DIY ATO with Optical Eyes

[Baseball#27]

Whats up guys? I was wondering if anyone had any experience building your own ATO system with one or more optical eyes instead of floats? If so, if you could give me a little info on how to build one and how much it might cost, that would be great.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Not sure where you would get the optical sensors from.

Is there a reason you don't want to use floats?

 

[Baseball#27]

I think you can find them online

Id rather use an optical eye cause it's more accurate/ more reliable than floats

 

[Instigate]

Not sure where you would get the optical sensors from.

Is there a reason you don't want to use floats?

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=optical+liquid+level+sensor&ref=nb_sb_noss

I was thinking about using them in my DIY ATO but went with floats because they're cheaper and I just put a snail guard around it.

 

[Baseball#27]

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=optical+liquid+level+sensor&ref=nb_sb_noss

I was thinking about using them in my DIY ATO but went with floats because they're cheaper and I just put a snail guard around it.

Thanks for the link, that's really helpful.

 

[geddavis]

I looked onto this and If you know arduino it’s pretty easy to make. Simply power the arduino plug in the 2 input sensors. Then plug in the out put pump. Then simply difine the inputs and out puts and write a short code that powers the pump once the lower sensor is of and stop when the top sensor is on.

Arduino $10-30

Pump $13-20

Wire $10

2 sensors $10-20

Total: $40-60

I’ve done some arduino before

 

[Baseball#27]

I looked onto this and If you know arduino it’s pretty easy to make. Simply power the arduino plug in the 2 input sensors. Then plug in the out put pump. Then simply difine the inputs and out puts and write a short code that powers the pump once the lower sensor is of and stop when the top sensor is on.

Arduino $10-30

Pump $13-20

Wire $10

2 sensors $10-20

Total: $40-60

I’ve done some arduino before

Wow that's actually a really reasonable price for everything and that doesn't seem that hard to make either

 

[Baseball#27]

Did you end up building that or did you go a different route

 

[geddavis]

I got lazy and just bought one on sale. If you want I can do the code for you. Some people get scared of coding but I enjoy it and this would only take me a few minutes.

 

[Baseball#27]

I got lazy and just bought one on sale. If you want I can do the code for you. Some people get scared of coding but I enjoy it and this would only take me a few minutes.

That would actually be fantastic if you could, I'd really appreciate that

 

[geddavis]

Ok just tell me the sensors you get and the pump you get. I can’t Ben just send the code and you can plug in everything and it should work. Also you may want to buy a switch for the pump cord so you can turn it of with out stoping the program.

 

[Baseball#27]

Ok just tell me the sensors you get and the pump you get. I can’t Ben just send the code and you can plug in everything and it should work. Also you may want to buy a switch for the pump cord so you can turn it of with out stoping the program.

Awesome, thank you so much. I'll let you know tomorrow which pump and sensors I'm gonna get. Also, what should I look up to find the pump switch?

 

[geddavis]

Get a 12 volt pump and then just get a small bread board switch like this

 

[Baseball#27]

OK so, I think I'm gonna get two of these optical sensors.

So for the pump, do you think the one you posted would in your prior post would work well? If so, I'll get that one.

 

[geddavis]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AZLA9XQ/ref=twister_B01HD9U8P2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 5
https://www.amazon.com/Anndason-Pie...switch&qid=1552256728&s=hi&sr=1-2-spons&psc=1 10
https://www.amazon.com/Anself-Ultra...s=hi&sprefix=micro+fountain+,tools,231&sr=1-2 10

you could make one for $25. you just get a 5v Power Supply to connect it to 2 float switches and then connect that to a pump. this is also a very safe ATO because it only takes one of the 2 float switches to go off and stop the pump so even if one gets stuck there will be no water on the floor. you can also hook up even more float switches for further redundancy.

 

[Baseball#27]

That option also sounds really good, but I think I want to go with the optical eyes, just cause I think it would be a fun project to work on.

 

[Baseball#27]

Also, if I did the cheaper option with the multiple floats, would I need a line of code for that as well?

 

[geddavis]

no code for the float switches just plug them into the pump's wires. the problem with the sensors is that a bit of tinkering is needed to get the code right. like running different programs and then dipping them under water to see their input is so you can make some more code to interpret the input into output for the pump.

 

[Baseball#27]

I see, in that case i'll just do the floats then cause they seem reliable enough and it would be easier to put together. Thanks for your help!

 

[geddavis]

do you know how to solder because both of these require some soldering? if you don't a cheap soldering iron costs like $10 and it is really easy to learn. also, electrical tape or shrink wrap is a good idea to protect the exposed wire from saltwater.