Who wants a cheap, simple, Arduino-based LED controller?

[Loonytic]

Jarek, I'm getting the same error. I hope it's fixed soon.

Sammy, that's a real nice box!

[sammy113]

Originally Posted by mm.reefs

Sam,

Hey, you little devil!!! I bet you used the laser cutter at the university to do that enclosure. It looks so square and clean, especially the fonts!!!

Sweet!!!

lol you know me! but actually I had to pay to get these done. The laser guy at college have me flagged for doing non related to school stuff so I can't abuse anymore. by the way, did your modified version of the Typhon has the same button configuration and ports located in the same place or did you moved something? Errol wants one for his typhon and asked me to build one for you

[mm.reefs]

Originally Posted by sammy113

lol you know me! but actually I had to pay to get these done. The laser guy at college have me flagged for doing non related to school stuff so I can't abuse anymore. by the way, did your modified version of the Typhon has the same button configuration and ports located in the same place or did you moved something? Errol wants one for his typhon and asked me to build one for you

My board is bigger than the original Thypon due to more components and options, but don't worry, I already solved what eclosure and buttons to use for it. It's not so neat like yours but it do the work well. Also I don't have more original Thypon pcb's, Errol's was the last one. By the way, do you fixed the one that got corroded? PM me if you still need help with it.

[Spuzzum]

Originally Posted by der_wille_zur_macht

This is a big holdup to get the 6th channel. Freeing up one more pin to get 5 channels is easy, but I don't really want to give up the backlight control.

A push button on/off switch, and a resistor takes care of the backlight control. Resistor dims the light, and push button bypasses the resistor. A knob type trimpot could be used instead of resistor, or both.. resistor sets the dim amount, while trimpot can set brightness when button is pressed.


Also... have you ever considered making your own pcb's?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnzdS3l60Wo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKEe3otWstM
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-...ble-Etch-Tank/

And instead of using an iron to transfer the black ink to the copper, I've read of people using laminating machines...

http://www.bot-thoughts.com/2009/08/...b-etching.html


You'd obviously need to design for a "single-sided" board, just need to use jumpers so not to cross traces. In the long run.. it would be cheaper than ordering from a pcb house.

[Loonytic]

I'm pretty new at this. I've got the Modern Device USB-BUB II, and I'm having trouble finding a driver for it. I'm using a machine running Windows 7. Also, there are two 3 pin headers with jumpers, how do these jumpers need to be placed? I've found some examples for the regular BUB, but not the BUB II.
Thanks.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

From the product page:

The BUB II ships with a female six-pin header, two male three-pin headers and two shunts for the power and logic level select, that the user may solder on, if desired. The logic level is set by solder jumper to 3.3V by default and the power jumper is likewise set to 5V by solder jumper. All other parts are mounted and the board has been tested and is ready to go. As a default configuration, most users will probably want to solder on the female six-pin right angle header.

If it were me, I would ignore the jumpers, put on a 90 degree female header, and leave the hardware alone otherwise.

The BUB uses the ultra-common FTDI chip, so it should use the same driver as any other FTDI device (i.e. older Arduino boards, BUB I, FTDI cables, etc). I've never used it on Win7 so I can't really give you a direct answer.

[Loonytic]

I'll have to try it on my other machine then. When I plug it in, the LEDs flash once, and then nothing happens (other than the usual beep that it makes when I plug a phone into it to charge it). If I put jumpers on it, the lights stay on, and the computer says hardware is detected but cannot find device drivers. So I'll give it a shot on my other machine with XP.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Yeah, sorry I can't help without direct experience with that version of the BUB. I actually lost my original BUB a few weeks ago so I just bought the lilypad FTDI breakout.

[Loonytic]

It must be a Windows 7 issue. I just plugged the BUB II into my XP machine, and it detected the device and installed 2 driver files without a lick. And I can't even get that machine to surf the internet right now (even though it has both functioning wired and wireless connections... Norton won't even open, yet something else I have to tinker with.... :/

[JarekS]

I'm looking for little help with my temp sensor (hookup and coding)
I've found a temp sensor on modern device http://shop.moderndevice.com/product...erature-sensor
Here is the sketch for it,
/*TMP37.pde
* Arduino Sketch to read a TMP37 Temperature Sensor
* Paul Badger
* 2010
* Sensor works between 5 degrees & 100 degrees C
* 20 mV / degree C
* Can be used with TMP35 & TMP36 by changing voltsPerDegree
*/

float voltsPerDegree = 0.02; // change to 0.01 for TMP35 & 36

void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
int sensorValue;
float volts;
float celsius;
float farenheit;

sensorValue = analogRead(0);
volts = sensorValue * 5.0 / 1024.0; // convert AD units to volts
// convert volts to celsius
celsius = (sensorValue * 5.0 / 1024.0) / voltsPerDegree;
// standard conversion from celsius to farenheit
farenheit = (((sensorValue * 5.0 / 1024.0) / voltsPerDegree) * 9.0 / 5.0) + 32;

Serial.print(sensorValue, DEC);
Serial.print(" A/D units ");
Serial.print(volts);
Serial.print(" volts ");
Serial.print(celsius);
Serial.print(" degrees C ");
Serial.print(farenheit);
Serial.println(" degrees F");
}
Which i have tested on BBB from modern device and it shows temp of the probe via the serial port on ardunio. I"ve soldered wires to each leg and shrink wrapped each leg individually so there is no possibility of shorting anything out when attached to heat sink. So far so good.

Well next is the hard part for me.
This part

sensorValue = analogRead(0);

If I was to attach the temp probe to the serial port on Typhoon, what do I put in for the input port/pin instead of the (0) part
The next problem for me is replacing all the lines of serial.print with some sort of LCD.print command to actually display the temp on the typhoon. I would only need the deg F line to print .
Hope that is not too much to ask

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Originally Posted by JarekS

If I was to attach the temp probe to the serial port on Typhoon, what do I put in for the input port/pin instead of the (0) part

You can't connect it to the serial port, without some interface in between. That temperature sensor is a basic analog sensor. You need to connect it to an analog input pin. If you have a beta (pre 1.0) version of the Typhon hardware, you're out of luck. If you have 1.0, you're in luck - A3 was broken out on a separate pin header near the LED headers, so you can use that.

If you do have an earlier version of the hardware, you can "greenwire" it by soldering directly to the pad for A3 on the AVR. A3 is not connected to anything so it's available, but this will be a bit awkward.

The next problem for me is replacing all the lines of serial.print with some sort of LCD.print command to actually display the temp on the typhoon. I would only need the deg F line to print .
Hope that is not too much to ask

Look at the typhon firmware sketch around line 388. The portion of the big if statement for menucount = 1. That's the "default" menu screen, so if you want to alter what shows up in the default state, you'll need to put code there. Currently, the code shows the current date and time plus the % value for each of the 4 LED channels.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

What do you all think about the 16x2 screen currently used on the Typhon? If we're making a newer, better version should we stay with that screen size or go to something larger, i.e. 20x4? It would allow much nicer menus and more info on the "home" screen, but it would bump the price by maybe $5-$7.

[JarekS]

I do have the pre 1.0 so i'll have to "greenwire"
Just to make sure, the analog pin 3 is the one marked 26 , PC3 (ADC3) on the picture above. To which i can solder the temp sensor?
Thanks!

I had one of the early sketches that did not show date, just time, so i thought there was room on the home screen.

And i'm for bigger screen if it fits, (i think i even have one laying around)

[Loonytic]

To me, I wouldn't mind a few more dollars for a larger display.

[pandimus]

Well... The bigger screen would be nice.. But Maybe there should be a point where a new thread/controller project is started.. Well i dont know.. its still going to be a basic controller, which is what you kind of had in mind for this project. I think.. So, bigger is better, but def not necessary. I think you know where im going here. On second thought.. this is just basically a revision of the intitial project with a few new features added. enough rambling...

[shark boy]

Originally Posted by pandimus

Well... The bigger screen would be nice.. But Maybe there should be a point where a new thread/controller project is started.. ...

A new thread would make a clear distinction between this ver and the older ones.

Typhon ][ Basic controller?

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Originally Posted by JarekS

Just to make sure, the analog pin 3 is the one marked 26 , PC3 (ADC3) on the picture above. To which i can solder the temp sensor?

Yes, this is correct. In theory your board should have a socket for the AVR so you're really soldering to the pin on the socket, not the AVR itself. Soldering on the bottom of the board will be easiest. Ideally you'd run a short wire to some other fixed point on the board or on your enclosure, then use a terminal or some other connection to the wiring harness for the sensor. As far as I know that sensor needs GND and +v as well...

Originally Posted by pandimus

Maybe there should be a point where a new thread/controller project is started

There will definitely be a new thread. Once I get this new board up and running I'm planning on doing a "everything you need to know about Typhon in one place" kinda thread.

[saf1]

I'm for a larger screen if possible.

In fact, I'm actually up for making two of these now since we have two LED retrofitted Bio-cubes in the house. It would be a lot easier to manage the LED's using the PWM input instead of instant On/Off.

I'd love a temp and some other options but not sure how possible it is. Building the LED and doing the retro fit work wasn't bad. Designing or adding to a base circuit board is another thing all together. So I'm trying to leverage something that is already done rather than buying another Neptune type controller at that price (3 kids in college!).

Mean Well power supplies is used by the one (via Rapid) and the other tank uses Steve's with his drivers - not sure what either of those are actually but they are holding up well and have good color.

Is it possible to go in on the next revision of boards with someone once ready?

[JarekS]

Originally Posted by der_wille_zur_macht

Yes, this is correct. In theory your board should have a socket for the AVR so you're really soldering to the pin on the socket, not the AVR itself. Soldering on the bottom of the board will be easiest. Ideally you'd run a short wire to some other fixed point on the board or on your enclosure, then use a terminal or some other connection to the wiring harness for the sensor. As far as I know that sensor needs GND and +v as well...

Thanks!
Yes i was planing on soldering to the socket on the bottom side. And also thought about using some sort of mini connection socket or some such. And also correct of GNG and +5v, I should be able to find something with 5v on the board somewhere to attach it to.

On the other hand, modern device has another temp sensor that is i2c compatible, http://shop.moderndevice.com/product...erature-sensor
but i'm not sure how to make that work yet. Baby steps first

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Wow, somehow I'd missed that sensor to date. It looks really amazing. I2C is my favorite bus for this stuff and it has very good resolution.

[pandimus]

stupid question.. I bought according to your BOM, the battery holder has dowel pins on the bottom and keeps it raised up.. i can still solder the leads. is this intentional?

[Spuzzum]

Originally Posted by der_wille_zur_macht

What do you all think about the 16x2 screen currently used on the Typhon? If we're making a newer, better version should we stay with that screen size or go to something larger, i.e. 20x4? It would allow much nicer menus and more info on the "home" screen, but it would bump the price by maybe $5-$7.

I picked up a few from Adafruit.. $17.95 is pretty reasonable.

Standard LCD 20x4 + extras - white on blue
$17.95

https://www.adafruit.com/products/198

[Loonytic]

Originally Posted by JarekS

Ah 1.0 for me, so i'll wait a little
Thanks!

I went to the Arduino site and downloaded 0022, and the sketch verifies with no errors at all.

On another note, I went to the FTDI website and downloaded the drivers for windows 7, and it appears to be fine now. Now I'm just waiting for my PCBs to show up.

[pandimus]

I finally got mine built. Uploaded the sketch, Took forever... For those who try this, just download .22 arduino ide, and The old buttons library, and eepromvar. Put them in the librarys folder in the arduino folders. open the arduino program. find the typhoon.pde you downloaded and then verify it. It should compile good. then upload it.

Ok so my select and +- buttons work fine.. all other menus, i can set start time/stop time, duration fade etc etc..


except to set the time. I push + - and select and nothing happens. I dont have a battery yet, but i wouldnt think this would affect it..

[der_wille_zur_macht]

If you don't have a batter the RTC is probably not functioning correctly. It won't operate without SOMETHING there. If you want to run it without a battery, put a bit of bare wire or something else conductive in the battery holder to short out the leads. Most of the time they'll run like this (though of course you'll loose memory when it loses power).

pandimus, that's the way the battery clip is designed to operate. I used that clip as a holdover from when I designed the Hydra. On that design there were other components/pads UNDER the battery so we needed it raised up. On this design that isn't the case. In version 2 of the Typhon I'm using a different clip, fwiw.

Speaking of version two, what do people think about the FTDI chip being onboard? It would mean you would not need a separate FTDI breakout to program the device, but it would bump the price up by ~$5. Right now, I'm thinking I may put the parts in the design, along with a header for the serial port (as there is now) which would let people choose. If you wanted it onboard, buy the parts and solder them in. If you already have a cable or BUB or other breakout, leave the parts off and just plug your breakout into the header. What do people think of this?