Must-haves for EASY DIY controller?

Look Ma, it autorouted!

(warning: ugly pcb layout! Needs cleanup! Avert your eyes!)

reefshield.gif
 
Sorry had to find it. Digikey carries it. CUI Inc part CEM1205C. Will probably need to drive it with a transistor. You apply a straight 5 volts to it (35 ma). No square wave is required which I think the one you found did. However it also means only one sound, but it is 83 db for 5 volts at 4 inches. For reference the web says th 80 dp is: Garbage disposal, dishwasher, average factory, freight train (at 15 meters). They also say possible hearing damge - so it probably loud enough.
 
Nice to see a board :) I noticed the LCD pins are not compatible with the pins on the LCD module, that means we can't 'plug' the LCD on the shield, but I suppose that will be fine.

Wow that battery is huge! BTW I think there is enough room for another port extender. (not to mention for the ATmega chip ;))
 
Got my the PS for my monitor and hooked it up to the Tellymate Shield.

Thought I would share:

tellymate.jpg


All of the text is simple Serial.println statements for testing.

There are other fonts that I have yet to download but so far I am content with what I have.

The Tellymate is sitting above the Arduino. You can see part of the Arduino to the right of the Tellymate shield.
 
Last edited:
terahz said:
Nice to see a board :) I noticed the LCD pins are not compatible with the pins on the LCD module, that means we can't 'plug' the LCD on the shield, but I suppose that will be fine.
Click to expand...

My original thought was that people would use a cable. The 6x2 header takes up less room than a fullsize LCD header.

BTW I think there is enough room for another port extender. (not to mention for the ATmega chip ;))
Click to expand...

I think you're right. I'm going to play with it a bit, I have some ideas that I think will make everyone happy.
 
Anyone love routing?

I added the core Arduino hardware (ATMega, resonator, voltage regulator, a few caps and resistors, a power LED, and a header for programming). Also, used a "standard' LCD header instead of the 6x2 shown above. And I flipped the LCD header over so it's on the "back" of the board. This means users can plug this device directly into an LCD on the "back" and stack shields on the "front." Also of course no Arduino needed since it's onboard now. So you'd just need this circuit, a relay board, an LCD, and whatever other hardware you want.

Also at terahz's suggestion I added a 3-pin header for an IR sensor, which means you'd be able to control the thing with a generic remote control if you wanted.

Also trying to fit the buzzer on but even the "small" ones are HUGE. . .

It still autoroutes 100% in Eagle but to me it looks like a rampant mess. Not sure if my concerns are really valid or not though.
 
The coolest function I can think of for a tellymate shield would be to rig it to the main TV in my living room. Then, I could see "tank stats" while I was watching TV by using the picture-in-picture function. :D
 
I am going to be following this project, but I have absolutely no electronics experience to help out with. I have done a lot of very basic programming experience, and that is something I would like to see in a DIY controller.

Its sounds like you guys are pretty far on your way to building a prototype, but I would include the two things I would really like to have in a controller.

1) Read the pH and Temperature of the tank, and based on these values and just plain timers turn on or off an expandable amount of AC circuits.

2) Be able to program any of the AC outlets with a simple language like that of the AC3's. I would also like to have a netbook either interface with the controller or be the controller so that I can program the outlets and monitor all my values with the OS (either linux or windows).

As an example, I would like the fans in my canopy to always be on when my lights are on (T5's), but I would also like them to turn on or off during the nightime based on temperature (IF temp > 79, THEN turn fans on).

I also like the ability to use PWM to dim LEDs based on a program in case I decide to upgrade to LED's in the future.

I guess my big question is how can I integrate a netbook into this setup? Even if the netbook only reads/displays the data on the controller, I would like to be able to control outlets or edit my programs on the fly from the netbooks OS.
 
Taqpol said:
I am going to be following this project, but I have absolutely no electronics experience to help out with. I have done a lot of very basic programming experience, and that is something I would like to see in a DIY controller.

Its sounds like you guys are pretty far on your way to building a prototype, but I would include the two things I would really like to have in a controller.

1) Read the pH and Temperature of the tank, and based on these values and just plain timers turn on or off an expandable amount of AC circuits.

2) Be able to program any of the AC outlets with a simple language like that of the AC3's. I would also like to have a netbook either interface with the controller or be the controller so that I can program the outlets and monitor all my values with the OS (either linux or windows).

As an example, I would like the fans in my canopy to always be on when my lights are on (T5's), but I would also like them to turn on or off during the nightime based on temperature (IF temp > 79, THEN turn fans on).
Click to expand...

This is a good example of translating functional requirements into a finished product. Rather than try to anticipate every single thing people would want to measure or turn on and off, I'm trying to design the hardware controller to include interfaces for those functions, rather than hardware specifically designed to do specific functions, if that makes sense. Everything you're talking about would just be software or simple hardware add-ons to this basic package - the pH hardware is built in, you'd use one wire for the temp sensor, and GPIO pins or an I2C port expander for the other stuff.


I also like the ability to use PWM to dim LEDs based on a program in case I decide to upgrade to LED's in the future.

I guess my big question is how can I integrate a netbook into this setup? Even if the netbook only reads/displays the data on the controller, I would like to be able to control outlets or edit my programs on the fly from the netbooks OS.
Click to expand...

Integrating a netbook in a permanent always-on manner isn't really required, but would be possible with the arduino environment. The arduino environment is based on Wiring and Processing, which gives you a lot of interaction power with a PC over a USB interface, or you can throw an ethernet shield on it and interact with it via a web interface served from the Arduino itself, or served from another computer that reads data from the Arduino. There are really a large number of possibilities, but the PC doesn't need to be involved unless you want it to be - there's enough memory and processor power onboard to do the stuff we're talking about.
 
Something new just recently you mean? I have the files for the Duemilanove (and a bunch of the compatibles.) They're great references, but this design is about twice as busy as any of the straight compatibles (though to be fair, it's almost 50% bigger, too). :D
 
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