Must-haves for EASY DIY controller?

XSiVE said:
well it really depends on your service, and if your router supports dyndns/opendns. Mine was rock solid when I had comcast, switched to ATT's u-verse service and I have to use their router, which doesnt support dyndns :sad2: so I have to manually update it from time to time.
Click to expand...
It doesn't have to be the router that updates the IP. It can be a client on your computer that updates the IP every morning when you turn your computer on (or some other time of the day).


For the rest: We think the hardware is now sorted out and confirmed working. However the software is still not there 100%. Looking at how things are ATM, I'm guessing we'll have a second batch of boards ordered soon.

DWZM: I just looked at the updated board. For some reason there is a trace on the RESET signal from P1 on U6 (main AVR) that ends under R10 but it doesn't seem to be connected to anything over there. Is that supposed to be like that? :)
 
terahz said:
It doesn't have to be the router that updates the IP. It can be a client on your computer that updates the IP every morning when you turn your computer on (or some other time of the day).
Click to expand...

yeah unfortunately, that means in the mean time you're going to be in the possibility of no-poll-mode for extended periods unless you've got a PC on in-home all the time, which at that point IMO, you might as well just send the hydra's info to that PC and have it do the work.. I guess it just depends on what your expectation of mobile data availability is for this.

sorry to get too off-track from the typical convo in this thread about the actual hardware, but part of getting it to a useful state will require passing through these issues at one time or another ;)
 
XSiVE said:
...the possibility of no-poll-mode for extended periods unless you've got a PC on in-home all the time...
Click to expand...

How often does your IP change? From what I know about broadband internet and what I've seen in the US, ISPs tend to assign an IP per mac and leave it, so unless you change your BG (in the case of U-verse) or cable model or whatever end device connects you it is highly unlikely that your IP will change.

But if you think that's going to be a problem, the Hydra can always post the changes to the server, instead of the server polling the Hydra. That should solve all dynamic IP issues one might have.
 
Now that you mention json, isn't that how the twitter thing works? The arduino actually sends updates via json to twitter?
 
Ive looked at some code for a simple dyndns client. Its really simple and shouldnt be a problem implementing. especially since the tuxgraphics site has a library that has implemented a tcp/ip stack and a web client.

its a matter of doing this basically:

1. get your own public ip: http://checkip.dyndns.com/
2. parse the ip into 4 segments
3. get the current ip registered for your dns
4. check if that ip is different than the one you got right now
5. update the ip or dont do anything.

some authentication util code can be copied from

http://www.inatech.eu/inadyn/
 
terahz said:
For the rest: We think the hardware is now sorted out and confirmed working. However the software is still not there 100%. Looking at how things are ATM, I'm guessing we'll have a second batch of boards ordered soon.
Click to expand...

+1. This is still absolutely not ready for the masses and very much a development effort IMHO. I'll send a PM to coordinate the next board order.

DWZM: I just looked at the updated board. For some reason there is a trace on the RESET signal from P1 on U6 (main AVR) that ends under R10 but it doesn't seem to be connected to anything over there. Is that supposed to be like that? :)
Click to expand...

That doesn't sound right at all. I'll take a look later in the day when I'm on my Eagle-equipped PC. I bet it's "left over" from when I cut the traces between the main AVR and the ENC and re-routed to the slave.
 
A second set of development boards have been ordered. We are continuing with programming while we wait. Probably going to be a few weeks before the boards get here.

Once we get the boards and spend some time testing we'll know if we have a final hardware version. Hopefully we won't run into anymore problems.
 
Wow this is super intense thanks dustin for showing me this thread I skimmed it once when I was first starting to think about doing this for now I am considering buying the arduino uno and going through some of the training tutorials so I can get used to the code once I feel a little more comfortable with coding I will see what the progress is on this board although for me my main concern is no wifi how hard would it be to add wifi and use the existing code as I need to get alerts for this project and running a cable isnt doable
 
If you have the board made you can get all the parts for about the price of the UNO. The hydra is essentially an arduino with extra stuff on the board. The ethernet has a dedicated AVR with it's own pin headers. Since the ethernet code is so large we decided to dedicate the second AVR to that alone. If there is a wifi board available for the arduino then it shouldn't be any problem hooking it up the the secondary AVR. The rest of the functionality is all on the main AVR.

The board itself right now is "assumed" to be completely working, but we have not received the second round of board to verify this for sure. The only problem was the ethernet anyway. It's really up to you whether you want to buy an arduino or not, you may find a use for it with something else later. We should know if the hydra board is "complete" in a week or two.
 
The board + parts to populate the board come to about 45-50 bucks+ shipping from various places. Maybe a bit more if you order individual parts. However you need to buy a PH probe if you don't have one, ethernet cable, IR rcvr or keypad, float switches, relays etc... it can get to the $150-$200 range depending on how much you want to expand on it. At least that what I seem to have spent on mine.
 
Discussion of board orders/group buys isn't allowed in these forums. Any discussion of sharing boards needs to be through PM.

I think the total parts were about $35 or so for the components on the board. You can have boards made for $5-15 a piece.
 
terahz said:
The board + parts to populate the board come to about 45-50 bucks+ shipping from various places. Maybe a bit more if you order individual parts. However you need to buy a PH probe if you don't have one, ethernet cable, IR rcvr or keypad, float switches, relays etc... it can get to the $150-$200 range depending on how much you want to expand on it. At least that what I seem to have spent on mine.
Click to expand...

I'm about the same, $150 give or take for everything. You were wanting an ORP probe I believe, I'm sure that would set you back at least another $50 or more.
 
Sweet I am planning on doing this but for now I think I am going to get a arduino board and go through some tutorials. Probably from ladyada page so I can get a little background in arduino so the coding is a little more understandable. For me this is just a little overwhelming and I want to do some beginner steps to prepare myself plus I think it will be fun.
 
FWIW, if someone wants to go get a "normal" Arduino and experiment with the hopes of eventually switching to a Hydra, it might make sense to get one of the budget clones that doesn't have USB onboard along with a TTL serial to USB converter, since you'll need the latter with the Hydra anyways.
 
well I got a cheap clone for $10 as suggested and ttl cable coming I may order some if not all the parts for the board here depending on where and what parts places have that I order my parts to do some projects to learn
 
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