Reef-PI_<PCB's>

[wykat]

Just uploaded a preliminary document I made for the v0.2 layout but the changes to v1.0 are minimal. On page 6 chapter 3 you can see location of pin 1. It should also be written on the silk screen:

after installation of the PCA9685 I recommend to test for any potential short cuts and if ok run an i2cdetect test. It will give a random i2c address since the resistor array is still missing but you can see if the chip is working. I didn't solder the J1 pins, just inserted it with some pressure from the side with some external wiring to the Reef-PI_HAT and that worked for me.

 

[buddy.]

Thanks @wykat that is excellent! One other thing is the voltage reg, is i required to be fastened to the PCB with a screw after soldering?

 

[wykat]

No, no need to use a screw. I didn't have one on my first prototype. There is also no cooling function on the PCB as the max current for 16 channels is just 160mA (10V/1K per channel)

[Edit]small note on the documentation, in chapter 7 below table 9: checklist the remarks *1 and *3 are reversed since the text RN1 has moved to the opposite side in PCB layout v1.0 because RN1 now indicates the common power to the Resistor Network[/Edit]

 

[cooltowncorals]

Following will use in my board is there a preferred vendor? Awesome stuff

 

[wykat]

Following will use in my board is there a preferred vendor? Awesome stuff

Not sure if I understand y0ur question
For the bare PCB boards I now use PCBWAY.com Previously I used JLCPCB.com, but after 1 shipment went completely wrong and no real support I changed to PCBWAY. both companies are ok with the zip files. The nice thing with JLCPCB is that you can verify the gerber files in the zip files online. PCBWAY checks offline but more precise.
For the components there are links in the Bill Of Material (.csv files). Most components I source from MOUSER, tried Digi-key once but that went completely wrong because of customs. MOUSER add's VAT for the specific country they ship to, Digi-key doesn't so you may end up with custom problems but if not it's probably cheaper.

 

[cooltowncorals]

Yeah poorly worded question for sure. I was wondering about the boards PCBWAY sounds good thanks for the response. Have you figured out an average build cost with components?

 

[wykat]

Yeah poorly worded question for sure. I was wondering about the boards PCBWAY sounds good thanks for the response. Have you figured out an average build cost with components?

That's a difficult question to answer due to following parameters:
1) Shipment costs
1a) for bare PCB's the cost of the individual boards is the same for 10 as for 1, the main cost driver is the shipping cost
1b) when you order components at mouser (I believe >60Eur to Austria) then shipment costs are for free. When below I believe it was around 30Eur just for shipment.

2) Ordered quantities
There are big component cost differences based on ordered quantities. So if you just order 1 component for 1 board, it's definitely much more expensive then if you order a larger badge either for multiple boards or for different boards (e.g. capacitors, resistors, transistor, etc.)

theatrus once gave a nice link were he calculated the PH board components, never used that link myself but probably will do in the future

Thanks for the Mouser BOM - I took your part selections and dumped them into OctoPart:

https://octopart.com/bom-tool/CcN6mMHD

Outside of the ICs, most of the parts can of course be second/third/fourth sourced from the manufacturer of your choice depending on stock.

 

[Diamond1]

@wykat is there a building guide for the PWM board like you have for the HAT?
I mainly just need to know the orientation of the SMD chip. Thanks!

There should be a small dot on the corner of the chip that tells you where the number 1 pin is.

 

[rushbattle]

I’ll check screamingcircuits.com this week, they have pretty reasonable pricing.

I never did this because it’s just cheaper to buy the PCA9685 breakout board for uses of the pwm signal directly. Like the Blueacro drivers. I apologize if others were looking forward to seeing the results.

 

[wykat]

I never did this because it’s just cheaper to buy the PCA9685 breakout board for uses of the pwm signal directly. Like the Blueacro drivers. I apologize if others were looking forward to seeing the results.

eehh, just the breakout board will not help you. Yes will be interesting how buddy. comes along.

 

[Diamond1]

@wykat I'm having an issue getting my dosing pumps sorted out.
I can't separate them from both running at the same time.
I have checked my wiring and it looks fine nothing is reversed and the L293D is oriented correctly according to the silkscreen layout on the pi hat. I was able to set up the ghost equipment outlet and can get both pumps to run in different directions. The problem is getting them to run separately. I noticed that in your build guide you use GPIO 18 and the @Ranjib guide uses both 18 and 19. I have tried doing it both ways with GPIO 18 being the only one that will run the pumps. Selecting GPIO 19 from the jacks section has no effect on running either pump.
Is there something I'm missing in the software or something in the wiring?
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[wykat]

@wykat I'm having an issue getting my dosing pumps sorted out.
I can't separate them from both running at the same time.
I have checked my wiring and it looks fine nothing is reversed and the L293D is oriented correctly according to the silkscreen layout on the pi hat. I was able to set up the ghost equipment outlet and can get both pumps to run in different directions. The problem is getting them to run separately. I noticed that in your build guide you use GPIO 18 and the @Ranjib guide uses both 18 and 19. I have tried doing it both ways with GPIO 18 being the only one that will run the pumps. Selecting GPIO 19 from the jacks section has no effect on running either pump.
Is there something I'm missing in the software or something in the wiring?
Any help would be appreciated.

Unfortunately I can't copy the table here, but have a look at the HAT documentation 1.1 chapter 5.3. I may need to look into how Reef-PI controls the dosing motors because if I recall correctly I tested them as relay function.
Basically GPIO 18 just enables/disables the 2 interfaces. Motor #1 is controlled via GPIO13 and 14, motor #2 via GPIO15 and 16.

 

[Diamond1]

Unfortunately I can't copy the table here, but have a look at the HAT documentation 1.1 chapter 5.3. I may need to look into how Reef-PI controls the dosing motors because if I recall correctly I tested them as relay function.
Basically GPIO 18 just enables/disables the 2 interfaces. Motor #1 is controlled via GPIO13 and 14, motor #2 via GPIO15 and 16.

Ok if I understand correctly.

I enable the L293d with GPIO 18 and have the pumps set to a constant on state in the dosing tab, using GPIOs 13, 14, 15 and 16, I can control each pump's direction and speed with the equipment tab and then use timers to control the on off times and duration.

 

[Matt Carden]

Ok if I understand correctly.

I enable the L293d with GPIO 18 and have the pumps set to a constant on state in the dosing tab, using GPIOs 13, 14, 15 and 16, I can control each pump's direction and speed with the equipment tab and then use timers to control the on off times and duration.

Why does each pump need 2 signals?

 

[Diamond1]

Why does each pump need 2 signals?

That's what Im trying to figure out.
With @wykat 's board there's only one GPIO pin (pin 18 uses pwm) for dosing control and it seems both pumps are controlled with relays or timers in the reef-pi software.
In @Ranjib 's build he used both the pwm pins (18 and 19) to control dosing pumps via the dosing pump tab. Each pwm pin controls one of the pumps and can be controlled independently through the dosing tab.

 

[Diamond1]

The 4 GPIO pins used in wykats build can control the pump direction as well.

 

[Matt Carden]

That's what Im trying to figure out.
With @wykat 's board there's only one GPIO pin (pin 18 uses pwm) for dosing control and it seems both pumps are controlled with relays or timers in the reef-pi software.
In @Ranjib 's build he used both the pwm pins (18 and 19) to control dosing pumps via the dosing pump tab. Each pwm pin controls one of the pumps and can be controlled independently through the dosing tab.

That would make sense

 

[wykat]

That would make sense

This was an old discussion with @Ranjib as the circuitry at that time used 2 GPIO ports for each motor whereas Ranjib confirmed that Reef-PI only supports 1 direction for dosing. At that time I followed the 2 GPIO per motor with the capability of different directions and separate enable/disable signal. This is one of the things I would like to change as it could release 3 GPIO ports for Reef-PI_HAT v2 (for additional dosing motors and/or ATO interfaces). Nevertheless by controlling the signals via the relay function you can use 2 directions.

 

[Diamond1]

@wykat

This is what I've been doing to get the dosing pumps separated.

I set up 2 dosing pump profiles in the dosing pump tab. Pump 1 turns on at 5 mins after after the hour and runs for 15 seconds and pump 2 turns on at 10 minutes after the hour and runs for 20 seconds.
I have timers set up to turn pump 2 off at 5 minutes after the hour so only pump 1 runs.
At 10 minutes after the hour I have a timer set to turn pump 1 off so only pump 2 runs.

Is this how this was intended to work?
It seems to be the best solution I can find for separating the pumps. I can adjust the timers, duration and speed of the pumps individually to get the correct dosing amounts of 2 part that I want.

 

[wykat]

@wykat

This is what I've been doing to get the dosing pumps separated.

I set up 2 dosing pump profiles in the dosing pump tab. Pump 1 turns on at 5 mins after after the hour and runs for 15 seconds and pump 2 turns on at 10 minutes after the hour and runs for 20 seconds.
I have timers set up to turn pump 2 off at 5 minutes after the hour so only pump 1 runs.
At 10 minutes after the hour I have a timer set to turn pump 1 off so only pump 2 runs.

Is this how this was intended to work?
It seems to be the best solution I can find for separating the pumps. I can adjust the timers, duration and speed of the pumps individually to get the correct dosing amounts of 2 part that I want.

Sounds ok to me, that's how I had tested the motors as my headless PI was around 20 meters from my PC, so this was the easiest way to test.