The DIY Aquarium Controller

[Andrewalex11]

I was already thinking of building something like on the Arduino but didn't start it yet so here's a list of things I was thinking of including in my design maybe you would like to borrow some:

Measurements / Probes

• ph
• Salinity
• ORP
• Water Flow
• Temperature
• Water Level
• Current Draw
• CO2
• Smoke
• Leak

Triggers (Controls)

• Relays (12v / 24v for DC equipment such as solenoids) (110v / 230v for AC equipment)
• RGB Controller
• Voltage Regulators / Dimmers (For varied flow pumps)

Interfaces

• GSM
• Wifi
• Ethernet
• USB

Extras

• Inverter 12v -> 110v / 230v to connect a battery backup system

From here the options are basically limitless

Good luck!

The possibilities are definitely limitless but the absolute most important thing is the accessibility from anywhere. (The internet) from what I've learned so far it's definitely best to get that down first.

 

[Dylan Grech]

Good luck!

The possibilities are definitely limitless but the absolute most important thing is the accessibility from anywhere. (The internet) from what I've learned so far it's definitely best to get that down first.

Yes definitely. I'm a system architect by day in a marketing agency and can appreciate maybe more than others having an easy to use and well polished web interface

 

[Ranjib]

huzzah

So last night instead of working on the user interface I was really eager to get some more nerd work done. This is an example of how a 74HC595N can be used in conjunction with a micro-controller to shift out data. This register has 8bits to it so it is essentially a single byte of data. In the picture above there was a test number of ' 250 ' shifted out in bits to the register. As you can see it was a success and now instead of these red LEDs I can start giving the sensors their own numerical address in the program which will make it really easy to shift through them at a fast rate. But you also see that there's still many ports still open on the micro-controller which allows for really significant space saving which will get us closer to that credit card sized outcome that we want.

 

[Ranjib]

@Andrewalex11 I am stoked to see this project. Best of luck and keep us updated. I am doing something similar with raspberry pi, but watching something with huzzah is really delightful. Let there be more feathers!
Is this an open source project or a commercial product?
This is awesome, either way!
Do you plan to use one huzzah or one controller for multiple things? or dedicated ones ..like temp controller, ato that will bring down the cost and form factor a lot

 

[Andrewalex11]

@Andrewalex11 I am stoked to see this project. Best of luck and keep us updated. I am doing something similar with raspberry pi, but watching something with huzzah is really delightful. Let there be more feathers!
Is this an open source project or a commercial product?
This is awesome, either way!
Do you plan to use one huzzah or one controller for multiple things? or dedicated ones ..like temp controller, ato that will bring down the cost and form factor a lot

Thank you! To answer your questions, yes I do intend on making this project open source! If there were anything commercial about the project it would wind up being breakouts for people who are interested in using the libraries to piece together their own IoT based Aquarium Controller.

The idea is indeed to pack as much as possible into a single huzzah, waste no space. I am actually in the process of planning out the relay module as we speak.

 

[Andrewalex11]

Hello all it has been a while I have had a lot of work to do in relation to life, school, work, and of course my own reef! This project has swallowed up some decent quality time I like to spend taking care of my reef, so I'm taking this weekend off from the project but on Monday will jump right back on and continue with a few new things:

1. The ESP8266 Module unfortunately never really intended for home-brew engineers like myself has create very difficult challenges to over-come. But lazy people are the best, because they always find an easier way to solve a problem! And that fortunately is how I plan to overcome these difficulties. I will be upgrading to an ESP32. Now some of you non-engineer folk have no idea what that means, the only thing that it really means is that my problems will be solved, AND by default the ESP32 WiFi module has Bluetooth built in. So I guess I'll be incorporating bluetooth functions in the future!

2. The sensors are done! We've got temperature, pH, EC, water level and all of those fun things out of the way.. Really not difficult stuff. So it's time to move onto our next phase which is taking control remotely! I will be working on a 4 socket relay box starting this week to be controller via. the web app! Maybe even have some parameter settings like switching a certain relay on and off if the temperature gets too high etc.

3. The final stage of the AquaBox will be underway! A Box design, putting all the graphings and modules together, creating a PCB, and finalizing the web app.

Whats next?

After that my bite-sized open source mini-aquarium controller is essentially complete and I will be moving onto the next project! Which will be....A super small bite-sized I'm talking the size of half a credit card ATO.

Will the AquaBox be done for good?

Absolutely not theres still more sensors and fun add-ons I plan to put into it. I have not let the requests for dissolved oxygen, room-CO2, and ambient temp/humidity go un-noticed. I just wanted to get the most basic Box done first!

 

[R_C]

This is a great project. Following!

 

[Andrewalex11]

I probably should wait until I link all the content together but incase I forget to make an update post you can check back on the progress via the AquaBox's new website!

I know it's not the prettiest web-page and the site is far from done BUT I just want to get the link out there like I said incase I forget to update this post here on R2R. I should have the source code and parts list done by monday!

aquabox.us

 

[Ranjib]

keep it up @Andrewalex11 . I just received my adabox 4, soon i'll be testing it out

 

[Andrewalex11]

Omg the AquaBox is ressurected???

No way Josè I've just been busy as hell, I am a full time college student, veterinary technician on the weekends supporting my family after my service in the marine corps, and I have recently put together the plans to buy a new house! So things are getting out of control here.

On top I have to take care of my own reef guys don't think I'm just on R2R to just make this awesome DIY Controller and that's it!

But this is my week off and I have/will continue to re-visit the AquaBox project this week to update y'all on some progress!

What's new?:

New sensors, replacing all the shorted out broken parts, in running a 330ohm resistor groun-side on the temperature monitor because running it straight blew it out the last time.

New webApp I liked the ability to access the JSON easily via p5js But I'm going to change to a MUCH nicer interface using jQuery, CSS3, and HTML5.

I finished an entire module that acts as a universal wave-maker for ANY power head that is static. Ex: Hydor, or crappy eBay powerheads

Stay tuned I'll be hitting this thread up with some new posts soon.

Oh and changes.

- No more EEPROM memory everything will be online saving lots of space on the physical device I don't know if y'all have ever seen an EEPROM but they are huge 40 pin chips.

- No more addressing to sensors, its un-needed though I may revisit in the future.