Must-haves for EASY DIY controller?

[ZenMastr1968]

Zen,

What a coincidence, I have a DD-WRT router, too.

You can definitely do simple LED driver dimming with mostly off the shelf stuff. You could get a cheap Arduino clone, an RTC module, and a perfboarded circuit to translate the signal to 10v and be ready to go. If you do want to go that route, lemme know - I designed a shield that converts the PWM signal to 10v for ELN drivers. I have a bunch of the PCBs leftover that I have no use for.

And/or join us for this Hydra project.

I saw the ELN Shield on nano-reef - which is specifically why I was looking over here :dance: There are a few people over there working on circuits to boost the PWM signal out of the Arduino - with mixed success. Based on the discussions over there, I was considering an Arduino and something like your shield. When I started adding up the cost ($30+$45+$?? for the shield) it seemed more reasonable than say the DA Reefkeeper Lite Net @ roughly $380. I've also seen some other controller projects and nothing beyond the WRRC project seemed interesting - until now!

The hesitation I was having with the straight Arduino unit and shield boards was the same hesitation I was having with the router based solutions - both were powerful in their own respects but needed to be modified to suit the purpose - and it seemed like I was wasting money to get the functionality I thought I needed. Your project seems to have kept all the power and flexibility of the original Arduino units, but has trimmed off the fat and made the package more compact and to the point - yet able to still be modified and expanded if necessary. With the router I'd have to go 1-wire or x-10 and script it all. Coding for the Arduino seem simpler and many of the interfaces already exist...

I know you guys have been trying to save as many PWM outputs as possible and others could be added via extenders - and maybe this is a software only question and quite possibly you don't have an answer - but would one suspect that this controller is capable of interfacing with BuckPucks as well as MeanWells? I saw somewhere that someone made a shield with BuckPuck drivers built into it, but I didn't like the way it was specifically organized nor how it operated. I also know you built your own series of drivers - also based on BuckPucks if I remember correctly - but I don't think I trust my electronics skills that much yet so I'll probably stick with commercial units and work on the control side. I vaguely remember on nano-reef that there is a PWM version of the BuckPucks as well, so I could go either way. If the input is match to what the device is expecting, then it doesn't really matter what it is on the other side - correct, it's just a software control at that stage??

If the BOM is coming out around $50 for this so far, then I think I might just start picking up pieces and try to breadboard it out and see how it goes for me... Very inspiring work guys - keep it up!

 

[ZenMastr1968]

Oh, and I was curious - everyone mentions the wall wart to power these things. Can one use an old laptop brick - or is that generally too many amps?? Maybe just a quick look at the data sheet might tell me what the imput V and A are rated at for the base Arduino units...

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I saw the ELN Shield on nano-reef - which is specifically why I was looking over here :dance: There are a few people over there working on circuits to boost the PWM signal out of the Arduino - with mixed success.

FWIW there are currently about 4 people using the shield I designed, with both types of ELN, and no one's reported a problem yet. So I appear to have stumbled upon something that works. :lol: Ironically I've never tested it myself because I don't own any ELN drivers.

The hesitation I was having with the straight Arduino unit and shield boards was the same hesitation I was having with the router based solutions - both were powerful in their own respects but needed to be modified to suit the purpose - and it seemed like I was wasting money to get the functionality I thought I needed. Your project seems to have kept all the power and flexibility of the original Arduino units, but has trimmed off the fat and made the package more compact and to the point - yet able to still be modified and expanded if necessary. With the router I'd have to go 1-wire or x-10 and script it all. Coding for the Arduino seem simpler and many of the interfaces already exist...

All pretty much the reasons I ended up going this way!

I know you guys have been trying to save as many PWM outputs as possible and others could be added via extenders - and maybe this is a software only question and quite possibly you don't have an answer - but would one suspect that this controller is capable of interfacing with BuckPucks as well as MeanWells?

Buckpucks should be even easier. Just plug and go.

I also know you built your own series of drivers - also based on BuckPucks if I remember correctly - but I don't think I trust my electronics skills that much yet so I'll probably stick with commercial units and work on the control side. I vaguely remember on nano-reef that there is a PWM version of the BuckPucks as well, so I could go either way. If the input is match to what the device is expecting, then it doesn't really matter what it is on the other side - correct, it's just a software control at that stage??

If you're thinking about doing a Hydra, the drivers will be a piece of cake. They are similar to buckpucks in the sense of using the same input voltage, same number of LEDs, similar dimming, etc. The only true difference is that the dimming signal for the buckpucks is inverted (i.e. "on" means "off").

If the BOM is coming out around $50 for this so far, then I think I might just start picking up pieces and try to breadboard it out and see how it goes for me... Very inspiring work guys - keep it up!

If you're going to breadboard stuff to play with now, you might as well get one of the cheap breadboard friendly clones, like the boarduino or the RBBB.

Oh, and I was curious - everyone mentions the wall wart to power these things. Can one use an old laptop brick - or is that generally too many amps?? Maybe just a quick look at the data sheet might tell me what the imput V and A are rated at for the base Arduino units...

You can use anything with the correct voltage and a minimum of maybe an amp or two. A laptop supply would be fine.

 

[ZenMastr1968]

Cool DWZM,

I was just running though the parts list to put an order in on Mouser - some parts are on back order now:

U12 - October
U1 - August
C35,C39 - July

Digi-key says U1 ENC28J60SP-ND is an obsolete item....possible substitute is ENC28J60-I/SP - but that appears to be surface mount.

Couldn't readily match up the others backorders on the digi-key site...


What do you mean by using one of the breadboard ones - to get the base chip or just to play with in the mean time???

 

[ZenMastr1968]

what about this http://www.moderndevice.com/products/bbb-kit as opposed to the RBBB and I assume would need the USB BUB board...I suppose it is a bit cheaper to get the BBB and BUB kit/cable

Is this the display you have been talking about??http://www.moderndevice.com/products/20x4-blue-lcd

I must be clueless - it's been a really long time since I've been on the mouser site, but are the jumpers called now?? m8, m18, etc... is that a standard number and length or something??

 

[terahz]

U12 - October
U1 - August
C35,C39 - July

Digi-key says U1 ENC28J60SP-ND is an obsolete item....possible substitute is ENC28J60-I/SP - but that appears to be surface mount.

ENC28J60-I/SP-ND is in 28dip package, should be identical to ENC28J60SP-ND.
for U12 I picked MC7805BDTRKG from mouser.
for C35,C39 UVZ1E470MDD from mouser.

I'll let you know over the weekend (if they arrive) if they work/fit

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

what about this http://www.moderndevice.com/products/bbb-kit as opposed to the RBBB and I assume would need the USB BUB board...I suppose it is a bit cheaper to get the BBB and BUB kit/cable

That would work fine. I like the RBBB because it's even simpler/cheaper. You'll need a USB-BUB or similar FTDI-based breakout to program the Hydra so it makes sense to get one now.

Is this the display you have been talking about??http://www.moderndevice.com/products/20x4-blue-lcd

That's the display shown in my prototype above. It's fine. There are probably cheaper options out there if you want to hunt. Any HD4478-based LCD should work, the real options are picking the size (lines and characters) and colors you want.

I must be clueless - it's been a really long time since I've been on the mouser site, but are the jumpers called now?? m8, m18, etc... is that a standard number and length or something??

Those are all standard-issue .1" spacing pin headers. If you're placing an order at ModernDevice, they sell 5-packs of 40-pin breakaway headers, just get one pack of males and one of females and you'll be good to go. Also, get a few bootloaded ATMega328p chips since you'll need two for the Hydra (and they're good to have on hand in case you burn one up shorting a pin or pulling too much current when you're experimenting).

I think I said it above but the BOM and the entire design are still definitely works in progress. I'm already seeing a few small changes I want. So if you or anyone else are ordering now, keep in mind that things are in flux!

You asked about those two caps that are out of stock. Either get the ones terahz suggested, or look on Mouser or digikey for shorter caps. The ones I spec'd and the ones terahz ordered are both 11mm tall, which means they'll interfere with shields you try to stack on the board. For the next rev, we'll need to find a shorter cap. I think the 10uF electrolytics I spec'd are all too tall, too.

 

[ZenMastr1968]

Yah, no I'm on board with it's still all prototype :thumbsup: ... just trying to come up to speed.

I made the mouser list into a project and saved it on their site, so I can go back in and change items before purchasing. I think I'll get the modern device order first and then pick up the mouser stuff. I'll keep my eye out for shorter caps too...

I was thinking that the little bigger board would give me more inputs etc... but you are right, might be more of a learning experience to use the smaller board and add my own extender.

I like the blue and white on that display and it's not too unreasonably priced.

I used to have a breadboard kit, meter, etc... from when I was in college - but no idea where any of that stuff is now. Any recommendations any of you can make on a multimeter and it sounds like a low end scope is nice to have for these sorts of projects - anyone else agree with that and have recommendations on that as well??

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

The I/O capabilities of the RBBB and BBB are more or less the same, it's just in a different format. They're both based on the ATMega328p controller, like most other current Arduino clones. The BBB is good for embedding in projects because of the way the headers are organized with power and GND right next to the analog pins on the side. And it's got a little more sophisticated power section, and a real ICSP header.

The RBBB is good on a breadboard because you can just plunk it right in the middle and all the pins get their own rows, but you can kind of do the same thing with the BBB - just on the edge instead of the middle, and you have to jumper the analogs if you want them on the board.

Whichever one you get, I'd suggest asking for (or buying separately) the "upgraded" TO-220 7805 voltage regulator, because the LDO reg he puts in the kits by default can't handle much power and would probably not do well with all the stuff we're adding on.

For other tools and stuff, this is what I use:

Soldering station. It's cheap and powerful and stable:
http://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-937-Dig...ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1272634772&sr=8-1

Multimeter:
http://www.amazon.com/Amprobe-AM-22...f=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1272634833&sr=1-11

I don't think you really need a scope, but if you're interested in playing with one, the JYETech kit I mentioned a page or two back is really cool to play with, and dirt cheap. Might want to buy the preassembled version unless you have the eyesight of an eagle and the steady hands of a brain surgeon. The soldering on it is not impossible but it wasn't exactly enjoyable, either.

 

[ZenMastr1968]

Whichever one you get, I'd suggest asking for (or buying separately) the "upgraded" TO-220 7805 voltage regulator, because the LDO reg he puts in the kits by default can't handle much power and would probably not do well with all the stuff we're adding on.

I saw the note on the site about the low duty regulator - will add a few of those to the list...

 

[terahz]

I think 647-USR1A470MDD is the only shorter cap at mouser at the moment that is 5mm dia and 2mm spacing, however it is rated at 10V only. DWZM, I think this calls for a different size packaging. Maybe even just add a bigger package around the 5mm dia one, and short the pins so that multiple sizes can be used. Just a thought.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

That's exactly what I was thinking. There might not be QUITE enough room as it's laid out now for a larger diameter cap, but it would be easy to nudge some things around.

Once I do a bit more testing this weekend, I propose we start using issue tracking on the google code site so we don't loose track of any of these little changes.

 

[terahz]

Sounds good. I hope to get my mouser order in today so I can work on the weekend. We need to discuss how is code development going to happen too. It will be mostly putting pieces of existing code together, I can imagine, but still will require a good amount of work to get it all working.

 

[ZenMastr1968]

I used to code C when I was in college - so I might be able to help in that department...You never really forget coding - right??

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Agreed. It's going to be a lot of splicing, but one thing I'm concerned about is that it "works" as a whole package and the splicing is seamless to end users. I don't want it to only work in my environment, I want it to be repeatable. In other words, I don't want to have to tell people "oh, go get this XYZ library over here, then get that part over there, hope that they're still compatible, and put them together." I'd rather collect/assemble/maintain a defined set of core libraries ourselves, so a user wanting the standard set of functionality can just get one package of libraries from this project, install it, load a boilerplate sketch, do their own tweaks, and be done.

This is the biggest project of this type (hobby blending of hardware/software) I've done to date so I'm trying to put thought into it before I attempt working on anything "official" for code myself.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I used to code C when I was in college - so I might be able to help in that department...You never really forget coding - right??

I dunno. I think I've forgotten more about programming than I know today. :lol:

 

[ZenMastr1968]

4) The jack for the Ethernet connection is turning out to be elusive. I designed for the HR911105A from HanRun since that's what many of the commercially-available Ethernet interfaces for Arduinos based on the ENC28J60 use, and two of the popular vendors (Sparkfun and Seeed) carry (-ied) it. I made that choice maybe 6 or 8 weeks ago when we were still deep in design. When I went to order the parts recently, NO ONE had this jack. I ended up getting two on eBay. The problem is, there's no industry standard pinout for these jacks, so you have to proceed with caution. I would suggest searching eBay for this exact part number (HR911105A) if none of the vendors mentioned above have them in stock. Perhaps in rev 2 we should pick a more generic part, or just provide a header for the jack and people can panel-mount it and run a cable to it, which would reduce the importance of pin locations.

Mouser dosen't list this part either. I'm still trying to get Eagle to run on my Ubuntu laptop (4.5 is in the repository,but when you run it there is a newer verison and I'm having trouble getting it installed) so I can't see the current board layout to see if something else would work - I know small detail in the grander scheme of things. The ethernet chip is backordered for a few months anyway - so I guess I'll worry about this one later.

 

[ZenMastr1968]

Agreed. It's going to be a lot of splicing, but one thing I'm concerned about is that it "works" as a whole package and the splicing is seamless to end users. I don't want it to only work in my environment, I want it to be repeatable. In other words, I don't want to have to tell people "oh, go get this XYZ library over here, then get that part over there, hope that they're still compatible, and put them together." I'd rather collect/assemble/maintain a defined set of core libraries ourselves, so a user wanting the standard set of functionality can just get one package of libraries from this project, install it, load a boilerplate sketch, do their own tweaks, and be done.

This is the biggest project of this type (hobby blending of hardware/software) I've done to date so I'm trying to put thought into it before I attempt working on anything "official" for code myself.

That's a good approach IMHO... I've seen so many DYI threads these days where people will come right out and say they don't know much about whatever the topic is and then turn around and not understand why they can't just glue something on a board and call it a day. In keeping with the "common man" concept of this project, complete package is better.

There have been other projects I've followed (especially in the DD-WRT world) where it's been follow these instructions from this site, but only steps 1-5 and then get these two files from this site and make changes to this file, etc... etc... etc... and over the course of time the referenced sites shutdown or dump the data and then you have only a piece of what you need. Especially with libraries - someone might decide to change it down the road and that change breaks something we've done - not a good path to be on.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Newark has the ENC28J60 in stock in PDIP. The best bet for the RJ-45 jack is probably to watch eBay. There are two or three sellers that seem to put them up every few days. This is the same seller I got mine from:

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-x-HanRun-HR91...ultDomain_0&hash=item1c0fa04f8f#ht_500wt_1182

 

[ZenMastr1968]

Oh, and I was curious - everyone mentions the wall wart to power these things. Can one use an old laptop brick - or is that generally too many amps?? Maybe just a quick look at the data sheet might tell me what the imput V and A are rated at for the base Arduino units...

You can use anything with the correct voltage and a minimum of maybe an amp or two. A laptop supply would be fine.

Ok, so this is from the install sheet on the RBBB kit:

Auxillary Power
5-12 Volt - 1A power adapter (optional)
Digikey T980-P5P-ND 6V/1A switching supply
9 volt battery, 4 AA batteries, 2 lithium button cells etc.

I'm assuming the higher end VR will handle up to 12V @ 1A - so that's the sort of supply I should be digging around for....