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

[janos]

One more thing i forget to mention,the negative from PCA9685 need to connect to LED negative

 

[sfgabe]

Im just looking for a camera that can take a pic 3 times a day. Not active monitoring.
But the raspberry pi camera cable is to short and i would like to use a usb camera instead

I use this HDMI extension for the Pi camera - https://amzn.to/2QcPn05

It works on my reef-pi build, but it's better on a dedicated motioneye pi zero (streaming, etc)

 

[Garold R Seifert]

@Ranjib I can help test. I use it for my lights and on my tank for ato and temperature. And will be getting ph soon hopefully

 

[Bigtrout]

Hive mind,
Thanksgiving is approaching and I am planning out reef-pi 3.0 final release. Lot has been done since last thanksgiving and I want freeze new feature development and spend the rest of the time from now on to fix the UI, sort out the bugs and updating documentations. Basically focus on stabilizing and polishing whatever we have built as of now. Sadly, I have to pause the development of clustering feature, its not coming in 3.0. I have some code for it, but still lot needs to be done, and I think it risky to focus on those bits with such shorter time frame for final release.

Following is the final list of features I am planning fold in for 3.0 release.

- Hardware Abstraction layer . pH board driver, Pico base board driver, Kasa smart outlet with energy monitoring driver
- Ability to control equipment with pH reading
- Ability to trigger macros using timers
- One and two point calibration across pH and temperature sensors
- Custom PWM profiles for light and wavemakers (lunar cycle, sine curves, fine grained 15 min interval linear profiles etc)
- Ability to send notification to multiple email addresses
- Ability to use PCA9685 for outlet controls
- Prometheus integration, for more sophisticated metrics retention and charts/dashboards
- Internationalization (french, german, chinese, spanish and several other languages)

Other than the above mentioned software features, this year I'll also be releasing non-electronic, mechanical component designs. Namely,
- 3D printable designs for all standard enclosures (single module and all in ones)
- 3D printable designs for peristaltic pumps
- 3D printable designs for various contraptions, like float switch holder, submersible pump brackets, media cabs for HOB filters etc
I dont know how extensive the coverage will be. But expect most main features (ato, temperature, power, ph, light etc) will be available as both single module as well as AIO mode, and probably with pi zero as well as pi 3A+ or pi 3 B. I have already release 70% of these. I'll consolidate and improve them in the coming days, till the final release.

Last but not the least, documentation. I plan to amend the adafruit tutorials with new things. In most cases I'll include multiple alternatives. But how expansive they will be Im not sure, as they take quite some time. But I think its ok if I add the alternate bits after release, and just update the guides to 3.0 screenshots/steps by the time of release.

Let me know yours thoughts.

Using the pca9685 for outlets really is big. Alot of advantages, frees up gpio, eliminates the need for a uln2803, and could conveivable let you add as many outlets as the i2c bus could handle. No having to solder up a uln2803 on a perf board which is great for people without soldering equipment or skills. This makes reef pi even more "plug and play"!!!

 

[Ranjib]

Using the pca9685 for outlets really is big. Alot of advantages, frees up gpio, eliminates the need for a uln2803, and could conveivable let you add as many outlets as the i2c bus could handle. No having to solder up a uln2803 on a perf board which is great for people without soldering equipment or skills. This makes reef pi even more "plug and play"!!!

with 12V relay, I think we will still need the uln2803. pca9685 is 5V only. It does opens up the possibility of whole lot more outlets.

 

[Bigtrout]

with 12V relay, I think we will still need the uln2803. pca9685 is 5V only. It does opens up the possibility of whole lot more outlets.

Yes but going forward the same types of relay boards are available in both voltages for someone planning a new build...
It just gives someone alot more options when planning a build.

 

[Ranjib]

Yes but going forward the same types of relay boards are available in both voltages for someone planning a new build...
It just gives someone alot more options when planning a build.

Agree. I was thinking for in the line of ADJ powerstrip. With scratch builds, the options are infinite :-) . There are 5V peristaltic pumps as well, i think it will be a simpler build based on 5V 4A power supply. The only missing piece will be 10V kessil controller. This is something i want to address.. may be with custom LED and meanwell powersupply that can take 5V pwm control signal.

 

[janos]

And do not forget Ranjib not everybody can afford Kessil light.When we chose to build DIY controller,we try to build everything DIY.And the ADJ is expensive if you can buy,but you could build cheaper for your self.Maybe not a nice setup my Reef-pi the first was working for 2 year long without a hick up.

 

[Tihsho]

Anyone run into issues with Etcher killing SD cards? Pulled my ASUS Tinker Boards out last night to setup some mini servers to host a database that I'm going to try to tie in to my application and when I went to boot them it seemed that the previously flashed SD cards had somehow got boot sector errors. Went and reflashed them with Etcher with their latest Tinker OS Debian release and ended up getting consistent flash failures. Tried another SD with the same error. Also, ran into an issue where the micro SD would get into a 'locked' state even though I was using a USB adapter to flash them rather than an SD card adapter that contains the silly little lock toggle. Solution to that was to move from one USB port to another, though the flashing process seemed to have messed with the SD cards state. These micro SD's are maybe over a year old and were stored in the Tinker Boards that I had stored in ESD bags when they were not in use.

Thoughts on issues?

 

[BenB]

Is there a good write-up anywhere on setting up a float sensor? I've seen a few posts from @Bzar on the topic that had some useful info, but nothing in one place.

Edit, never mind, found what I wanted! Here it is, for anyone else looking to implement a failsafe:

That is interesting, I like to make a physical button to turn on/ of a pump/light
If you make a physical button, how do you work this out in the configuration tab?? And how to make the settings to turn on/of a pump/light?? Do you use the equipment tab?? How to connect the inlet with the outlet?

 

[Tihsho]

You would use this to trigger a voltage drop or addition which you'd have to code to then be a software switch.

 

[ambientaquatics.adam]

I have built the doser found Here and was wondering how I would expand it to monitor temperature and pH? I originally built it to be a standalone but with support for the wifi power strips coming I feel like I could just add the probes and then use the power strips instead of building a relay. @Ranjib

 

[BenB]

You would use this to trigger a voltage drop or addition which you'd have to code to then be a software switch.

Have a button as an inlet, and be able to switch an outlet with reefpi. Maybe this is not possible now and does it require additional code?

 

[Tihsho]

I'm not sure if this is built into ReefPi currently as I'm not running the package on my Pi/Tinker board cluster. But programming a trigger button should be trivial.

 

[Schreiber]

with 12V relay, I think we will still need the uln2803. pca9685 is 5V only. It does opens up the possibility of whole lot more outlets.

Personally, I've never used the whole uln2803 setup. The 5V relays are much easier to work with in my opinion.

 

[Ranjib]

Personally, I've never used the whole uln2803 setup. The 5V relays are much easier to work with in my opinion.

Agree. ADJ SRP8, 12V dc peristaltic pump, 12V submersible pump and 12V LED moonlight were my main reason to go with 12V based setup. I also learned, we can get lot more power from 12V compared to 5V. The lm2596 converters and most proto boards have limits of 3A or less current, which mean with 5V you can only use upto 15 Watts, while with 12V you can easily do a 36 Watts setup. Its not required in most cases, but just a point to remember.

 

[Michael Lane]

I have built the doser found Here and was wondering how I would expand it to monitor temperature and pH? I originally built it to be a standalone but with support for the wifi power strips coming I feel like I could just add the probes and then use the power strips instead of building a relay. @Ranjib

You have the right idea. You can expand your doser build to include temperature by following the temperature guide.

 

[Ranjib]

@Michael Lane i need couple of ph boards, you plan to restock them any time soon ?

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib I have been running 2.2 for a long time now. I just upgraded to 2.5 and now my LEDs will not dim all the way to off. I then installed 2.4 and still could not dim to off. I installed 2.3 and this time i could dim to off.
Im using a PCA9685. Is there any change from 2.3 to 2.4 that you think would be causing this?

There was some really bad bug that was introduced in 2.1 and later , I fixed some of it , the on /off special case is still not fixed. I ll be fixing it before 3.0.

 

[Ranjib]

I have built the doser found Here and was wondering how I would expand it to monitor temperature and pH? I originally built it to be a standalone but with support for the wifi power strips coming I feel like I could just add the probes and then use the power strips instead of building a relay. @Ranjib

I am using ato like this. It’s been working for two weeks now. But I am still concerned about connection related issues . In case of doser though , I think it’s safer