard its a bit harder to work with than IOS. If I do decide to get an app for the controller I would more than likely make one for both IOS and android if people wanted them.
As for the cost of the project, I would say with everything included with WiFi will cost around $350. This is an estimate without the vortech control or any type of box to house the project in.
As for the cost of the project, I would say with everything included with WiFi will cost around $350. This is an estimate without the vortech control or any type of box to house the project in.
fefegarcia1
Member
I believe that this topic can be closed because of this link.
See here.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2210760
The topic of Jamie was already deleted once because of the donation request.
Best regards.
nkd5024
New member
So I've spent the past couple hours working on the code for the UI some more and I almost have the UI ready for anyone who wants a sneak peak at how it looks and works. I haven't adding anything to do with the internet yet as I haven't looked into that too much yet.
I am hoping to be able to post the code to test out the UI on my google code page by Thanksgiving Day at the latest. For anyone who is interested and does test it out I would love to hear you comments on how to improve the layout and about any bugs you may find.
What you will need,
1) Arduino Mega 2560
2) 3.2" LCD Screen (if your model differs from mine, just change the
initiation of the UTFT class. "UTFTtf myGLCD(ITDB32S, 38, 39, 40, 41);"
to your lcd controller number.
3)Sd card connected to your arduino's SPI pins (50, 51, 52, 53)
4)DS1307 RTC connected to SDA (pin 20) and SCL (21)
5) TMP36 temp sensors to pin A6 and or A7
The program will run with or without the RTC and temp sensors but you will only see an error screen if you do not have an SD Card connected and formatted to the FAT16 file format. You will also have to download all the .raw screens and place them in the root of your sd card.
You will also have to download the libraries from the site and place them into your arduino libraries folder.
The google code site is http://code.google.com/p/reef-aquarium-controller/
I am hoping to be able to post the code to test out the UI on my google code page by Thanksgiving Day at the latest. For anyone who is interested and does test it out I would love to hear you comments on how to improve the layout and about any bugs you may find.
What you will need,
1) Arduino Mega 2560
2) 3.2" LCD Screen (if your model differs from mine, just change the
initiation of the UTFT class. "UTFTtf myGLCD(ITDB32S, 38, 39, 40, 41);"
to your lcd controller number.
3)Sd card connected to your arduino's SPI pins (50, 51, 52, 53)
4)DS1307 RTC connected to SDA (pin 20) and SCL (21)
5) TMP36 temp sensors to pin A6 and or A7
The program will run with or without the RTC and temp sensors but you will only see an error screen if you do not have an SD Card connected and formatted to the FAT16 file format. You will also have to download all the .raw screens and place them in the root of your sd card.
You will also have to download the libraries from the site and place them into your arduino libraries folder.
The google code site is http://code.google.com/p/reef-aquarium-controller/
nkd5024
New member
I also wanted to mention that the 3.2" lcd screen takes up a lot more pins than it actually uses. I bought some male/female jumper wires from adafruit so I can only plug in what I need, this will also come in handy when mounting your screen and arduino in a project box.
The screen actually only uses pins 2-6 for the touch screen, so 0, 1, and 7 don't need to be connected. Also pins 42 - 49 are not used at all, while 50 - 53 are used by the connected SD card.
For anyone using the sainsmart lcd screens, a lot of people seem to be having issues with the sd card not working. I found a photo at http://www.hostingpics.net/viewer.php?id=2478242012091119152479.jpg that apparently solves the issue.
I have personally not tried as I had already purchased a seperate sd card reader, but I thought it'd be worth mentioning.
The screen actually only uses pins 2-6 for the touch screen, so 0, 1, and 7 don't need to be connected. Also pins 42 - 49 are not used at all, while 50 - 53 are used by the connected SD card.
For anyone using the sainsmart lcd screens, a lot of people seem to be having issues with the sd card not working. I found a photo at http://www.hostingpics.net/viewer.php?id=2478242012091119152479.jpg that apparently solves the issue.
I have personally not tried as I had already purchased a seperate sd card reader, but I thought it'd be worth mentioning.
moncapitane
New member
DIY Reef Controller
Where on the url you provided is the code? If you go to downloads, there is nothing there: http://code.google.com/p/reef-aquarium-controller/downloads/list
Any information would be helpful.
Where on the url you provided is the code? If you go to downloads, there is nothing there: http://code.google.com/p/reef-aquarium-controller/downloads/list
Any information would be helpful.
Good looking out, that will come into consideration when getting the touch screen for sure. It would be great to check your code out. I've just got an uno though and none of the probes. Got to get into research mode. Is there a reason you didn't use the uno other than the amount of ports?
Sent from my SCH-I510 using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2
Sent from my SCH-I510 using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2
