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

[wykat]

SMT soldering will be significantly harder for most DIY folks, I worry.
Any reason to not use the adafruit pca9685 breakout board? I could understand rolling pca9685 in the board if we are doing all the other things as well. Or you are planning to stack these hats ?

Present solution is thought to stack each board on top of each other, meaning PI -> HAT -> PWM -> ....
Of course you can use different connectors (pitch 2.54mm/0.1inch) and use cables.

Technically it should be possible to use a breakout board, but height may be an issue when stacking on top of the PWM board. Unfortunately I can't find my breakout board.

I've asked in the past about priorities such as size, connectors and water but never got any reaction on it, so I had to make a decision. It will always be simpler to make it bigger later, but first I want to test the design, then the PCB's should be ok.

 

[wykat]

First PCB's should arrive on Tuesday :)

 

[wykat]

Due to the present discussion about size, connectors, etc. Following proposal, I'll create a 'I2C distribution board'. Then each PCB doesn't need to be stacked but can be connected to (a) distribution board.

Any proposal for which connector?

 

[Ranjib]

Due to the present discussion about size, connectors, etc. Following proposal, I'll create a 'I2C distribution board'. Then each PCB doesn't need to be stacked but can be connected to (a) distribution board.

Any proposal for which connector?

its just two pins right ? just provide two male header pins, and users can connect them with jumper wires

 

[Jason mack]

Hello , just got my first raspberry pi +starter kit .. so I will be reading through this thread and hoping too get some good ideas on how too use it ..

 

[Ranjib]

Hello , just got my first raspberry pi +starter kit .. so I will be reading through this thread and hoping too get some good ideas on how too use it ..

Check out the guides at http://reef-pi.com , they are streamlined and probably easier to follow than this thread

 

[Jason mack]

Check out the guides at http://reef-pi.com , they are streamlined and probably easier to follow than this thread

Thanks @Ranjib .. good too know!!!
So far I’ve only got this , but ordered a 7 in touch screen .. to go with it

 

[Ranjib]

Thanks @Ranjib .. good too know!!!
So far I’ve only got this , but ordered a 7 in touch screen .. to go with it

very nice.
You'll need some ancillary electronics to setup any specific reef-pi modules (like temperature monitor, or power bar, or kessil controller etc)

 

[Jason mack]

I have 3 apps on my phone 2 for lights and my coral dosing pump , I want too run these apps along with my seneye reef on it,

 

[Ranjib]

Just finished coding the ui support for updating connectors . Inlet, outlet , jack are now editable , users will be able to update existing connectors from ui . I think I’ll do the same for equipment and timers and then cut the next beta

 

[Erica-Renee]

Just finished coding the ui support for updating connectors . Inlet, outlet , jack are now editable , users will be able to update existing connectors from ui . I think I’ll do the same for equipment and timers and then cut the next beta

Please do not Discriminate against Dosing pumps . Thank you

 

[wykat]

its just two pins right ? just provide two male header pins, and users can connect them with jumper wires

No the boards require 5 wires (12V, 5V, GND, SDA and SCL). I've used 6 pins so far as I believe they are easier to get then 5 pins. I prefer to offer female connectors since they offer 12V and 5V power supply which I prefer not to have 'open' on a male connector.

 

[MaccaPopEye]

No the boards require 5 wires (12V, 5V, GND, SDA and SCL). I've used 6 pins so far as I believe they are easier to get then 5 pins. I prefer to offer female connectors since they offer 12V and 5V power supply which I prefer not to have 'open' on a male connector.

I'm not sure if there is a reason not to, but in my mind it would be better to separate the 12V and 5V from the other pins? Have a separate input for 12V and a separate input for 5V then just use 3 header pins for the others?

 

[Brad Cox]

First PCB's should arrive on Tuesday :)

Where can i order one?

 

[Ranjib]

Hello hiveminds,
I have cut a new 2.0 beta release for reef-pi just now. This release bring loads of new features and some bug fixes. Some major changes include:
Features:

• Macro sub-system
• All connectors (jacks, inlets and outlets) and equipment are now editable via UI
• reset password through command line
• light profiles (diurnal, auto and manual)

Bugfixes:

• pca9685 allows all 16 channels

Some other technical chores:

• Better error messages in UI
• Dashboard configuration moved to dashboard itself
• Navigation UI overhauled
• edit/update button alignment across all module UIs

Release builds can be found in usual location: https://github.com/reef-pi/reef-pi/releases/tag/2.0.0-beta-7

Please help us testing out the 2.x beta builds, every bit of testing would help/benefit rest of the community. I don't expect many big breaking changes after this. I'll work on some validation and editable timer/doser next, but dont expect those to break anything existing. In short, this is very much what the final 2.0 release will look like, except with bug fixes (if we find any).
I believe you'll like the UI better, I am overhauling the UI as part of 2.0 release, and I think now its nearing completion. The navigation /tabs have refreshed look now, configuration tab is little bit different (and I hope you all like it better).
Theres a command line way to reset password now, this should help get out of those tricky situations where you lost the password, without erasing the whole database.
The macro feature is perhaps the most powerful feature I have implented in reef-pi till now. I expect it to evolve a lot, but even the basic implementation that we have now should unlock lot of new use cases. I'll make follow up posts on it as I run it through my builds..
happy reefing

 

[wykat]

I will await the arrival of the first 2 boards and if they're ok I will order this PWM module for testing :cool: (the strange text behind 'Detected' in the 1st picture is from the PDF converter). The board size is 56x85mm, should fit on the PI HAT and cost for 10 of these PCB's is 1.73 Eur ex shipment from supplier.

You only have to populate the resistors, transistors and connectors for the number of PWM signals you need ;)

 

[wykat]

I'm not sure if there is a reason not to, but in my mind it would be better to separate the 12V and 5V from the other pins? Have a separate input for 12V and a separate input for 5V then just use 3 header pins for the others?

If you separate the power supply then it will become very difficult to connect the additional 12V, 5V and 3! GND signals to the present board designs!

 

[Rob Wheatley]

Hi Ranjib
Will the beta7 install over the top on beta6 or does it need removing first?

 

[wykat]

Where can i order one?

Let me first test it ;)

 

[Ranjib]

Hi Ranjib
Will the beta7 install over the top on beta6 or does it need removing first?

you dont have to remove the old one, you can directly install the newer releases

sudo dpkg -i <new reef-pi>.deb