Reef Central Online Community - View Single Post - Getting back in--- deep

BigDave · 02/07/2017, 08:43 AM

I've been spending a lot of time just enjoying the tank lately. One of the chairs in the living room sits perfect for relaxing and staring up at the tank.

I've also been working on the redesign for the aquarium controller. The one I have in place works... works really well actually, but it's not very configurable. I can tell it what I want to have start up when it powers on and I can tell it what time to turn the lights on and off, but I can't really add new outputs or functionality to it very easy. It would require taking the entire controller off of the tank in order to make any changes.

The new controller is going to be modular. I got the idea from another reefer here on the forum. I'm using a DIN rail mount. Each box has 1 specific function, and then all of the boxes will link up to one master controller. Each module will run independent of the master with the exception of the Light controller. It will rely on the master to tell it when to turn the lights on/off. The only reason I'm doing the lights this way is it keeps me from having to program a RTC for the arduino. Plus having lights not go on/off isn't as big of a deal as say... the temperature going haywire or top-off not working.

I start with the temperature controller. So far I have the code working and I'm almost finished with the 3d printed enclosure for it.

I also made things a lot easier by removing the touch screen from the master controller. I'll make it web based and just use my cell phone if I need to turn something on/off. Worse case, I can always reach under the stand and just hit the switch to kill the entire power strip. I find that 9 times out of 10, I typically just unplug whatever it is I'm working on instead of using the touchscreen to turn it off anyways.

The master will have a 20x4 LCD for at least showing the last time values were updated and the current tank temp and pH.

Here's a picture of the temperature module. Most of the modules will look identical to this, two inputs, two outputs. (top-off, temperature controller, pump controller, 'generic' controller). There will be two other modules that will just have either 1 input or 1 output. I may go ahead and design one last module with 4 outputs for a DIY doser using the BRS dosing heads. I'd have to order more of the Arduino Beetles

02/07/2017, 08:43 AM	#110
BigDave Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Wylie, TX Posts: 473	I've been spending a lot of time just enjoying the tank lately. One of the chairs in the living room sits perfect for relaxing and staring up at the tank. I've also been working on the redesign for the aquarium controller. The one I have in place works... works really well actually, but it's not very configurable. I can tell it what I want to have start up when it powers on and I can tell it what time to turn the lights on and off, but I can't really add new outputs or functionality to it very easy. It would require taking the entire controller off of the tank in order to make any changes. The new controller is going to be modular. I got the idea from another reefer here on the forum. I'm using a DIN rail mount. Each box has 1 specific function, and then all of the boxes will link up to one master controller. Each module will run independent of the master with the exception of the Light controller. It will rely on the master to tell it when to turn the lights on/off. The only reason I'm doing the lights this way is it keeps me from having to program a RTC for the arduino. Plus having lights not go on/off isn't as big of a deal as say... the temperature going haywire or top-off not working. I start with the temperature controller. So far I have the code working and I'm almost finished with the 3d printed enclosure for it. I also made things a lot easier by removing the touch screen from the master controller. I'll make it web based and just use my cell phone if I need to turn something on/off. Worse case, I can always reach under the stand and just hit the switch to kill the entire power strip. I find that 9 times out of 10, I typically just unplug whatever it is I'm working on instead of using the touchscreen to turn it off anyways. The master will have a 20x4 LCD for at least showing the last time values were updated and the current tank temp and pH. Here's a picture of the temperature module. Most of the modules will look identical to this, two inputs, two outputs. (top-off, temperature controller, pump controller, 'generic' controller). There will be two other modules that will just have either 1 input or 1 output. I may go ahead and design one last module with 4 outputs for a DIY doser using the BRS dosing heads. I'd have to order more of the Arduino Beetles