I designed an LED Thingy

[land shark]

Working on this for about a week or so. Been planning to do it for months . Should have used a better program for the schematic(maybe later). Anyhow, it's an led controller and fixture. I ordered most the parts and will be building it soon. It's or my pico, overkill on purpose, may use for later stuff. Four pins on the 328 are unused. RX and TX for serial wifi(maybe). Two analogs for salinity, ph or somethin like that. I've done no programming for it. I will probably reference the typhon code for that. Though I've been debating programming everything in C instead of in the Arduino IDE. I know a decent amount on C. I could have bought the typhon controller for the cost in parts but now I have lots of extra parts for other projects. Not to mention it will be to my specific taste/application. Let me know if you guru's see any problems with the schematic. More pix and goodies to come.

 

[jedimasterben]

Why are you using cool white in 2015?

[land shark]

Why are you using cool white in 2015?

Why not

 

Honestly it's cause I like the colors my corals have now. If I change the spectrum too much they might morf. Maybe that's not a good reason.

[jedimasterben]

If you'll look through threads from the last few years you'll see almost no arrays using cool white, and even fewer that are simply cool white and royal blue. Warmer whites are preferred to get the most out of non-fluorescent colors and to not make the light look as harsh. Lime brightens the light to the eye, which is a big problem in LED arrays, they are more intense than our eyes can see due to the shift towards blue. Blue and violet help fluoresce more pigments than royal blue can alone, and cyan helps bring out non-fluorescent red and orange pigments.

[land shark]

If you'll look through threads from the last few years you'll see almost no arrays using cool white, and even fewer that are simply cool white and royal blue. Warmer whites are preferred to get the most out of non-fluorescent colors and to not make the light look as harsh. Lime brightens the light to the eye, which is a big problem in LED arrays, they are more intense than our eyes can see due to the shift towards blue. Blue and violet help fluoresce more pigments than royal blue can alone, and cyan helps bring out non-fluorescent red and orange pigments.

Don't know if you saw my edit or not. But I was/am aware of multicolor arrays and reasons behind them. I just like the way my tank looks now so I didn't feel like changing the spectrum. I might add a couple violets or blues though, not sure. My zoas morphed soon after introduction to my tank so I could see them changing back if I went with a fuller spectrum. I don't know, I just don't see why I should change it if I like the colors better now compared to when I bought most of them, under modern arrays(not saying visually I mean coral pigments). Led color isn't what this post is really about anyway. It's more on the controller and over setup/concept.

[andiok]

If you'll look through threads from the last few years you'll see almost no arrays using cool white, and even fewer that are simply cool white and royal blue. Warmer whites are preferred to get the most out of non-fluorescent colors and to not make the light look as harsh. Lime brightens the light to the eye, which is a big problem in LED arrays, they are more intense than our eyes can see due to the shift towards blue. Blue and violet help fluoresce more pigments than royal blue can alone, and cyan helps bring out non-fluorescent red and orange pigments.

Thanks for your valuable input jedimasterben.

if you dont mind telling me what would be the decent fixture light colors

to have a good growth in a standart 10g

thank you

[land shark]

Thanks for your valuable input jedimasterben.

if you dont mind telling me what would be the decent fixture light colors

to have a good growth in a standart 10g

thank you

Dude there is lots of info on this. Don't be highjackn my thread(not trying to be mean just a joke). Make a thread in the lighting section. Also, sticky's will help.

[andiok]

Never ment to hijack your thread and my question is the same as yours but whatever ... and if there is so much info on this why are you asking then?

[land shark]

my post is about my project not a question. I would like some input on my schematic in terms of functionality though. I think it's correct for the most part.

 

Your question is why to use certain colors in your array right? I think that comes down to preference after you have what your corals need. Take a look at this if you haven't already, Led colors. jedi did just summarize this though. If your asking specifically about a ten gallon and retail fixtures you'll have to see what others are using. I think most retailers have a way to help you with this too. jedi will have more answers.

 

This is for a 3g or maybe a 5g in the future. The Number and color of leds is easily changed as soon as I finish my controller and get it going. I really don't mind you asking here btw, it was just a joke. In terms of my fixture, I haven't completely made a decision on what leds I'm going for but I already have some cool whites and royal blues laying around and my corals have amazing coloration under those.

[land shark]

I am missing decoupling caps. .01uf will be added from vcc to gnd and from aref to avcc. I may also add like a 50uf to 100uf or so from 5v to gnd. Still waiting on some parts and I need to find a 5v wall wort. Will be building soon. Lots of programming to do.

[Legot]

If you're looking for a program to make schematics and layout boards EagleCad is a really good tool. They have a free version for hobbyists. The free one even keeps the Gerber export so that you can send it off for production.

 

One big thing that you missed was the lack of an ICSP header, which you'll need regardless of programming language (unless you buy a 328p with the arduino bootloader pre-installed, in which case you'll just need to breakout the serial bus.

[Mojado]

I assume those caps on your switches are for de-bouncing? Why are they in-line with the switch?

[Legot]

I assume those caps on your switches are for de-bouncing? Why are they in-line with the switch?

 

They're not really necessary since it's just a push button but yeah, they would be for debouncing. They're in series because it makes an RC filter with the internal pullup on that pin. It's kind of weird that the same capacitor isn't used for the switch on the rotary encoder but whatever.

 

Speaking of the rotary encoder, it's not going to work. The inputs to the uC are grounded. Those capacitors on A and B need to go away completely and only the common pin can be grounded

[Mojado]

 

They're not really necessary since it's just a push button but yeah, they would be for debouncing. They're in series because it makes an RC filter with the internal pullup on that pin.

I got a shitty pushbutton on my mame cabinet that I need to de-bounce, so it can happen. Your setup will work for one or two button presses, but once you charge that cap with button presses, it'll stop doing what you intend it to do.

 

 

C*R2 should be ~ 0.05

R2 ~ 0.1Rpullup