Reef-Pi Controllers: New all-in-one with power bar, and the original Pico

[theatrus]

Very nice
You have any specific use case in mind? Like how the level information will be used for specific any user-facing features?
Im curious i2c vs usb. Is it due to speed? Why JST connector for sensor? They are kinda pain to plug/unplug.

USB due to autodiscovery and finished wires already being made. Pis already have four ports, let’s use them

I’d like to monitor and graph the remaining levels of ATO and two part on a nano build I’m doing now, possibly with an alert when they get low. We can see if it’s sensitive enough to detect clogged overflow weirs as well.

The JST XH is due to that being the connector already attached to the level sensor modules.

 

[Trickman2]

USB due to autodiscovery and finished wires already being made. Pis already have four ports, let’s use them

I’d like to monitor and graph the remaining levels of ATO and two part on a nano build I’m doing now, possibly with an alert when they get low. We can see if it’s sensitive enough to detect clogged overflow weirs as well.

The JST XH is due to that being the connector already attached to the level sensor modules.

I am going to have to agree on the USB. The more USB and plug and play. The more people this project will reach out to.

 

[dmolavi]

Having USB would be awesome, esp since Pi already supports 4 ports.

Edit...level sensing would be great. I hate that grinding sound the osmolator pump makes if I forget to top off...

(Previous comment made pre coffee haha)

 

[dmolavi]

Since my BuildMyLED takes 0-10VDC from a manual dimmer, this board should be able to handle it.

My last question (posted in the main reefpi thread) is the ReefBrite strip. Gotta figure out if their control module will work. The image on their site doesn't match what BRS shows on their page. I think it's just a physical interface thing - RB claims it will do 0-10V dimming (doesn't mention PWM, so i'm assuming it's not) - but the interface to the dimmer is the question mark. Is it RJ45 or 3.5mm...and if it's RJ45, i'll have to cobble together some adapter...

 

[dmolavi]

Hmm...google is wonderful. Looks like I might be able to get their dimmer, and cobble up something like this to interface to ReefPi (obviously with a female RJ45)

Edit -
Grrr more googling turns up this:

That's for a Kessel (not ReefBrite, obviously), but identifies the tip/ring/sleeve connections, vs just sleeve and tip as shown in the other image...

I'm guessing I need to go with the second one, not the first...unless the 3rd connection is a don't care, since RB doesn't have separate spectrum control.

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

I've got 4 usb ports on my pi3, I can test whatever you need tested. Maybe we can tie dosers into the usb ports which could make the pi3 and pico board setup more capable.

 

[dmolavi]

Didn't intend to crosspost, but I'm guessing the Atomic Pi (www.atomicpi.org) won't work, since it only has 26pin GPIO, not the extended 40 on the standard Pi?

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

Oops. I shared wrong pin map. That was for my uln2803 based build. Here is the correct screenshot

I had to go with this pinout for my ADJ strip to work.

 

[theatrus]

Didn't intend to crosspost, but I'm guessing the Atomic Pi (www.atomicpi.org) won't work, since it only has 26pin GPIO, not the extended 40 on the standard Pi?

There would also need to be kernel and embd drivers for the GPIO on this. You'd also need to remember to compile reef-pi for x86/x86_64

 

[dmolavi]

There would also need to be kernel and embd drivers for the GPIO on this. You'd also need to remember to compile reef-pi for x86/x86_64

Wouldn't the distro handle the drivers?

 

[theatrus]

Wouldn't the distro handle the drivers?

Yes and no. Reef-Pi uses https://embd.kidoman.io/ as the GPIO abstraction, and would likely require a driver for that driver + any cleanups in the reef-pi code that is assuming RPi only.

 

[theatrus]

Doing some case fit checks

Going to have to move those level switch LEDs a bit closer together, and bump the pressure sensor away from the wall.

 

[dmolavi]

The rev D boards seem pretty stable..haven't seen many issues reported here...is this an accurate assessment?

 

[theatrus]

The rev D boards seem pretty stable..haven't seen many issues reported here...is this an accurate assessment?

The only major reported issues have been 0-10V being 0-11V, and the pinout differing from the Kessil

 

[Ranjib]

The only major reported issues have been 0-10V being 0-11V, and the pinout differing from the Kessil

If I understand correctly the ato sensor need some addition circuit , and that’s as expected ?

 

[theatrus]

If I understand correctly the ato sensor need some addition circuit , and that’s as expected ?

For the optical cheap sensors yes. The DFRobot board is still needed. Mechanical switches would work directly.

 

[dmolavi]

With a Pi3, a ribbon cable is needed right? I'm guessing this won't fit in your case. Is there a suggested case for this configuration?

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

With a Pi3, a ribbon cable is needed right? I'm guessing this won't fit in your case. Is there a suggested case for this configuration?

I used the case recommended in the adafruit guide. It helps to flatten it though.

 

[dmolavi]

I used the case recommended in the adafruit guide. It helps to flatten it though.

Thanks. What's the bit to the right of the ribbon?

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

Thanks. What's the bit to the right of the ribbon?

The secondary board for the optical sensor