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Coral Vue Hydros

ReefBuddy DIY Aquarium Controller $89


hcsceo

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How are you going to hold them down? Did it come with a vacuum table, t-slots or anything? This is something that I've always grappled with.

 

dave

 

 

I haven't got that far yet. It came with some clamps that screw into the top and various places. I think the guy before me used them to hold down the PCB's.

 

 

 

 

 

OK I got it put back together tonight and hooked everything up and..... It works!! There is a problem with the top as it is warped. I think the guy must have stored it with something sitting on it. I'm going to have to replace it with something and was thinking aluminum but I might end up with another wood top or ordering some really thick plexi that might be more stable. For those interested here are some pics with my first run with the sharpie.

 

photo-21.jpg

 

photo-22.jpg

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If you are going to use the top as a tooling plate, use MDF. It's super cheap and easy to work with. I'd put an MDF tooling plate over an aluminum bed plate if I were going to do it.

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Steve,

 

Exciting project, thanks for all your great work!

 

I have an unusual need, which I expect will require custom coding. I'm a software developer, so I can write the code, but do you think your controller will be able to be programmed to do what I need?

 

I want the controller to turn on a dosing (feeding) pump three times per day for seven days (21 total iterations) but run for a longer time each iteration. After 7 days I want it to start over and do the 21 iterations again. I can either explicitly supply each of the 21 durations, or add some custom code that provides a function, based on the iteration number, to calculate the number of seconds to run the dosing pump for each iteration. It would be nice to enable the display to tell me the number of iterations left in the cycle.

 

Am I correct in assuming that this can't be done with your controller out of the box, but that I can easily customize the open source code to enable the controller to do this?

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Steve,

 

Exciting project, thanks for all your great work!

 

I have an unusual need, which I expect will require custom coding. I'm a software developer, so I can write the code, but do you think your controller will be able to be programmed to do what I need?

 

I want the controller to turn on a dosing (feeding) pump three times per day for seven days (21 total iterations) but run for a longer time each iteration. After 7 days I want it to start over and do the 21 iterations again. I can either explicitly supply each of the 21 durations, or add some custom code that provides a function, based on the iteration number, to calculate the number of seconds to run the dosing pump for each iteration. It would be nice to enable the display to tell me the number of iterations left in the cycle.

 

Am I correct in assuming that this can't be done with your controller out of the box, but that I can easily customize the open source code to enable the controller to do this?

 

Yes this shouldn't be a problem at all. You're right ours won't do it out of the box but you should be able to easily code that to work. Just add a counter to 21 adding time to each pass reset to 0 after it reaches to 21 and start again. I think it is very straight forward. Once our code is released you will see how to do it. The difficulty is that our IO ports run off of port expanders so there it is a little bit different to access each output than standard arduino pins.

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...you should be able to easily code that to work. ...Once our code is released you will see how to do it.

 

Great! In reality I need to turn more things on and off than just the dosing (feeding) pump to deal with my feeding cycle. Are each of the four AC outputs independently controllable? how many amps (at 110 Volts) can I draw from each AC output? How many amps total for all four? Any issues about motor startup (soft start?)?

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Great! In reality I need to turn more things on and off than just the dosing (feeding) pump to deal with my feeding cycle. Are each of the four AC outputs independently controllable? how many amps (at 110 Volts) can I draw from each AC output? How many amps total for all four? Any issues about motor startup (soft start?)?

 

yes each is independantly controllable. I'll have to get back to you on the amps as I don't know off the top of my head. Soft start is controlled by the optocoupler and it senses zero cross over and switches the triac at that time. This is the same way I believe the other soft starts function for AC. In testing I've had no issues with inductive devices locking up the triac.

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Could this aquarium controller run a couple of koralias. Using PWM to slow down the pumps but not completely stop them(for use as a wave maker).

No this controller will not be able to do this. On and off is the best we can do.

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How are you planning to waterproof your temperature sensor ?

 

 

For now I'm using some Uragel I have laying around and just dip it in it to coat it and the connections with. When complete I'll be ordering temp probes premade for the DIY kits.

 

 

 

Update for everyone.

 

Firewolf4 and the programmer and working fevorishly on the project. I can't thank Firewolf4 enough for all his help. Without him we would have had a lot of issues with the PCB. He is currently cleaning up my schematics and working on the layout.

 

I'm still working on setting up the CNC for rapid prototypes of the board. I've installed limit and home switches over the weekend and ran a sample test to verify everything. I've got some aluminum tool plate coming in for a PCB work surface and a new spindle designed for engraving that has almost no runout. This should allow us to get to the tolerances we need for the project.

 

Steve

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Are you going to be making all the PCBs yourself or just the protos and send out the final?

 

For now just the prototypes will be on the CNC and the first 10 units sent out for testing. Once we are completely satisfied with the design and there is enough interest I'll be sending out for a large batch. How many we get on the first batch will depend on you guys. I'd like to order at least 100 units including electrical testing, silk screen, soldermask, etc. Because this is open source we are jumping through hoops to make the design "buildable" by anyone including the PCB. With the design we are going for, you should be able to make a one off PCB via toner transfer method or on your own CNC if you like. If there is not enough interest to warrant having the PCB's made then I'll make them one off for people on the CNC.

 

Steve

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How many we get on the first batch will depend on you guys. I'd like to order at least 100 units including electrical testing, silk screen, soldermask, etc.

 

Count me in for a proper PCB.

Also, i am more of a planted tank fan, so if you need beta-testing or modifications for freshwater systems, give me a shout, i am reasonably experienced with circuit designs.

 

Thanks, Matt

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I just ordered my Arduino hardware in today and I found this thread. Just my luck. I'm not a candidate for Beta testing since I'm just getting my reef planned out. Count me in for the final kit.

 

Its amazing what a tight community this is to get something like this done. Awesome!

You should at least put up a Paypal link so we can buy you a Starbucks or a beer. I'm sure you guys have put in plenty of late nights.

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I think i might be interested in being a tester. Just pm when they are ready in case i forget to check here. Looks like you might have a big hit with the online reefing community once it is made!

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Big update:

 

OK guys we've made a huge change to the project. We have changed the processor from the ATmega328 and moved to the ATmega644p. The ATmega644p is still compatible with Arduino, however the bootloader is designed by another group. This change basically doubles everything, IO's, RAM, ROM, Speed, etc. Although we could have finished the project with the ATmega328 it was becoming very clear that it wasn't going to leave us any room for future expansion the way we wanted. This new design will leave several Digital and Analog IO's available for future upgrades along with a ton more code space and processing power for larger and more complex systems. The schematics are complete as of yesterday and the pcb is going through another redesign to accomodate it. Bear with us as we didn't make our Sept 1 deadline but we are very close.

 

Steve

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Wow! Very cool project.

 

Now the problem is that projects like these get me into trouble... I love this stuff. And since I have (or will have soon) controllers on both of my present tanks, I would have to put another tank together to get one of these. :D

 

Brandon

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Can the new chip be fitted into an existing arduino?

if not will the rest of your electronics be compatible or will there be some slight vlaue changes to make it fit.

In particular im interested in your swtiching circuit and probes.

I had half built my controller when i came across this site, then decided to hang fire on getting more parts until you released your design and code to try and make it fit my LCD, and RTC.

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Can the new chip be fitted into an existing arduino?

if not will the rest of your electronics be compatible or will there be some slight vlaue changes to make it fit.

In particular im interested in your swtiching circuit and probes.

I had half built my controller when i came across this site, then decided to hang fire on getting more parts until you released your design and code to try and make it fit my LCD, and RTC.

 

No the new processor cannot fit on an arduino. It is physically larger and has more pins. All circuits that go into the processor will still be able to carry over to a standard arduino. Even the 5v regulated power is identical. Because we changed processors the code will be slightly different but should be easily modifyable to the standard arduino board. The biggest problem you will have to overcome is code space. One of the reasons we switched was simply that the ATmega328 is just too underpowered. The Arduino Mega is very nice, but expensive and doesn't allow for DIY of the entire controller as it is SMD. The ATmega644 is the largest ATmega processor that is still in DIP format and offers a very good compromise to the Arduino Mega. Anyone interested in this processor should search for Sanguino and all the information is listed there.

 

Steve

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neanderthalman

SMD can be soldered @ home, especially on a milled board. Easy as pie.

 

1 - apply a little heat and solder to one leg and the matching pad on the board.

2 - place the SMD component in position, and reheat the soldered leg. Remove heat, and repeat as necessary if it moves.

3 - Gob solder down the opposite side of the original pin. Don't worry about bridging the pins - you will fix it later. Once hard, gob more solder on the same side as the original pin.

4 - Use desoldering braid or wick, and remove the excess solder, one side at a time.

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The problem with SMD in this situation is you're looking at incredibly small pin spacing for the average hobbyist

to assemble. Yea, I can do solderpaste and throw the unit into a reflow oven but very very few people have access to that type of equipment.

If this were to be a manufacured design that would be mass produced, then I would've opted for SMD. Pick and place, reflow and even overall size would be significant cost reduction over through-hole design. The typical assembler of these units will be running with a cheap 10 dollar solder iron from Radio shack, the wrong solder (not eutectic 37/63 .031" diameter or less) from their kitchen table. They will be impatient and bridge around 40% of the connections. They will immediately want to power the unit up blowing it up, risking shock and fire. For those reasons, SMD design is not advised.

 

Russ ( Yea, I'm the one doing the CAD work on the schemes and boards)

 

 

 

SMD can be soldered @ home, especially on a milled board. Easy as pie.

 

1 - apply a little heat and solder to one leg and the matching pad on the board.

2 - place the SMD component in position, and reheat the soldered leg. Remove heat, and repeat as necessary if it moves.

3 - Gob solder down the opposite side of the original pin. Don't worry about bridging the pins - you will fix it later. Once hard, gob more solder on the same side as the original pin.

4 - Use desoldering braid or wick, and remove the excess solder, one side at a time.

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Out of total curioisty,

the stats "seem" almost the same on the arduino mega,

the clock speed, memory everything but the number of pins.

What am I missing, why is it better ?

I know the code can easily be ported and I'm wondering,

I'm not against the change by any means.

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