njaam_dumi
New member
Are you using the SD slot on Ethernet shield?
I see that pin 4 is used for touch input..
DIY Reef Controller
- Thread starter nkd5024
- Start date
Are you using the SD slot on Ethernet shield?
I see that pin 4 is used for touch input..
nkd5024
New member
Do you have the touch screen connected to pins 4 or 10? if so move them elsewhere with some jumpers as the ethernet shield uses these to select the SD (pin 4) and the W5100 ethernet chip (pin 10).
In the beginning of the sketch set pin 4 to output to select the SD card.
Hopefully that'll work, I haven't messed with the ethernet shield at all yet.
Thanks,
Nick D.
In the beginning of the sketch set pin 4 to output to select the SD card.
Hopefully that'll work, I haven't messed with the ethernet shield at all yet.
Thanks,
Nick D.
seminoleFLreef
New member
Looks like I might order components for this build tomorrow.... I need to buy a Neptune controller for the reef at my business, but if i can build a cusomizable setup for my reefs at home... im game!
Im thinking 3.2 touchscreen. I was hoping \i could find an emulator that would let me load your software up and start learning the ins and outs while i wait for the hardware to show up..
any leads on that?
Great work!
Also, is everything I need available at mouser.com? thanks again
Im thinking 3.2 touchscreen. I was hoping \i could find an emulator that would let me load your software up and start learning the ins and outs while i wait for the hardware to show up..
any leads on that?
Great work!
Also, is everything I need available at mouser.com? thanks again
nkd5024
New member
seminole,
I just looked up arduino emulators and it seems they do exist but none that would work for the lcd and touch screen. Its unfortunate as that would be very helpful to anyone wanted to check it out without having to spend to money upfront.
Mouser more than likely won't have the lcd screen/touch screen. Most of the 3.2" lcd screens come with an sd card slot. I am currently working on a board that will provide more power to the different components which will come with space for the RTC. All the parts for the board will be available from mouser though.
I may have a neptune apex for sale in a few months if your interested, haha.
I just looked up arduino emulators and it seems they do exist but none that would work for the lcd and touch screen. Its unfortunate as that would be very helpful to anyone wanted to check it out without having to spend to money upfront.
Mouser more than likely won't have the lcd screen/touch screen. Most of the 3.2" lcd screens come with an sd card slot. I am currently working on a board that will provide more power to the different components which will come with space for the RTC. All the parts for the board will be available from mouser though.
I may have a neptune apex for sale in a few months if your interested, haha.
nkd5024
New member
So the next section I am going to work on is the outlet control as thats probably the most important part of the control and will start to make it actually function as a controller.
To do this the components I will be using are as follows,
1x) Sainsmart 8 Solid State Relay Module
1x) Sainsmart 8 Mechanical Relay Module
2x) 74HC595 8-bit Shift Register
I will be ordering a bunch of breakout boards I made in eagle for the shift registers. The shift register will be used to control all 16 outlets from 3 pins on the arduino.
When I order the boards I will be glad to mail some out to anyone interested.
The following components will be needed for the breakout board 2x 0.1uF ceramic capacitor, 2x 74HC595 8-bit shift register IC, 15x female headers, and 5x male headers.
One issue I discovered is that the arduino cannot supply the 20mA to each of the relays, so another power source will be needed. To do this I plan on putting together another board that will take the input of a DC connection of a walwart and output to the arduino and the relays separately.
This board will also have the circuits for a ds1307 rtc, the pwm control for leds, the piezo buzzer, and any spots for resistors and what not that are needed for the tank temp sensor and etape liquid level sensor.
89delta has been helping me with this as I am not yet great with eagle and designing circuits. If anyone has any ideas for this board let me know via pm
Also if anyone has a good amount of experience with acrylic work and would be interested in helping to make an enclosure for the project let me know.
To do this the components I will be using are as follows,
1x) Sainsmart 8 Solid State Relay Module
1x) Sainsmart 8 Mechanical Relay Module
2x) 74HC595 8-bit Shift Register
I will be ordering a bunch of breakout boards I made in eagle for the shift registers. The shift register will be used to control all 16 outlets from 3 pins on the arduino.
When I order the boards I will be glad to mail some out to anyone interested.
The following components will be needed for the breakout board 2x 0.1uF ceramic capacitor, 2x 74HC595 8-bit shift register IC, 15x female headers, and 5x male headers.
One issue I discovered is that the arduino cannot supply the 20mA to each of the relays, so another power source will be needed. To do this I plan on putting together another board that will take the input of a DC connection of a walwart and output to the arduino and the relays separately.
This board will also have the circuits for a ds1307 rtc, the pwm control for leds, the piezo buzzer, and any spots for resistors and what not that are needed for the tank temp sensor and etape liquid level sensor.
89delta has been helping me with this as I am not yet great with eagle and designing circuits. If anyone has any ideas for this board let me know via pm
Also if anyone has a good amount of experience with acrylic work and would be interested in helping to make an enclosure for the project let me know.
njaam_dumi
New member
I managed to get it up and runnig with some libraries (that needed modifying) the seller of the screen provided.
Now i use SD slot from the ethernet shield.
I have some ideas for improoving the code that i'll share later.
Great project! 10x
Now i use SD slot from the ethernet shield.
I have some ideas for improoving the code that i'll share later.
Great project! 10x
nkd5024
New member
njaam_dumi,
I am glad you got it working! There are a bunch of things I need to do to optimize the code, I just wanted to stick to the thanksgiving schedule I made and didn't have time to mess with it all. If you have some good ideas though i'd love to hear them, send me a pm!
89Delta,
I am using 8 solid state relays with outlets in one box and 8 mechanical relays with outlets in another box. I was planning to have the shift registers on there own small chip that would be installed in the outlet boxes. This way I can use a 5pin usb connector to send the data, latch, clock, gnd, and vcc from the arduino to the shift register in the outlet boxes plus one between the two boxes.
If the shift registers stayed with the arduino i'd need a 10 pin connector to the outlet box which would be more solder/expensive.
Although there are still a couple things I need to work out with the main board.
I am glad you got it working! There are a bunch of things I need to do to optimize the code, I just wanted to stick to the thanksgiving schedule I made and didn't have time to mess with it all. If you have some good ideas though i'd love to hear them, send me a pm!
89Delta,
I am using 8 solid state relays with outlets in one box and 8 mechanical relays with outlets in another box. I was planning to have the shift registers on there own small chip that would be installed in the outlet boxes. This way I can use a 5pin usb connector to send the data, latch, clock, gnd, and vcc from the arduino to the shift register in the outlet boxes plus one between the two boxes.
If the shift registers stayed with the arduino i'd need a 10 pin connector to the outlet box which would be more solder/expensive.
Although there are still a couple things I need to work out with the main board.
hello why don't you used a ITDB02 Arduino MEGA Shield v1.1 KIT instead of a rct here a link to get one http://store.iteadstudio.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=236
Oh you are such a tease :debi:
dwolson2
New member
I finally caught up. I have my sainsmart already ordered. If I had known, I would have used the other vendor....but too late. LOL
I plan on only using this for driving my LED's and maybe an ATO for the moment. I won't go to a full controller as I already have the apex. I am going to be driving LDD drivers and the Apex only puts out 0-10v.
I would really like it if I could figure out what signals come out of the serial port on the VDM. It would be nice to use the signals from that instead of the 0-10v.
I do have a question about the screen though, How do you mount it in a differnt location than right on the board? I was putzing around looking for maybe a wire harness that I could connect to it and put the screen in my canopy, and the controller in the back, but haven't seen anything yet. Thanks!
I plan on only using this for driving my LED's and maybe an ATO for the moment. I won't go to a full controller as I already have the apex. I am going to be driving LDD drivers and the Apex only puts out 0-10v.
I would really like it if I could figure out what signals come out of the serial port on the VDM. It would be nice to use the signals from that instead of the 0-10v.
I do have a question about the screen though, How do you mount it in a differnt location than right on the board? I was putzing around looking for maybe a wire harness that I could connect to it and put the screen in my canopy, and the controller in the back, but haven't seen anything yet. Thanks!
You could replace the female end header with male or use straight pins to adapt to a 40 pin ATA drive ribbon cable with female female ends. These cables usually found inside your average old junk PC. Old VCR and such usually good source of cables and buckle connectors for DIY
dwolson2
New member
I think I might have a box with those cables....hopefully.
nkd5024
New member
Dwolson,
How far of a distance are you trying to separate the lcd screen from the arduino? You can get Female/Male Extension jumpers from adafruit. You get 40 of the for around $9 although they are only 12 inches long. They won't allow you to keep the screen away from the arduino, but it makes it a lot easier to mount the lcd screen in a project box!
Your going with the LDD drivers, huh. What power supply are you using? I've been looking into replacing my five meanwell ELN60-48P with the LDD1000H's.
How far of a distance are you trying to separate the lcd screen from the arduino? You can get Female/Male Extension jumpers from adafruit. You get 40 of the for around $9 although they are only 12 inches long. They won't allow you to keep the screen away from the arduino, but it makes it a lot easier to mount the lcd screen in a project box!
Your going with the LDD drivers, huh. What power supply are you using? I've been looking into replacing my five meanwell ELN60-48P with the LDD1000H's.
moncapitane
New member
DIY Reef Controller
Dwolson,
You could buy the 12" cables that nkd5024 is talking about, cut them in the middle, and use more wire between the good ends in order to make the cables longer with the connectors. Just an idea to make the cables that nkd5024 is referring to longer and still only pay 10 bucks for them.
Dwolson,
You could buy the 12" cables that nkd5024 is talking about, cut them in the middle, and use more wire between the good ends in order to make the cables longer with the connectors. Just an idea to make the cables that nkd5024 is referring to longer and still only pay 10 bucks for them.
dwolson2
New member
PM me your email and I will send the link, its on ebay.
I will look into those wires
I don't think I will need to do that, but it is an option. I want the display counter sunk into my canopy, but dont want the arduino attached to that part of the canopy. I think 12" might be enough.
fefegarcia1
Member
Hello!
Have you thought about using an LCD that has a greater ability to process images?
Here's a good option:
http://vizictechnologies.com/#/smart-gpu/4554296549
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HIGpt9BymM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjHxlwGC6zA
The price is a bit high, but it also has the advantage of using less pins arduino.
Hug.
Fernando Garcia
Have you thought about using an LCD that has a greater ability to process images?
Here's a good option:
http://vizictechnologies.com/#/smart-gpu/4554296549
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HIGpt9BymM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjHxlwGC6zA
The price is a bit high, but it also has the advantage of using less pins arduino.
Hug.
Fernando Garcia
