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

[Erica-Renee]

@Diamond1 i don’t know how these guys stay in business. But I ordered $8 in parts last night at 8pm and they are sitting on my table now. They sent two fedex overnight packages.

Its the LARGE overnight orders from Companies i suspect.. They buy way more parts then they would normally sell . Allowing them to sell at lower prices. Instead of tear pricing they sell some pieces off for a loss to get the BIG Company orders by being able to sell big quantities cheaper .

 

[Ranjib]

Its the LARGE overnight orders from Companies i suspect.. They buy way more parts then they would normally sell . Allowing them to sell at lower prices. Instead of tear pricing they sell some pieces off for a loss to get the BIG Company orders by being able to sell big quantities cheaper .

Wont it cost a lot if they then distribute it in small parts, due to shipping?
This is beyond me...

 

[Erica-Renee]

Wont it cost a lot if they then distribute it in small parts, due to shipping?
This is beyond me...

my guess is they are not selling that many small part orders ... But you could be right . I mean small Quantity orders .I bet not very many people order a few bucks or so worth of parts..

 

[LionHeart2017]

Think it's just business to them, they'll have a contract with the delivery service, can you imagine now a days the amount of deliveries due to internet shopping, it must be phenomenal compared to 15 years ago and delivery companies are bigger than ever

 

[b4tn]

Is it possible that I have a bad ULN2803 or am I not understanding things correctly. I have the chip plugged in to the socket sorted like it is in the guide, it has a solid 12 volts at 0 and com, I verified continuity with all pins to Board to jumpers, and I have verified pi is giving the inputs 3.24 volts that is controllable on or off and working. But the outputs are only going to .56 volts when switched on and .1 volts when switched off. Shouldn’t I be getting 12 volts on the output?

 

[Ranjib]

Is it possible that I have a bad ULN2803 or am I not understanding things correctly. I have the chip plugged in to the socket sorted like it is in the guide, it has a solid 12 volts at 0 and com, I verified continuity with all pins to Board to jumpers, and I have verified pi is giving the inputs 3.24 volts that is controllable on or off and working. But the outputs are only going to .56 volts when switched on and .1 volts when switched off. Shouldn’t I be getting 12 volts on the output?

Share your circuit image. It acts as a sink, so you want to touch 12V+ one end of the multimeter and the ULN2803 output on the other end of the multimeter.

 

[b4tn]

Share your circuit image. It acts as a sink, so you want to touch 12V+ one end of the multimeter and the ULN2803 output on the other end of the multimeter.

Ahh, ok. It’s grounding the output. I was treating it like the input. It works and tested fine. Thanks.

 

[Diamond1]

Yeah those guys are great I've ordered a bunch of stuff from them and haven't been disappointed yet. I got my new Pi and a proto from them this week for less than $35 shipped.

 

[LionHeart2017]

@Ranjib and all who enjoy this thread.

Can we talk battery backup to get into reef-pi at some point and looking at ways to implement it using the raspberry-pi to trigger the back up under mains power going off.

I'm thinking something simple as being able to keep a controlable wave maker that's all ready mains powered running for like 8 hours from a 12v battery, what do you all think?

 

[Ranjib]

I just wanted to say thank you to @Ranjib and all of the other contributors. I have my reef-pi up and running, and coordinating well with my home automation (Home Assistant running on another Pi) to get my 15 gallon nano to follow a Bali, Indonesia reef biotope. I'm working on adding an auto feeder, but for now it's doing everything I need with ATO and Doser peristaltic pumps, a float switch, a Kessil light, wavemaker and temp control. I went with Tuya power strips instead of setting up relays so it stayed compact enough for me to 3D print the housing. I think it's all made a very tidy controller even if it looks like a mess on the inside.

@sfgabe this is a 3d printed housing? If so, do you have the design files somewhere, like thingiverse?

 

[Ranjib]

@Ranjib and all who enjoy this thread.

Can we talk battery backup to get into reef-pi at some point and looking at ways to implement it using the raspberry-pi to trigger the back up under mains power going off.

I'm thinking something simple as being able to keep a controlable wave maker that's all ready mains powered running for like 8 hours from a 12v battery, what do you all think?

We are having a discussion here already: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/reef-pi-new-daugther-board.478458/#post-5359595

 

[Erica-Renee]

@sfgabe this is a 3d printed housing? If so, do you have the design files somewhere, like thingiverse?

I just created a account on there. Will soon start working on designs for my reef-pi project.. @Ranjib once i get this 3d modeling thing all worked out . Or a logo you want .. we can work to get them in your hands.. I now have the 3d printer and for your maker fairs.. I can print and send you any Vinyl cut lettering or decals you need ( i have a vinyl cutter/ plotter machine) . If you are still doing those. It cost nothing to print the product as the equipment was bought and paid for to do other projects.. ..

 

[pdisner]

I'm not sure if the 2.2k would work or not.
I got one of these from amazon. I don't think I'll be running out of resistors any time soon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0792M83JH/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Awesome thanks for posting that.

 

[sfgabe]

this is a 3d printed housing? If so, do you have the design files somewhere, like thingiverse?

Yes, though it's very much V1. I can already see some thing that should be changed, but I can put it on thingiverse tomorrow for anyone who wants to make their own version.

 

[Ranjib]

Yes, though it's very much V1. I can already see some thing that should be changed, but I can put it on thingiverse tomorrow for anyone who wants to make their own version.

Yes please, and tag it with #reef-pi

 

[Erica-Renee]

Yes, though it's very much V1. I can already see some thing that should be changed, but I can put it on thingiverse tomorrow for anyone who wants to make their own version.

please do . i will look for it as it might help me with creating what i have in my mind . I am VERY NEW to 3d modeling . and i learn by example .. on there i am erica renee as as well ..

 

[Erica-Renee]

Yes please, and tag it with #reef-pi

i think on there we might be able to create a reef-pi community.. i will check into this tomorrow.. I am right now working on design for my water level probes

 

[Ranjib]

I just created a account on there. Will soon start working on designs for my reef-pi project.. @Ranjib once i get this 3d modeling thing all worked out . Or a logo you want .. we can work to get them in your hands.. I now have the 3d printer and for your maker fairs.. I can print and send you any Vinyl cut lettering or decals you need ( i have a vinyl cutter/ plotter machine) . If you are still doing those. It cost nothing to print the product as the equipment was bought and paid for to do other projects.. ..

Totally. I am definitely planning for next year's MakerFaire as well. We have a tiny local reef-pi community here that convenes around reef-pi MakerFaire stall . I think with 3d printer, we should be able to make the housing lot more compact and get rid of standoffs (like the monting holes can be raised by design, all we'll need is M2.5 screws/nuts. There are other contraption I would like to print, like probe holder, mounting braces for dosing system etc. Totally looking forward to this. I'll be changing my apartment next month, hopefully the next place will have a place for a printer.

 

[Erica-Renee]

Totally. I am definitely planning for next year's MakerFaire as well. We have a tiny local reef-pi community here that convenes around reef-pi MakerFaire stall . I think with 3d printer, we should be able to make the housing lot more compact and get rid of standoffs (like the monting holes can be raised by design, all we'll need is M2.5 screws/nuts. There are other contraption I would like to print, like probe holder, mounting braces for dosing system etc. Totally looking forward to this. I'll be changing my apartment next month, hopefully the next place will have a place for a printer.

If you have not already . From my experience . (being a 2d cad user) setup a account with autocad fusion 360 and start learning the modeling program.. If you do not get a 3d printer by then we can all work on printing your desired designs for you and ship them. It would be a honor to do so.. AS FAR as like Advertisement and billboards for your booth . I can cut vinyl lettering or vector graphics for you on the vinyl cutter ( I bought this because i did not want to pay 2 grand per van to have my vans done) Its actually not complicated . We can help you shine and gain more support for this project.

its the least we can do .. THanks

i am off to bed Bonnie is yelling Erica come to bed NOW.. Happy Wife happy life apples to us all .. hehe

 

[pdisner]

Ok posted earlier that I was having some trouble getting started. I have a Raspberry Pi 3 model (and an Arduino Uno). I’ve been thru the documentation on git hub and Adafruit. I desperately want to get the easy stuff out of the way so I can order some more parts, as I’m unsure exactly what I need at this point. For sure I would like to start with temp and ph and a camera. The camera I’ve been playing with to try and get working with ReefPi, but just get errors when going trying to install. That’s not my main problem. My main issue is not making progress past a certain point. My last post I was having issues but figured out it was probably because I checked the dev_mode button or whatever it’s called. I know that has to do with interfacing with other shells. Hopefully you guys can get me past this next problem.
So here’s where I’m at. I got past a few hurdles. One was that I couldn’t get ssh to work with putty. I still can’t. So I used VNC. Was this the right thing to do? I figured it was because it gave me outside network access as well as solved connection issue. So then after many attempts and mistakes, I was able to go thru Ranjibs walk thru nicely to the point of the second test. I was so happy to get the first one working, but second test not so much. I set up everything as per instruction and double triple checked the basic wiring. Nothing happens when I use the slider control. Also, the camera wont work as well. When I setup and test I get these error messages. I’ve checked to make sure the camera was enabled in my raspi config file.

I will try to just move past that and learn about other features and progress you’ve all made. I think this is great. I want to order more supplies and some of the sensors. Other than temp I would be able to have more than just one probe. Besides getting resistor set from the awesome link above and some temp probes, what else should I start with? I think right now I’m too new to decide on an inexpensive way I can use the outlets. I’ll probably add a set of really to the list for sure. Is there anything else you guys recommend that is not on the Adafruit list?