Must-haves for EASY DIY controller?

DustinB said:
Please wait til tomorrow before doing anything guys. You haven't seen it, but we have been working on the board and the BOM behind the scenes.

We will post an updated BOM tomorrow that is accurate and will make it much easier to order the needed parts for the board. We will also post a new version of the board with all through-hole parts making is very simple for anyone with a basic soldering ability will be able to assemble the board. Everyone has been very patient so far, but please, one more day. :D
Click to expand...

all the more reason to get a kit going :D so if anyones interested in a one stop shop, please PM me.

Btw, thanks guys for cleaning this up. I've been slowly learning eagle, and I must say, it's to tedious for me :D
 
Here's the schematic I was working on nauticac4:


Should give a pretty good idea of what I was talking about. Anyone see anything wrong, anything to change/add/remove? I think this/something like this would be a good option for the 2 relay setups being used.
 
Looks good Dustin although I see the idea in the jumpers on most added I/O expander I think that most of us will be using a relay strip of some sort wouldn't it be easier on programming if we all tried to use a standard address for the relay strip
 
Nauticac4: Let DWZM/TeraHz and some others take a look at it first. Once we all agree on the design I'll send you the eagle file.

sanddune600: You're right, most people will probably use the base code with the same address for the relay control, but it will still give people the option. Should be easy enough to show a picture of the "default" jumper positions.
 
sanddune600 said:
Looks good Dustin although I see the idea in the jumpers on most added I/O expander I think that most of us will be using a relay strip of some sort wouldn't it be easier on programming if we all tried to use a standard address for the relay strip
Click to expand...

I would argue that it's a trade off. I'm trying to approach this problem from the big-picture perspective of releasing this as an expandable/flexible platform, not creating a single fixed implementation. From that perspective, solder bridges or jumpers make sense, because then anyone can design and contribute a board using an MCP23008 without having any potential for conflict with someone else's design. If we fix the address on one of the expansion boards, then we pretty much have to start keeping track of which expansion board has which address. Maybe this is a philosophical thing, but that's my approach.

Another, perhaps more pertinent advantage, is that if someone were to need more than one of these I/O boards on a given implementation (I can definitely see that happening if you've got a complicated tank, or more than one tank), having jumpers for the addresses would be pretty important.

At any rate, if we use jumpers, changing the address is a matter of changing one value in the code. If we don't use jumpers, people are going to be scraping up traces and hacking their boards to get it right.

Dustin, looking at your schematic, I have a few thoughts. Feel free to ignore, of course. :) I see there's a DC jack. In a project where there will likely be multiple boards in a given project box (this board, the mainboard, who knows what else), I like to use a panel-mount DC jack and then run jumpers to headers on all the boards for power. This saves board space, too. Second, it might make sense to break out the INT pin on the MCP even though we don't have any immediate need for it. You could tack it on the TTL header. If we want this board to be a true general purpose I/O expander then I can see someone coming up with a need for that pin in the future, and it won't take up much room.
 
Different subject. I see there are lots more people getting interested in trying this project. I just want to remind people again that this is still very much an in-development project. You can build according to the current design and you'll probably get a working controller, but we are absolutely still changing/fixing/improving things (even if it's not obvious in this thread). We haven't really even reached a consensus on what will be included in the core firmware yet, and decisions there may still impact the hardware.

So if you want a stable/supportable/documented controller you may want to wait a while. Yes, we've posted the Eagle files and BOM, but that has been to support development efforts, not as an indication that these files represent a finished product. Once we feel that the design is ready for release for the average hobbyist we will be starting another thread and/or posting documentation elsewhere on the web. As much as I love the enthusiasm, I think everybody interested in building a working controller would be happier if they waited for that pending "release notification."
 
DustinB said:
Here's the schematic I was working on nauticac4:


Should give a pretty good idea of what I was talking about. Anyone see anything wrong, anything to change/add/remove? I think this/something like this would be a good option for the 2 relay setups being used.
Click to expand...

what's everyone using to draw up these schematics?

::edit:: in regards to the schematics and these demands for Jumpers. Is there not something out there like a DIP switch that could replace these jumpers?
and also I'm not sure I'm following what JP6 and JP7 are and how they are implemented into this board.
 
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der_wille_zur_macht said:
Cadsoft Eagle. It's pretty much the standard for hobby electronics, mostly because there's a free "lite" version. Get it here:

http://www.cadsoftusa.com/

If you're not used to CAD it can be tricky at best. Sparkfun has good tutorials. Look at segments 8, 9, and 10 in the beginning embedded electronics series:

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/tutorials.php
Click to expand...

nauticac4 said:
http://www.cadsoftusa.com/

Program called Eagle. Free download.


www.sparkfun.com has a decent tutorial to get you started. Download sparkfun's library and the library DWMZ has created that DustinB linked a page or two back. Most everything needed is on those and the libraries that come with the software.
Click to expand...

and the secrets are revealed lol thanks. hopefully should be easier then paint right? :D
 
The board files and BOM have been updated on the site: http://code.google.com/p/hydra-reef/source/browse/#svn/trunk/hardware/hydra

*THE GERBER FILES IN THAT DIRECTORY ARE NOT FROM THIS VERSION OF THE BOARD*
I am working on sorting out an issue with the CAM file for exporting the gerber files. If you need them soon send me a PM as I have a version with special instructions for submitting them. I will post the cam file, design rule check, and gerber files for seeedstudio/iteadstudio soon.

*Just to reiterate on DWZM's comments. To anyone thinking of attempting this board please do not assume the project in it's current state will result in a fully functioning controller quickly or easily. While we believe all hardware issues are sorted out, there is still a small chance we could run into an issue as programming advances. Also, there is little to no documentation available for this project yet as it is still under heavy development. Those wishing to go ahead and attempt this should have the ability to solder along with at least basic electronics/programming knowledge. Again, as DWZM stated, not trying to discourage anyone from trying it if they wish, just laying out the facts so there are no misconceptions.
 
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DustinB, DWMZ,

IF there is anything I can help with let me know. Glad to see this project moving along willing to do anything in my ability to help.

Thanks for your hard work guys.
 
I pulled the hydra file in to eagle and was trying to dissect the I2C LCD portion of it for my prototype (it's the one part I can't quit pin down) from what I see it looks like there's an MCP23008 that is driving the LCD to minimize the abuse of arduino pins, what I'm curious about is what code/library's are being used to make this functional and can I get a stripped down sketch of the functionality of that? for some reason when I try and mimic (at least what I can decipher) it doesn't function for me. Thanks

First, thanks to the whole crew for getting where we are now, Dustin, for the documentation, and DWZM and TeraHz for the foot work they've put in. again THANKS.
Btw for those th at are interested in Kits, w/ the NEW BOM out, I will be compiling kits, please PM me (if you haven't already) with your interest as I will be sending out information w/in the next day or 2.

Also, seegler (I think it was) any updates on another board purchase? if not I've got a local guy that can do one up for me, but at sizably more (but the turn around time is quick, and he's local)
 
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