Arduino powered diy sea sweep! Oscillating wavemaker diy!

[mstockmaster]

There's a member of my local club with an absolutely beautiful tank. I went and visited and found that he had his power heads mounted on some device that would oscillate them back and forth. This inspired me to work on doing something similar. I eventually settled on using an arduino to control a small hobby servo which my wavemaker would be attached to.

The beautiful thing about arduino is that I was able to program multiple modes.

First mode is a simple sweep back and forth. Maximum and minimum angles are set within the programming. The speed of the sweep is controlled by a potentiometer.

Second mode is a sweep and pause at each end. The wavemaker sweeps back and forth with a pause at each end that can vary from one second to one minute. The pause length is controlled by the potentiometer.

Final mode is a "point" mode. This allows me to point the power head in any direction by using the potentiometer. Handy for blasting something specific.

If anyone wants code I can share it. YouTube video will follow once it's finished uploading.

 

[domination2580]

How much total cost did this cost?

 

[mstockmaster]

The arduino and servo together were about $30. I had most of the other materials already. The only other things I needed was the potentiometer, some switches and a piece of acrylic.

 

[mstockmaster]

A 12 x 12 sheet of 3/8 acrylic is about $20 on Amazon. You can make like 5 of these with that amount of material.

 

[mstockmaster]

 

[hollback]

Looks great Mark! What size Jebao do you have running on it?

 

[mstockmaster]

Thanks, also thanks for the inspiration! It's a pp8

 

[Ranjib]

great hack! love it

 

[ihavecrabs]

Thanks, also thanks for the inspiration! It's a pp8

Are you worried about the back magnet of the pp8 causing issues since it likely isn't designed to be waterproof? Or did you do something to encase it?

Awesome job on the build too. Looks very cool.

 

[Kunkymonkel]

Pretty sweet idea

 

[mstockmaster]

Are you worried about the back magnet of the pp8 causing issues since it likely isn't designed to be waterproof? Or did you do something to encase it?

Awesome job on the build too. Looks very cool.

No, not really any concern. The magnet assembly itself is actually the same as the front magnet. The sticker is fine for underwater exposure from what I've read. I've seen a number of people using the magnet to mount it to an overflow.

 

[ihavecrabs]

No, not really any concern. The magnet assembly itself is actually the same as the front magnet. The sticker is fine for underwater exposure from what I've read. I've seen a number of people using the magnet to mount it to an overflow.

Thanks for the response

 

[domination2580]

Would you be able willing to post where you got all the parts?

 

[mstockmaster]

www.amazon.com

Elegoo EL-KIT-004 UNO Project Basic Starter Kit with Tutorial and UNO R3 for Arduino https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DGD2GAO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_eNZBAb0CH0PV0

LewanSoul LDX-218 Full Metal Gear Standard Digital Servo with 17kg High Torque Dual Ball Bearing for RC Car Robot (Control Angle 180) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072KCZXNW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_aOZBAbAECBDV6

In order to replicate what I did you'll also need a piece of 3/8 cast acrylic, 3 toggle switches, and a 10k potentiometer.

 

[mstockmaster]

www.amazon.com

Elegoo EL-KIT-004 UNO Project Basic Starter Kit with Tutorial and UNO R3 for Arduino https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DGD2GAO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_eNZBAb0CH0PV0

LewanSoul LDX-218 Full Metal Gear Standard Digital Servo with 17kg High Torque Dual Ball Bearing for RC Car Robot (Control Angle 180) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072KCZXNW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_aOZBAbAECBDV6

In order to replicate what I did you'll also need a piece of 3/8 cast acrylic, 3 toggle switches, and a 10k potentiometer.

Oh, also used a 9 volt wall wart power supply that I had hanging around.

 

[Ranjib]

Thank you for sharing the parts list. The servo you are using is pretty powerful, I think it can easily control a kessil. A diy version of focustronic style light should be possible with this

 

[mstockmaster]

Thank you for sharing the parts list. The servo you are using is pretty powerful, I think it can easily control a kessil. A diy version of focustronic style light should be possible with this

Definitely, in fact you can combine two servos to create a two dimensional pattern. Or even mount the servo on a rail and power it with a stepper motor and you can make the light move back and forth over the tank.

 

[Greef_in_the_Reef]

Awesome build! I’ve got a few Arduinos laying around and a bunch of servos from R/C airplanes I fly. which servos are you using? Obviously hi-torque?

 

[TheEngineer]

Awesome! I'll be interested to hear your long term success with it. The downfall of the seasweeps and similar devices all seem to be the off-axis loading on the drive mechanism from the pumps.

 

[mstockmaster]

Awesome build! I’ve got a few Arduinos laying around and a bunch of servos from R/C airplanes I fly. which servos are you using? Obviously hi-torque?

It's listed in one if my posts above. Yes it's high torque, but honestly it's not really necessary. It only really needs enough torque to turn the powerhead in the water.