reef-pi :: An opensource reef tank controller based on Raspberry Pi.

[Ranjib]

3D Printing enclosures is definitely something I'm interested in talking about.

I don't have a printer, but I have a coworker who would be willing to work with me on something like this. He has a couple of printers and likes working on projects like this, so I can make it work.

I figure that I will have to print an enclosure in multiple parts and weld it together due to its size. Another thought I have, that I'd mentioned before, is that I'm considering doing a 2 part enclosure: 1 for the Pi, Power Supply, auxiliary circuitry (5V to 10V converter for the lighting, etc) and a second for the 110v side (connected by a DB15 cable). Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Another thing I'm kicking around in my head is the power supply side. We need 5V for the Pi and other electronics (relays, PCA9685, etc), and 12V for the lighting controller. Has anyone considered just running a 12V supply with a 12v to 5v stepdown converter?

Its not a bad idea to split up the enclosure like that, in fact most commercial controller does that. You have to think about the in between connectors.
I have thought a lot about the PSU in general. And I would love to recommend/use a single PSU that can feed on AC 110v and gives multiple 5v/12v DC output. There are some readily available buck converters for 12v-> 5v conversion, so If you are only considering that part, just search in amazon and get one of those. I am still in dilemma over whether to just use one or two such converter or use something that includes the 110v AC -> 12v DC conversion as well, that will let me get rid of a all power supply , and just use a single AC supply.

 

[Somnifac]

I am still in dilemma over whether to just use one or two such converter or use something that includes the 110v AC -> 12v DC conversion as well, that will let me get rid of a all power supply , and just use a single AC supply.

If I split the AC side from the DC side (with a cable to send power and comm to the relay in the AC side), I'm completely fine with 2 items that need to be plugged into mains power (the 12V adapter w/ a 12v-5v buck converter, and power to the AC relay controlled outlets). In fact, I would probably wire 1 outlet (for a total of 9, 8 on the relay + 1) to be always hot that I can plug the AC side into. That would make for a much cleaner install, w/ only one cord coming out of the stand, all run through a fuse protection (and an inline GFCI).

 

[Ranjib]

If I split the AC side from the DC side (with a cable to send power and comm to the relay in the AC side), I'm completely fine with 2 items that need to be plugged into mains power (the 12V adapter w/ a 12v-5v buck converter, and power to the AC relay controlled outlets). In fact, I would probably wire 1 outlet (for a total of 9, 8 on the relay + 1) to be always hot that I can plug the AC side into. That would make for a much cleaner install, w/ only one cord coming out of the stand, all run through a fuse protection (and an inline GFCI).

yup

 

[Ryan115]

3D Printing enclosures is definitely something I'm interested in talking about.

I don't have a printer, but I have a coworker who would be willing to work with me on something like this. He has a couple of printers and likes working on projects like this, so I can make it work.

I figure that I will have to print an enclosure in multiple parts and weld it together due to its size. Another thought I have, that I'd mentioned before, is that I'm considering doing a 2 part enclosure: 1 for the Pi, Power Supply, auxiliary circuitry (5V to 10V converter for the lighting, etc) and a second for the 110v side (connected by a DB15 cable). Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Another thing I'm kicking around in my head is the power supply side. We need 5V for the Pi and other electronics (relays, PCA9685, etc), and 12V for the lighting controller. Has anyone considered just running a 12V supply with a 12v to 5v stepdown converter?

I went back and forth for a while about running a 12v or 5v supply in my modified relay controlled APC. That would have given me all my power needs in 1 location, and then just have a few jacks for each voltage as needed.

For the time being I am just running a 5v supply internal to power the relays, and a 5v wall wart to power the pi. My plan for lighting control is to see if I just feed the 5vpwm from the pi into the lights and have the full circuit in that housing (mine is going to be a 32" sB Basic).
Hopefully I can use the 12v from the driver to run the circuit and not have to worry about another supply, not sure if it would flicker during power on though. But we will see.

 

[Ranjib]

I went back and forth for a while about running a 12v or 5v supply in my modified relay controlled APC. That would have given me all my power needs in 1 location, and then just have a few jacks for each voltage as needed.

For the time being I am just running a 5v supply internal to power the relays, and a 5v wall wart to power the pi. My plan for lighting control is to see if I just feed the 5vpwm from the pi into the lights and have the full circuit in that housing (mine is going to be a 32" sB Basic).
Hopefully I can use the 12v from the driver to run the circuit and not have to worry about another supply, not sure if it would flicker during power on though. But we will see.

I think the 5v supply won't work for sbreef lights. I have not tested it personally, but I have data from fellow reefers who were tinkering with other DIY led drivers, and it didn't work . No harm in trying it out though, let's see what happens,

 

[HM3105]

If you send me a sketch I will work up a model for you and give it a go!

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:336948

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:957292

 

[Ryan115]

I think the 5v supply won't work for sbreef lights. I have not tested it personally, but I have data from fellow reefers who were tinkering with other DIY led drivers, and it didn't work . No harm in trying it out though, let's see what happens,

Which 5v?
I was thinking of connecting the pwm from the PCA9685 to an internal circuit in the SB. That circuit would be the npn connected to the driver, hopefully using the 12v generated by the driver (stepped down to 10v), and if needed a RC low-pass filter.

 

[Ranjib]

Which 5v?
I was thinking of connecting the pwm from the PCA9685 to an internal circuit in the SB. That circuit would be the npn connected to the driver, hopefully using the 12v generated by the driver (stepped down to 10v), and if needed a RC low-pass filter.

5v pwm thats coming from pca9685, it wont be enough for the sbreef lights, since it expects 10v pwm/0-10v analog.

 

[Ranjib]

5v pwm thats coming from pca9685, it wont be enough for the sbreef lights, since it expects 10v pwm/0-10v analog.

When you say internal circuit , that will convert the 5v pwm signal from pca9685 to 10v using a transistor, is it part of the sbreef light itself? or assembled by you? I am assuming its the second.

 

[Ranjib]

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:336948

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:957292

Neat

 

[Ryan115]

Correct, custom by me.
I am likely going to bread board it together to start. I doubt I will design a PCB for it, so when it is stable, I will probably perma-proto it together.
Hopefully I can make it work with mating connectors to the internal wiring, so it would be a plug and play design for most black boxes.
Do you know if PWM was working on the black boxes, or was a filter needed.
Also, what frequency is reef-pi setting for the pca9685, I see it can range from 24-1526Hz. Just thinking about more tightly tailoring the RC filter for this.

 

[Ranjib]

Correct, custom by me.
I am likely going to bread board it together to start. I doubt I will design a PCB for it, so when it is stable, I will probably perma-proto it together.
Hopefully I can make it work with mating connectors to the internal wiring, so it would be a plug and play design for most black boxes.
Do you know if PWM was working on the black boxes, or was a filter needed.
Also, what frequency is reef-pi setting for the pca9685, I see it can range from 24-1526Hz. Just thinking about more tightly tailoring the RC filter for this.

Starting with breadboard and then transition to perma Porto board is a great strategy. I did the same
Currently reef-pi does not set the frequency for pwm explicitly, so it will be whatever the default it is. I know it can cause some flickering lights f you are taking photos at high shutter speed(if the pwm signal is directly used to boost and power the led), but that was not a issue for me, kessil worked fine, and that’s all I needed. If needed we can certainly make it configurable

 

[Aaron Smith]

I was just wondering. I use wooden case. I am not that great at sketchup/cad softwares :-( . I know there are handful of folks here who has experience in fabrication , may be one of them can lend a hand..

I was just thinking that if you gave me a hand drawing, I would model it in fusion 360 or other and if I could successfully print it I would ship it to you. I figure it is the least I could do for all you have taught! Plus it could be used and modified for others to print.

 

[Ryan115]

Starting with breadboard and then transition to perma Porto board is a great strategy. I did the same
Currently reef-pi does not set the frequency for pwm explicitly, so it will be whatever the default it is. I know it can cause some flickering lights f you are taking photos at high shutter speed(if the pwm signal is directly used to boost and power the led), but that was not a issue for me, kessil worked fine, and that’s all I needed. If needed we can certainly make it configurable

Looks like the default is 200Hz, so then a 10k resistor and a 10uF cap looks like it should work well. (using http://sim.okawa-denshi.jp/en/PWMtool.php)

 

[Ranjib]

Hello friends,
I have published the next release of reef-pi. It has lot more code changes than I initially anticipated. You have to delete old database and recreate equipments and other setting for this release, since the database schema has been changed to accommodate new feature, but I promise you this is worth the effort. This is big release (in terms of number of lines code changes) and likely to have some shaky UI component, which is why I would be very thankful if you can test and give some feedback, they'll be invaluable for 1.0 release.
Here are the summary of changes in this release:
- reef-pi now has a full blown dashboard. With every major modules (ATO/temperature/equipment) having its own dedicated chart in the dashboard. Here is an example: with test data

- The tabular summary section which used to convey reef-pi version, uptime, controller IP, is now available at the bottom of the dashboard in a condensed textual format. Here is an example:

- Individual chart provides relevant information about the subsystem. Here temperature chart shows hourly temperature along side number of minutes heatr or cooler has been turned on by reef-pi (cooler is represented in negative number to provide contrast) . All the charts are interactive, if user hover their mouse over the charts, it will show details

Similar chart for ATO is also provided, along side controller health chart, which shows trend of cpu & memory utilization .

- The settings section under configuration now has a dedicated section on notification settings. This is to allow users specify email details (username, server, port, password, reciepient email etc). Email sending code is already present in reef-pi, but the integration of user specified condition, that will trigger emails are not yet there. So , in its current state it wont be usable, but this is the ground work for configurable email notification that I intend to ship in next release

- Heart beat or health metrics (measure cpu and memory consumption of raspberry pi) is now configurable. If users want, they can disable it from the settings page

- There are numerous small bug fixes (such as rounding error in temperature sensor readings, tab orders, bogus logging statements) that also went in, along side some ancillary API to support the data feeds that is required to power the charts.

Over all I am happy and excited about this release, I can see 1.0 taking shape ,

packages can be found in usual location: https://github.com/reef-pi/reef-pi/releases/tag/0.8

thank you for tagging along , happy reefing

 

[Ranjib]

Looks like the default is 200Hz, so then a 10k resistor and a 10uF cap looks like it should work well. (using http://sim.okawa-denshi.jp/en/PWMtool.php)

Keep us posted how it went. I would love to capture this in the build guide as well

 

[Ranjib]

I was just thinking that if you gave me a hand drawing, I would model it in fusion 360 or other and if I could successfully print it I would ship it to you. I figure it is the least I could do for all you have taught! Plus it could be used and modified for others to print.

That is very nice of you . I am pretty busy with the 1.0 release, and dont need a housing right now, I'll reach out to you soon after the 1.0 release

 

[Ryan115]

Hello friends,
I have published the next release of reef-pi. It has lot more code changes than I initially anticipated. You have to delete old database and recreate equipments and other setting for this release, since the database schema has been changed to accommodate new feature, but I promise you this is worth the effort. This is big release (in terms of number of lines code changes) and likely to have some shaky UI component, which is why I would be very thankful if you can test and give some feedback, they'll be invaluable for 1.0 release.
Here are the summary of changes in this release:
- reef-pi now has a full blown dashboard. With every major modules (ATO/temperature/equipment) having its own dedicated chart in the dashboard. Here is an example: with test data

- The tabular summary section which used to convey reef-pi version, uptime, controller IP, is now available at the bottom of the dashboard in a condensed textual format. Here is an example:

- Individual chart provides relevant information about the subsystem. Here temperature chart shows hourly temperature along side number of minutes heatr or cooler has been turned on by reef-pi (cooler is represented in negative number to provide contrast) . All the charts are interactive, if user hover their mouse over the charts, it will show details

Similar chart for ATO is also provided, along side controller health chart, which shows trend of cpu & memory utilization .

- The settings section under configuration now has a dedicated section on notification settings. This is to allow users specify email details (username, server, port, password, reciepient email etc). Email sending code is already present in reef-pi, but the integration of user specified condition, that will trigger emails are not yet there. So , in its current state it wont be usable, but this is the ground work for configurable email notification that I intend to ship in next release

- Heart beat or health metrics (measure cpu and memory consumption of raspberry pi) is now configurable. If users want, they can disable it from the settings page

- There are numerous small bug fixes (such as rounding error in temperature sensor readings, tab orders, bogus logging statements) that also went in, along side some ancillary API to support the data feeds that is required to power the charts.

Over all I am happy and excited about this release, I can see 1.0 taking shape ,

packages can be found in usual location: https://github.com/reef-pi/reef-pi/releases/tag/0.8

thank you for tagging along , happy reefing

That looks great, I will upgrade this weekend and start testing it out.
One comment to begin with, it looks as though the temperature and the heater/cooler tabs are somewhat redundant, and the 0-100 scale for temp seems as it will smooth out any moderate changes, can that range be changed?.
The works you put into this is astounding. Thank you!

 

[marspeed]

wow moving along at light speed guess I better get off my but and finish my hardware

 

[SanClementeEric]

Really want to have a go at a raspberry pi based project but know nothing about it so following with interest.

Me too!