Meanwell LDD driver: for those who want to dim to 0 using Arduino

Screener said:
O2, astounding, I don't know how you do it.

My question is how (what ways) could you control fan speed with the new master slave system you designed?

Could you also use the on board arduino for other functions and send values through to the BF App or another App???

my mind is boggling :-)
Click to expand...


The fan control circuit is actually really simple. By setting the jumper to any one of the six channels, the PWM signal from the mini is routed into an RC circuit that converts it to an analog signal. This analog signal is then sampled by pin A0 on the Nano. The Nano is programmed to output a 5V 25Khz PWM signal on pin D10 that's proportional to the original analog input. I used a function from the Timer1 library to adjust the Nano's PWM frequency to 25Khz.
I only used 2 pins on the Nano, so there's still plenty I/O pins available for other uses.
 
Great, so that takes care of the LED light dimming and the whine of the fans and can let you make them proportional to temperature I assume that will need 2 more of the remaining 6 pins for the temp sensor??? /pendent ( each slave)

The bluefish app seems real nice but I cant see a way to get the other sensor data that I would like in the BF app from the O2 master-slave card.

Maybe it could report ...

Light pendent temp
Tank Temp
Air Temp
Humidity
pH
Salinity
sump's Capacitative Water Level Sensors
Leak Sensors


can the Bluefish sensor node connect to the BF mini? or have I got that wrong?
 
Screener said:
Great, so that takes care of the LED light dimming and the whine of the fans and can let you make them proportional to temperature I assume that will need 2 more of the remaining 6 pins for the temp sensor??? /pendent ( each slave)

The bluefish app seems real nice but I cant see a way to get the other sensor data that I would like in the BF app from the O2 master-slave card.

Maybe it could report ...

Light pendent temp
Tank Temp
Air Temp
Humidity
pH
Salinity
sump's Capacitative Water Level Sensors
Leak Sensors


can the Bluefish sensor node connect to the BF mini? or have I got that wrong?
Click to expand...

LOL- you only need one more pin for an array of Dallas DS18B20 Temp sensors. As far as adding their readouts to the Blufish App, That's not possible. The BlueFish Mini only offers 6 channel led lighting control. There are no additional I/O pins on the Mini that could be used to collect data. From what I've read, the larger original BlueFish Controller has, or will have, the additional I/O capabilities that you're looking for.
 
O2Surplus said:
LOL- you only need one more pin for an array of Dallas DS18B20 Temp sensors. As far as adding their readouts to the Blufish App, That's not possible. The BlueFish Mini only offers 6 channel led lighting control. There are no additional I/O pins on the Mini that could be used to collect data. From what I've read, the larger original BlueFish Controller has, or will have, the additional I/O capabilities that you're looking for.
Click to expand...
The Bluefish controller will not have any more I/O, even though it only uses two of the six I/O pins on the Electric Imp. The controller software is locked down, so you'd just need to use an Arduino for everything.
 
Oh that's a pity��

I was looking at the open aquarium sensors and arduino shield board to see if it could fit as these seem pretty convenient (not being a programmer, the library and documentation would be a boon for me) but seems there's just not much real estate left. Might it be possible to attach over the top of the nano on a female header? ��

I wonder if the bluefish makers will extend their io board to the mini? Since there are extra pins on the imp. I guess the memory space might be the issue?? For a minute there I was excited to get my dimming and important sensor data all in one board and one App. Too good to be true��
 
Screener said:
Oh that's a pity��

I was looking at the open aquarium sensors and arduino shield board to see if it could fit as these seem pretty convenient (not being a programmer, the library and documentation would be a boon for me) but seems there's just not much real estate left. Might it be possible to attach over the top of the nano on a female header? ��

I wonder if the bluefish makers will extend their io board to the mini? Since there are extra pins on the imp. I guess the memory space might be the issue?? For a minute there I was excited to get my dimming and important sensor data all in one board and one App. Too good to be true��
Click to expand...
Nope, the Bluefish code isn't open source and Spencer has no plans for that. Bluefish is a one man show, Spencer is doing the hardware and software development, all troubleshooting, sales, etc. The way the Electric Imp system is set up, each device is 'blessed' and that is what makes it a Bluefish controller. Even if you swap out the Imp card, the next Blinkup will make it a Bluefish controller, as well. If you could 'unbless' the controller, you would have to rebless it with your own factory fixture and with your own custom code and would not have access to the Bluefish code or app. The Mini doesn't have any extra pins. They're all used and set as PWM and not general I/O. The full Bluefish uses two of the I/O to connect to a small PWM IC, leaving four more general I/O to connect to their sensor array, relays, and anything else Spencer can make via i2c. These will all come with time, but unless someone kidnaps Spencer and forces him to do nothing but dev, we'll have to wait on that :)

You'll basically have to connect up the Arduino Nano as its own separate system, and at that point might as well just go full blown Jarduino or something like that, as I don't know personally know the limits of the Nano (O2's new boards are the first time I've ever used a Nano).
 
So I have a question for all you DIYers. Is there any harm in using 13 LEDs per LDD driver instead of 14? 3.1V(Give or take .1) LEDs, 48V PSU and LDD 100h. Guess that's all the info needed. :)
 
The ldd will be slightly less efficient but add long as the LEDs you use are OK with the 1000mA that will be going through them then it will work fine.
 
The ldd will use a little more power internally. This does result in more heat. But I wouldn't say they get hot. The most I have ever felt is luke warm from any of mine.
 
To add to what Krazie has said, looking at the LDD data sheet (seems to be something strange going on as I actually found it difficult to get ATM - maybe because it's midnight on a Sunday???) but dropping from 14 x 3V LEDs to 13, on a 48V PSU loses you about 2 or 3% efficiency, which as Krazie says, will become heat. But if you are treading that close to the edge, you need to rethink your design!! :p

Tim
 
perkint said:
if you are treading that close to the edge, you need to rethink your design!! :p

Tim
Click to expand...
You mean that I want to run 14 LEDs? I thought it was best to be as close to using all the Voltage possible. My design is still a work in progress, so it's flexible. :fun4:
Are you saying I should stick with 13 per driver Tim?
 
You do want to run the ldd close to Max. Just don't forget that the ldd uses about 3.2 volts for itself so don't leave that out of your calculations.
 
Kaiserman1967 said:
You mean that I want to run 14 LEDs? I thought it was best to be as close to using all the Voltage possible. My design is still a work in progress, so it's flexible. :fun4:
Are you saying I should stick with 13 per driver Tim?
Click to expand...
13 or 14 is good. The nearer you run the LDDs to their Max voltage the more efficient they are. But what I meant is if the 2 or 3% efficiency makes a big difference to your system, maybe you are running it a little too close to the edge. 2 or 3% is generally so little you will never notice. Better to be as efficient as possible since it means less wasted power and less heat, but for that little difference I would go with whatever fits my design and not worry about it :)

Tim
 
Just to help put this into perspective, I have a couple of LDD's that are only running 4 - 3w LEDs on a 48v supply that LDD does get much warmer than the rest of the LDD's that are running a higher load. That said it still works just fine and is nothing to be worried about.

Personally I would be more worried about going over the max LED count and not under it.
 
Does anyone have any of O2's 4 up (or bigger) boards they'd like to sell? O2 doesn't have any right now and I'm in need of a board that will handle at least 4 more drivers.
 
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