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DIY controller arduino raspberry kit


mpad

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Hi, I am interested in building a DIY aquarium controler.

Well, sort of. best thing is if there was some sort of kit available, with a guide and ideally the software.

 

I already googled around, but all I could find were dead projects or those where you can't tell if someone is still working on it...

 

If some of you know an existing project or something that is really working please post it here.

 

EDIT: This is what I got so far...

Edit2: do yourself it! lol

 

http://www.robo-tank.ca/

 

http://ferduino.com/

 

https://code.google.com/p/jarduino-aquarium-controller/

 

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=677265

 

http://www.openreefs.com/(dead?)

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Full blown controller, no. You want different type of control use this:

 

Basic power plugs with temp - reefkeeper lite

 

Power, temp, ph, floats - reefkeeper lite plus

 

Power, temp, ph, floats, etc - reefkeeper elite

 

Full blown fancyness - Apex

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I was looking for some semi-commercial solution. Something unfinished. Something to spent countless hours of quality hobby time on. And which in the end costs double compared to the commercial stuff :)

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If you want something to tinker with that can end up being way more powerful than an Apex and cheaper look into Ubiquiti MFI.

 

https://www.ubnt.com/products/#all/controlautomation

 

People are doing all sorts of stuff with this platform. I will be jumping on this very soon.

 

I use their gear for networking in my house. In fact I just upgraded to their AC1300 Unifi wireless access point. Had their basic N access point for years before this. Using an edgerouter lite with an 8 port gigabit netgear prosafe switch and the ac1300 wireless access point.

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Jarduino for arduino control. There is a free version, but donate £10 and you get support and a beta version with more stuff. It's also fairly easy to get a grasp on and modify the code yourself to suit your needs.

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Phew, after some digging around I doubt if I really have the time for this. As I am new to reefing I guess I should focus on the tank, not gadgets.

Also wifi access and smartphone support would be nice, this still seems to be sth. for the future though.

 

Hopefully bluefish come up soon with their extra stuff. They did such an awesome job on the lighting controller, so hopes are really high.

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jamescstein

I've gone back and forth on doing on of these as well. If Bluefish were to release the power bar.. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

 

Incidentally, I found a board that will plug into a arudino and give you 16 PWM channels it can actually be chained to give you a total of 64 if you really wanted.

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I'm very interested in the sensor node probe thing, just to have continuous temp monitoring.

 

What use is a smart power bar exactly? I get that you can switch on off a heater etc., but most of the things have their own intelligent control. Pumps, lights, heater,...?!

 

It would be so cool if all the devices were smart on their own and they would just be able to communicate with each other. This is definitely the best solution, as everything works on it's own, and most of the system still functions, if a part fails. If central controls fail everything is at a halt.

Decentralized controls are definitely the smartest way to do it (I have lots of experience with building automation).

 

The central part should only be some sort of information hub, that shows and processes relevant information and is responsible for communication between different devices, so you can set a new set point or realize interdependent control schemes.

 

Just my thoughts.... We are far far away from a standard solution.

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I have one of those 16 channel boards, but I haven't integrated it into my code yet. Chaining them you can get 992 channels of independent control lol.

I really need to sit down with my spare Mega 2560 and finish modding my Jarduino code as my controller is getting a bit buggy. Might be the cheap mega board.

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robsworld78

Hi mpad, I see you found my controller and I'm happy its at the top of the list, even if you didn't mean to. :)

 

I've been working hard on Robo-Tank and it might be what you want, minus costing more than a commercial product. ;)

 

I'm working on custom circuit boards and should be releasing tomorrow however there was an error made on the PCB with the ethernet circuit. I don't want to release till I know everything is good but trust me its coming. Once I get it release I plan to change and add a lot more but it will always be the easiest controller to use.

 

I hope to package my copy of the controller this week, now that I have my boards I can put it in a nice project box. Check out the website, http://www.robo-tank.ca near the end of the week, I hope to have some pictures posted and have it looking semi-professional.

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Hey robsworld78, great to hear!

Your were definitely put on top of the list by intention :)

Besides being the first I stumbled upon, I really find this the most appealing overall package.

Glad this project is still going, some of the others out there seem to have given up (really hard to tell with websites still running).

 

Really exited what you come up with and definitely take the time for getting everything straight.

It will be a few weeks / monts until I start the tank, and I decided I won't use a controller from the beginning. There has to be some room for upgrades :)

 

Will follow closely. And thanks for keeping it semi-professional ;)

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robsworld78

Thanks, I'm honored to be at the top. :)

I'm a freshwater guy so its basically for that as it stands but I haven't forgotten about you guys and plan to add features for saltwater tanks as well. Google webmasters told me a link to my site was here that's how I found you. ;)

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Yeah, definitely put some salt in the soup. I dunno about freshwater scene nowadays, but saltwater people seem much more into the controller thing. Well, basically it is pretty much the same functions in the salt world, only the settings and figures may differ ?.

This is an awesome community here, mainly for smaller tanks, but doesn't really matter. Glad you landed here. Only a matter of time until you get your first saltwater tank... ?

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robsworld78

When I'm ready to add I'll be checking the forums to see whats needed. Like you say though, its all pretty close, just a few more plugs involved. :)

 

The controller actually uses a mega 2560 and a Due. Reason for that is because I'm going for a clean look. With other controllers using a display you basically have to hide it because you have 100 wires coming out of it. With this you can build a "power bar" which holds all the connectors for various equipment and hide that mess behind the tank. Then with a single ethernet patch cable you can power the display and receive all the data from the power bar which is the mega 2560. The Due runs the display which is great because it gives the GUI the speed it requires. I'm currently running the controller using a 25' patch cord between the display and power bar. I can post pics once I get mine packaged but I don't want to hijack mpad's thread.

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Already reported you to the mods ?

No seriously, please continue hijacking. Around here it seems you need at least 80% hijacked content to get a good thread going ?

 

But if you want to advertise a dedicated thread is definitely recommend.

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robsworld78

Thanks Newtybar, I appreciate the support.

Just finished clearing my name, mods said I'm ok. :happydance: Once I open shop I'll probably start a thread or I'll just use this one. ;)

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  • 1 month later...

I'm in the UK so delivery will take an age, but got an email from Rob Sunday and he recons some bata boards will be ready by Wednesday/Thursday, so my boards will be with me end of September I hope.

He said 7 would be ready at a great introductory rate, drop him an email with the enquiry page on the robo-tank page.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm in no hurry.

But if I were rob I would stop posting dates until I am absolutely sure no third party, higher force or dead hamster can cause further delays ?

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