Boston Reefers Evolving Arduino Build

[jason401]

Ok guys/gals here's a list of parts and instructions on what we will be conducting during our May meeting

Goal - Control ATO and Temp with Arduino
Disclaimer - I am not an electrician so you're making this at your own risk.

Materials (prices do not include shipping, feel free to shop around for better deals)

1 x Arduino UNO or Arduino Nano $ 8.94
1 x 7-12v DC Wall Adapter $5.28
1 x Prototype Breadboard $8.86
1 x DS18B20 Transistor (these come waterproof) $9.95
1 x 4.7K Ohm Resistor $1.29
1 x 4 Channel relay $7.99
1 x 4 Gang Electrical Box $6.20
1 x 4 Gang Wall Plate $4.28
2 x 2 Plug Wall Outlet $4.08
2 x Waterproof Connector $2.99
1 x Misc Jumpers (male/male, male/female, female/female) $3.90
1 x Float Switch (feel free to get 2) $4.29
Roughly one foot of 16g wire (although 14g wouldnt hurt)
1 x Grounded Wall plUG (think old computer power plug)

Total ATO + Temp control w/out shipping $70

Directions and pics in the PDF file attached

Edit: Any Arduino will work

PAID MEMBERS

These items will be provided by the club if your a paid member in good standings

1 x DS18B20 transistor (These come waterproof) $9.95-Covered by the club
~1’ of 16 AWG wire ** (although 14 AWG wouldn’t hurt)-Covered by the club
1 x grounded wall plug ~3’ (think old computer power plug)
1 x 7**12v DC wall adapter $5.28

You can place your order through Boston Reef Society via PayPal or credit card, and receive free shipping on all components. Pm me the components you need, and we'll tally up your total and put it through with the club treasurer.

 

[jason401]

Here's the order information and parts list for the Arduino Build

 

[ro_nicu]

would be nice to get a display for it so one can see at least the temp and the time. there are some available for as little as 5$

 

[jason401]

We will get a display for the build....eventually

This is an ongoing evolving build, so many additions to come in the future

 

[RiverRat]

This is a great idea! Job well done on getting this together.
I am working on a Raspberry Pi build right now....its a great way to get more involved in your reef (and save a whole lot of money ).

 

[ro_nicu]

I'm in,
already running a mega 2560 for the lights.

 

[MrX]

I'm in Jason and DaughterX wants to build one for her tank as well. (FWIW, just renewed our family membership via PayPal.)

PM'ing you the list of parts we need.

Thanks!

 

[jason401]

We're ordering all parts by the end of the week. Please pm me if you would like to join in.

 

[jamesdong009]

Count me in

 

[bdaley]

I will partake of this project also. God save me.

 

[ro_nicu]

Im in. Only need the arduino, relay board and the temp probe

 

[dilligaf29]

im in also

 

[bdaley]

I will need all the parts also.

 

[P-Nut]

(I did not open the file yet)

Do you have the code required for the arduino to work?

 

[jason401]

(I did not open the file yet)

Do you have the code required for the arduino to work?

Yes, John will be instructing the class as well.

Everyone (who hasn't already) please pm me so we can work out payment ect.

BRS will be ordering all the parts so you won't have to pay shipping. I just need a confirmation email so we can make arrangements.

 

[MrX]

Thanks to John for running us through the steps of doing this! I've had a hankering to do a project like this, and had the Arduino for months and months, but never got around to doing it.

After today's meeting I was stoked-up to get the relays working, all 4 of them. So I picked up some other parts from Home Depot (2-gang box, cover, wire nuts, etc.) and spent the night after KidsX were in bed tinkering.

I followed the basic instructions we got today, but 'broke the tabs' to wire up all 4 relays. Also, instead of daisy-chaining/doubling up on the wires, I pig-tailed from the main wires and then went directly to the correct location. Makes things cleaner and easier to manage.

The 2-gang box is tight but I think it works out well... the wires hold the relay board in place and will keep it from bouncing around or coming into contact with the outlets.

One issue/oversight I have to go back and fix is the pins from the relay board to the Netduino/Arduino. First, we really need a connector with 6 wires (GND, VCC, and the 4 relays), and it needs to be longer! This would make it so there are only two wires coming out of the box; the AC power source, and the quick connect wire that goes to the Netduino/Arduino.

Anyhow, after about 4 hours I finally got it working. I uploaded a video to YouTube: http://youtu.be/2B5TmQR9r_8

Some notes:

1) I'm using a Netduino Plus 2 instead of an Arduino. The only real difference is the programming language. I code in .NET/C# for a living, so working with this board comes more naturally to me.
2) If you watch the video you'll see the blue led on the Netduino blink a number of times. I added that so I'd know (a) my program was working, and (b) that the program was loaded and the first relay was about to trigger.
3) I only have two lamps handy, so the program just cycles those two relays. Relay/lamp #1 on for 10 seconds then off, pause for 200ms, and then relay/lamp 2 on for 10 seconds, then off, pause for 200ms, then back to lamp #1.
4) In the video you can see the 2-gang box all closed up and the wires connected to the bread-board/Netduino.

If anyone has any questions let me know.

 

[MrX]

Playing around today; connected the other two relays and grabbed two more lamps. Added relay randomization:
http://youtu.be/PSWnWlc-MsA

Removed the pause between changing relays. Each one stays on for 50ms.
http://youtu.be/E03d3kWT2Bs

 

[jason401]

Nice job Dan!

 

[craigk]

Hi guys,
I got home and was inspired to hack a bit more on this project.

Trying to minimize the risk of unexpected failures, I cleaned up the wiring. I used a bunch of wire nuts so I only had one wire attach to each relay terminal screws.
In the box, I snipped one of the jumper wire female connectors soldered the wires to the waterproof connector wires.

My original plan was to leave the 2-outlets joined but after thinking about the possible use cases, it made better sense to "break the tabs" and configure it as four separate relay controlled outlets.

On the way home I swung by Home Depot. The deep 2-gang box didn't seem to have enough space for the outlets and the relay board. Not knowing how I might use the gang box in the future, I decided to use the 2 right bays of the 4-gang bag and cover the other to bays. Not finding a cover plate that matched my configuration, I went with the modular cover approach.

 

[MrX]

Spent some time tonight getting my Temp probe working.

Took me a while because I had to find the right libraries/code for the Netduino and then I had an issue with deploying debug code to the board. Turned out my project file was hosed somehow and I had to create a new project; once I did that and copied over my source files the app deployed successfully in debug mode.

The next issue was that I was getting really weird numbers from the probe. The code looked ok, but the numbers were jumping all over the place. I did a little more searching and found a post with a picture someone uploaded of their wiring. That clued me into what was missing and now everything is working!

First pic is the output window when running in debug mode. My first test was just holding the sensor in my hands; it got up to about 94-95 degrees. The second test, pictured, is with the probe in the 10G on my desk.



The second picture is of the wiring on my board. For the temp sensor you need to wire it up as follows:

1. Black wire to Ground
2. Red wire to +5v
3. Yellow wire to the Netduino/Arduino PIN (in my case 6) AND to the resistor
4. The resistor goes from the same row/connection as the Yellow wire to another (unused) spot on the breadboard
5. +5v to the side of the resistor (opposite side from the Yellow wire)



Next up:

- figure out how to get multiple temp sensors connected and reporting numbers
- start investigating HTTP/web services for communication with the world off the Netduino


Anyone else playing with their boards? Any questions or other stuff you've gotten working?