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

[DeeEmm]

https://raspberrypihq.com/use-a-push-button-with-raspberry-pi-gpio/#:~:text=Connecting the Raspberry Pi's general,pin 1 using a resistor. does this help? you can also search for how to connect float switches to pi. or check the design of dfrobot's photoelectric sensor breakout board.

It's more of a software question than a how to connect the wiring question.

- If the software uses the internal pull UP resistor, I will need to ground the input to give it a state change
- If the software uses the internal pull DOWN resistor, I will need to raise the input to vcc (with a current limiting resistor) to give it a state change
- If no internal pullups are set in software than I can use an external pull up or pull down resistor and the above cases will apply, (except that the on and off signal will only be correct in one case.)

BTW, I'm not using any hats / shields breakout boards, I want to connect direct to the GPIO

The physically connecting part is easy.

But what Reef Pi does with the result is unclear.

From your example I assume that you are using the internal pull-down? Is that correct?

/DM

 

[Des Westcott]

I suspect one of the sensor probes "latched up" and held the bus, so none of the remaining sensors could respond. Killing the power fixed it of course.

You could use a Raspberry Pi GPIO pin to control the power to the sensors so you can at least soft restart it when it does fail. Normally, the Maxim sensors shouldn't do this (they can only hold the bus for short bursts).

Well it happened again that I lost all my temp sensors. Luckily there was someone at home and I asked them to do a "Widows reset" - turn everything off and then back on again and it seems to have corrected itself again. I'm seeing feeds back in AIO. When it happened last night, the heaters were off, so my temp dropped about 2 degrees C, this time it looks like the heaters were on and the temp rose by nearly 1.5 degrees C, despite getting alerts that he temp was out of range (0 deg C)

So my question is :- Is this likely a hardware issue or software? What steps can I take to prevent it happening again? Replace sensors? Create a backup SD? Do a clean install and keep as a spare?

I've had no problems with this for a year, now it's done this twice in less than 24 hours.

 

[theatrus]

I've had no problems with this for a year, now it's done this twice in less than 24 hours.

Suspect that the water sealing crimp on a sensor has given out. Replace would be my call.

 

[DeeEmm]

Suspect that the water sealing crimp on a sensor has given out. Replace would be my call.

Sounds likely if a DS18B20 sensor is being used as the bus controller is integrated, if it gets wet then the whole bus will go down.

It surprises me that there is no watchdog / bus check implemented. It should be possible to monitor the bus status before transmitting / receiving to detect bus issues. Some automatic recovery may then be possible with an auto reboot. Even if bus status is not available to the Pi, it should be easy to set up a simple change monitor function. the DS18B20 has a 12 bit resolution I would expect that the value would be different every time you read it.

Other solutions might be to allow for more than one input parameter into the ATO function, a second identical redundant I2C network could then be used. A failure in one network would then not result in a loss of control. (if sensor1 < temp OR sensor2 < temp then heater ON)

OR use of a hardware watchdog such as a CAT1161 timer or even something like the 'Super-Watchdog'.

Home, Industrial & Building Automation I/O HATS for Raspberry Pi

Home, Industrial & Building Automation for Raspberry Pi Isolated digital inputs & closure counters from 3V to 250V Analog inputs for voltage, resistance and temperature measurements Relays & solid state outputs up to 40A/240V AC/DC loads 4-20mA & 0-10V I/O's for industrial sensors and actuators...

sequentmicrosystems.com

I think that some form of system integrity checking is critical for any control system, especially one where it is possible to end up with a situation like Des has with temp increases due to a failed temp sensor / control bus.

/DM

 

[theatrus]

I think that some form of system integrity checking is critical for any control system, especially one where it is possible to end up with a situation like Des has with temp increases due to a failed temp sensor / control bus.

Strongly agree. At the minimum, we should look at using multiple 1-wire buses if the Linux kernel driver supports it, which prevents one failed sensor dominating the bus. That would be simple for most people to build into their setups. I haven't dug into the kernel driver to see if it supports that, or how special the devicetree support in the RPi kernel is (which the RPi kernel is many levels of special :))

 

[Ranjib]

Strongly agree. At the minimum, we should look at using multiple 1-wire buses if the Linux kernel driver supports it, which prevents one failed sensor dominating the bus. That would be simple for most people to build into their setups. I haven't dug into the kernel driver to see if it supports that, or how special the devicetree support in the RPi kernel is (which the RPi kernel is many levels of special :))

kernel supports multiple 1 wire gpio pins, if thats what you are asking,

 

[theatrus]

kernel supports multiple 1 wire gpio pins, if thats what you are asking,

It is :) Probably the best recommendation for reliability would be enabling multiple pins?

 

[Ranjib]

It is :) Probably the best recommendation for reliability would be enabling multiple pins?

I dont know.. i have to think about this, specifically the failure conditions. I hear your suggestions.. but i dont know yet if thats all we have to consider. More research on my end i guess :-)

 

[robsworld78]

It is :) Probably the best recommendation for reliability would be enabling multiple pins?

I've setup 3 buses on Pi 3 and 4 with no issues, was too easy.

Multiple 1-Wire Buses on the Raspberry Pi · The Odd Bit

The DS18B20 is a popular temperature sensor that uses the 1-Wire protocol for communication. Recent versions of the Linux kernel include a kernel driver for this protocol, making it relatively convenient to connect one or more of these devices to a Raspberry Pi or similar device. 1-Wire devices...

blog.oddbit.com

 

[DeeEmm]

I like the idea of multiple busses along with additional ATO logic, Whilst this does mean that the users has to create the additional redundant network, it opens up the possibilities of more complex control schemas.

At the moment we only have

IF THIS THEN THAT

What we really need is

IF THIS AND / OR THIS THEN THAT

Then just set up two temp probes, each on a different bus. Problem solved.

It also means that the system degrades nicely. i.e. there is no loss of control of the system (i.e. the heater) in the event of a single temp probe failure or single bus issue. This is basically how a safety PLC works.

You can use the same control logic to implement redundant control for any connected device, not just heaters and temp probes. E.g. redundant float control for ATO, redundant Ph control, in fact redundant control for any device or control schema.

Plus there's the added bonus of more complex control schemas that would be available with the additional ' AND / OR THIS ' logic.

 

[Des Westcott]

Suspect that the water sealing crimp on a sensor has given out. Replace would be my call.

Will set to that then

 

[DeeEmm]

Does Reef-Pi use the internal pull-down for GPIO inputs?

 

[stefanm]

I thought this might be helpful if you're facing any issues with reef pi.

I had a few things that wouldn't work as they should, no issues with the hardware. I was in the verge of wiping the sdcard and reinstalling, the pi has been running for for around 20 months, I felt the software had been corrupted.

So instead of removing the card and doing it all again, I decided to try updating the raspberry pi os, it worked a treat and no need to reconfigure anything.

I guess that the power cuts we have had which the battery backup has run out (around 10 times) had corrupted the os.

 

[Bigtrout]

I thought this might be helpful if you're facing any issues with reef pi.

I had a few things that wouldn't work as they should, no issues with the hardware. I was in the verge of wiping the sdcard and reinstalling, the pi has been running for for around 20 months, I felt the software had been corrupted.

So instead of removing the card and doing it all again, I decided to try updating the raspberry pi os, it worked a treat and no need to reconfigure anything.

I guess that the power cuts we have had which the battery backup has run out (around 10 times) had corrupted the os.

Take a look at my build thread somewhere I have instructions for adding a Real Time Clock board. This helps with corruption issues from power outages/internet outages. Sometimes raspian gets wonky when file timestamps dont match. Without a RTC if raspian comes up without internet, it wont be able to get the correct time.

Since adding the RTC i have not had an issue, going on 1.5 years now and we get power outages and internet outages regularly in the woods of NW Pennsylvania.

 

[Ranjib]

Does Reef-Pi use the internal pull-down for GPIO inputs?

Nope. We don’t set any pull up/down internally via code.

 

[Ranjib]

Take a look at my build thread somewhere I have instructions for adding a Real Time Clock board. This helps with corruption issues from power outages/internet outages. Sometimes raspian gets wonky when file timestamps dont match. Without a RTC if raspian comes up without internet, it wont be able to get the correct time.

Since adding the RTC i have not had an issue, going on 1.5 years now and we get power outages and internet outages regularly in the woods of NW Pennsylvania.

Might be useful: https://learn.adafruit.com/adding-a-real-time-clock-to-raspberry-pi

 

[Yov]

@Ranjib is there a way to control servo motors from the reef-pi?

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib is there a way to control servo motors from the reef-pi?

Not yet. But this was something I wanted to get done for 4.0 :-/, along side stepper driver

 

[Ranjib]

Not yet. But this was something I wanted to get done for 4.0 :-/, along side stepper driver

Something I forgot to mention, it’s relatively easy to control servo with pi, https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruits-raspberry-pi-lesson-8-using-a-servo-motor?view=all , and though we don’t have any direct integration with servo in reef-pi yet, it should be possible to do an indirect integration using the file driver. Reef-pi can output (jack or outlet ) state to a file and and external python script can read that file and do the required servo work , as described in the adafruit guide.

 

[Yov]

I would like to use it in a macro to open or close my top lid of the terrarium. This contains al the electronics and i use the heat to warm the terrarium, but in case things get to hot it would be nice to just open the lid to vent! (Like in green houses)