Reef Pi, on a wish and a prayer!

[PaulJ2303]

Hi,
I've decided to have a go at building a reef pi monitoring system, here we go

So I've just bought a raspberry 3b+ and installed raspbian on it. i then installed the reef pi software on top of that and following the adafruit guide it all went surprisingly well, I've attached a pic of my pi making an LED flash.
Ok i am aware that most of the guys that have gone through this will not be impressed, but for me the fact that i can sit on my couch and turn an LED on and off with my phone is the coolest thing in the world ;Happy

 

[PaulJ2303]

I'm still in the testing and playing with it stage so forgive me for the breadboard wiring.
here is a pic of my temperature sensor correctly sensing data and displaying it on my phone. again how cool is that!

 

[b4tn]

Welcome to the reef-pi club! I did the same thing as you. I built, tested, and rebuilt over several times so that I understood what was going on before putting everything all the way together. Its a pretty accomplishing feeling

 

[Taxus812]

Im thinking of doing the same. I have two Pi's stitting next to me holding my desk down. I just want to be able t0 use a touchscreen like my 3d printer for software programmed buttons like feeding. That would put the PI over the top for me.

 

[PaulJ2303]

Im thinking of doing the same. I have two Pi's stitting next to me holding my desk down. I just want to be able t0 use a touchscreen like my 3d printer for software programmed buttons like feeding. That would put the PI over the top for me.

Well the reef pi software works and looks great on my phone. When I've finished the build I'll be able to turn my pumps on and off and stuff like that from my phone .. which is a touch screen and remotely too. . Is that what you meant ?

 

[Taxus812]

This is the pi I’m using to control my printer. It has a 5” touchscreen with The software button I spoke about. I tend to not have my phone anywhere near the tanks when doing maintenance. I can picture that screen mounted in the cabinet with a few buttons or a small status. Also my wife could feed the fish

 

[PaulJ2303]

Nice looks ready good. Quite the professional touch. I see what you mean now.

Edit: and you're right a simple interface

 

[Ranjib]

Yay

Hi,
I've decided to have a go at building a reef pi monitoring system, here we go

So I've just bought a raspberry 3b+ and installed raspbian on it. i then installed the reef pi software on top of that and following the adafruit guide it all went surprisingly well, I've attached a pic of my pi making an LED flash.
Ok i am aware that most of the guys that have gone through this will not be impressed, but for me the fact that i can sit on my couch and turn an LED on and off with my phone is the coolest thing in the world ;Happy

Yay . totally know that feeling . Godspeed, #reefpi

 

[PaulJ2303]

baby steps i know, but here is the pi wearing it's new hat:

 

[PaulJ2303]

now it's kind of bedded in i've decided to move onto the next steps

eventually i want to get to this:
2x Temperature probes
8 Power controller
3 dosing pumps
a PH probe ... because you just can't have too many measurements
and hopefully some ATO control

just for now my next step I want to try and fit the power controller and the dosing pumps one this one Pi
any advice as to how to proceed would be great

 

[hockeyhead019]

Looking good! That's about what I have planned for my build but I cheated and bought one of the reef-pi boards that a member has created. Always fun messing with stuff on bread board to make sure you undestand it.

 

[Ranjib]

With 3.0 coming in we can have wifi smart powerstrips doing the power control (and eneregy monitoring). Just another option , other than the existing ADJ 8 channel power strip or Scratch build using relays and receptacles.

 

[Michael Lane]

A single reef-pi can handle all of those functions. Here's what I think would be needed for the next steps.

You'll need to decide on what you will use for outlets.

• ADJ SRP8 is nice because of the enclosure. It requires 8 gpio, a ULN2803, and a source of 12v.
• Relay board and DIY outlets. Specifics will depend on the relay board, but they can sometimes work directly from gpio without an additional chip.
• Smart Powerstrip is cool because it doesn't need any wiring, but it depends on a reliable wifi network.

There is also some variability for dosing pumps.

• Modify an existing dosing pump (I'm using a jebao dp3s with dp4s being added soon). It can be cheaper than buying individual peristaltic pumps and includes an enclosure
• Custom build using individual peristaltic DC pumps offers more flexibility, but more work. There are a few ways these can be driven.
• Custom build using stepper motors would offer better accuracy, but is more complicated circuitry.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Please don't think I'm being dickie. There's some devices out there will read, temp, ph, salinity, etc... but you go to the cloud then your phone. No routers involved. Does reef pi, provide that too? Please help

 

[Michael Lane]

reef-pi doesn't depend on the cloud, but there are some cloud integration possibilities. I think reef-pi is best suited for a local home network (wired or wireless). It is also possible to set up reef-pi without a network just by connected a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

reef-pi doesn't depend on the cloud, but there are some cloud integration possibilities. I think reef-pi is best suited for a local home network (wired or wireless). It is also possible to set up reef-pi without a network just by connected a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

Instead of monitor, keyboard, and mouse, for monitoring can you setup a tablet? Thx

 

[Michael Lane]

A tablet would work, but would probably require a local network.

 

[Ranjib]

Instead of monitor, keyboard, and mouse, for monitoring can you setup a tablet? Thx

You can use anything that has a browser (safari, chrome, firefox, etc), which includes laptop, computer, tablet, phone.. its just a website thats running in your home network. Let's not derail this thread, please ask your question in the main thread or start a separate thread

 

[PaulJ2303]

A single reef-pi can handle all of those functions. Here's what I think would be needed for the next steps.
You'll need to decide on what you will use for outlets.

• ADJ SRP8 is nice because of the enclosure. It requires 8 gpio, a ULN2803, and a source of 12v.
• Relay board and DIY outlets. Specifics will depend on the relay board, but they can sometimes work directly from gpio without an additional chip.
• Smart Powerstrip is cool because it doesn't need any wiring, but it depends on a reliable wifi network.

There is also some variability for dosing pumps.

• Modify an existing dosing pump (I'm using a jebao dp3s with dp4s being added soon). It can be cheaper than buying individual peristaltic pumps and includes an enclosure
• Custom build using individual peristaltic DC pumps offers more flexibility, but more work. There are a few ways these can be driven.
• Custom build using stepper motors would offer better accuracy, but is more complicated circuitry.

Thanks for the reply Michael.

As I'm in the Uk i wouldn't be able to use the 'ADJ SRP8' as it has different plugs and for the life of me i haven't been able to source a UK alternative. so my instinct is to go with a relay board and DIY outlets. i already have a 'ULN2803' sitting here on my desk so i'd like to use that if possible. as far as dosing pumps are concerned the 'Jebao dp3s' is a very good idea that i'm definitely going to use (Thanks)

so where to start? The saying goes that "discretion is the better part of valour" so as I'm going to be going "off plan" so to speak i'm beginning to wonder if this may be a little beyond my very basic skills and knowledge.
I notice you @Michael Lane sell some reef-pi hat's ... would one of your hat's fit my bill?

thanks for any help guy's

 

[PaulJ2303]

With 3.0 coming in we can have wifi smart powerstrips doing the power control (and eneregy monitoring). Just another option , other than the existing ADJ 8 channel power strip or Scratch build using relays and receptacles.

Hi Ranjib just noticed your post,
as an addendum to what I've said to Michael I've Just taken a quick look at these power strips on google it may well be the way to go they aren't that expensive either