Must-haves for EASY DIY controller?

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Or more like this http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=9115 ?

Technically the same thing - SparkFun's board is just a breakout for the FTDI chip, the FTDI cable he linked above is the same chip but it's embedded right in a USB cable instead of on a breakout board. The FDTI chips are in 99.9% of USB-TTL converters.

The "official" reference design for the Arduino hardware (Duemilanove) uses this same FTDI chip, so from the software's perspective it's seamless when you're uploading code. Basically, the Duemilanove has the FTDI chip and associated components right onboard. As I mentioned above, I chose not to do that with this design because it takes up a lot of board space (which we have NONE of :lol: ) and it adds to the assembly difficulty because the FTDI chips are only available in hard-to-solder packages. Plus, I like the philosophy of using a separate cable or breakout board for programming - you only need that hardware when you're programming, so why have it on the board all the time? And, if it's a separate cable or breakout, you can use it on all your Arduino-compatible devices instead of paying for the FTDI chip to be onboard all of them.

FWIW I use the USB BUB from Modern Device:

http://www.moderndevice.com/products/usb-bub

It's more versatile than some other FTDI breakouts (it has several different pinout options for the TTL end of things, and has a jumper to switch between 5v and 3v3). Plus I just really like Modern Device. So I don't mind buying their products.

If you want to get all crazy and save $10, you can get just about ANY USB "phone data cable" with a TTL interface on the phone end (i.e. NOT a cable for a phone with a real USB plug). A majority of phones that don't have USB jacks use data cables with a USB-TTL converter built right in, so all you have to do is cut off the phone end of the cable and figure out which wire is which. There are walkthroughs out there on the web for a few popular cables usually available for a buck or two on eBay or Amazon if you're keen to try this.

Or you could get a bare FTDI chip and make your own cable/breakout, they're only a few bucks but they're a fairly fine-pitch SMT package.

 

[funkmuffin]

Thanks Stephen and DWZM -- I'm not worried about having to add a breakout, I just wasn't sure what was needed. I got it now.

 

[beetlenut33]

Hi guys, I really like what you all are doing here, I wish I would have seen this thread earlier.


I built a controller based on this design.

Mine has 6 relays, a temp sensor, 4x20 LCD, and a keypad to set the time. Pretty basic controller all explained in the link above. You guys can use the code which has been written for that controller on yours.

 

[funkmuffin]

What about 10v Dimming?

What about 10v Dimming?

DWZM -- Assuming one plans to build the HPLED drivers and a Hydra, have you defined what's required between the digital pins on the Hydra and the HPLED? Obviously, none of it would fit on this PCB, but I for one would like to plan for building all of the the control-side pieces in one go, to allow for programming and additional user-added features once the basics are in place.

I know you mentioned some details of what it would take in the "Meanwell dimming thread", but I didn't get the gist of it (I'm slow :fun2.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I built a controller based on this design.

Definitely one of the more mature and well documented projects out there!

DWZM -- Assuming one plans to build the HPLED drivers and a Hydra, have you defined what's required between the digital pins on the Hydra and the HPLED?

Wire. The CAT4101 drivers can take an Arduino's PWM signal straight up, nothing in between required. Just connect a wire from a PWM pin to the PWM input pin on the driver, and connect their grounds, and you're in control.

The NCP3066 driver I started with in that other thread can run straight off the PWM signal, too. The ZXLD chip we talked about in the thread can take it with a few external components - the ZLXD-based driver I designed (but never built) had these components right onboard so you didn't need to build anything else.

That's one of the advantages of DIY'ing all the components in the system - I could pick a driver chip that took the type of signal I can generate.

 

[thetonyage]

ok im gonna hop on and do this, ive been debating over the past week or 2 whether i want to diy or just bite the bullet and purchase a controller. after reading through this i think you have convinced me that i want to diy. i just purchased an arduino starter kit, a 20x4 lcd screen and a temp. sensor to get my feet wet. i will let you guys know how i do, but im sure im gonna be asking a few questions at first lol.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Sounds good! Enjoy the journey.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Sent the design to the board house this morning.

Also a note if people are following the design closely. I stopped putting versions up as zip files on the google code site and instead am using svn to track the EAGLE files as we make changes:

http://code.google.com/p/hydra-reef/source/browse/

But of course this is still in it's infancy so please don't run off and make hardware from these files and expect it to work.

 

[DFason]

Not sure if this is the correct place butI have been working on a LED/Vortech controller for quite some time. While I am almost complete with the LED controller, I am still working on the Vortech part to go with it.

The controller has the following...
drivers for LED's
OLED screen
USB
Power Supply Hookup 2.1 5.5
Terminals for DIY power supply
Terminals for LED's.

You will be able to hook up the controller to a PC and program how you want the LED's to work along with the Vortech.

Here's a few photo's and a video on it dimming the LED's like a Mac computer in sleep mode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gg_46jrFUM
There are three buttons to scroll through the menu also.

Hope you enjoy!

-Dave

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Pretty cool! What microcontroller are you using?

 

[Skeptic_07]

what driver are you using?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

For those browsing the svn repository, I put a related project up there, too: a PCB to act as a DC UPS (uninterruptible power supply). Basically you plug this between your wall wart and your Hydra or Arduino or other low-power DC device, then plug in a small NiMH or NiCD battery, and the DC UPS does two things: 1) keeps the battery charged, 2) switches to battery power and pulls a "status" line high when the wall wart power source fails.

This means your controller will keep running if the power is out, and it will "know" the power is out if you connect the status line to a GPIO pin. So if you have some sort of alarm function (buzzer, email, whatever) the controller can notify you when the power goes out, or switch certain things on or off, etc.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

STOP THE PRESSES!

Last night, I redesigned the whole thing from the ground up. Will post a schematic soon.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Here's the new schematic:

 

[TheFishMan65]

Where the part about the blue moon exception error?

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Isn't that implied when you wire a squirrel that close to the batman symbol after a moral rectifier? I dunno, I'm not really an EE. :lol:

 

[TheFishMan65]

No that will just allow batman to make sure the the squirrel is moral and will not steal the bird food. However, by orienting the circuit toward the sun you may be able to ignore the moon effects - i have never had much luck with this.

 

[Taqpol]

I LOVE xkcd!!!

My favorite part is:

"Not a resistor; wire just does this"

 

[terahz]

Isn't that implied when you wire a squirrel that close to the batman symbol ...

Sorry but that's not a squirrel, it's a prairie dog

I like that I-95 was included. I see it through my window every day. One step closer to implementing the circuit

 

[TheFishMan65]

It either is not a prairie dog or not I 95. Everyone knows that prairie dogs live west of I 95 and there is a clear orientation symbol here. Anyone know where I 45 is? That is what I thought it said.