Few questions

R

Rob Wheatley

New member
Hi, been looking at different options for a controller for my tank and I'm quite interested in the Robotank but have a few questions.
What is the delivery cost to the UK and would there be import tax to pay.
Can it be set up to use optical sensors instead of float switches for the ATO (DFRobot ones with the 3 wire interface board?
I have Dsuny lights, do you know if it can control these.
If one of the arduino's failed can they be replaced with standard due or do they have to be replaced with your ones and do we get backup code to load.
Sorry for questions but wanted to find out before I go further.
Rob.
 
Hi Rob, welcome to the forum and thanks for your interest. Shipping would be $50-$120 depending on the kit. If shipping goes over 2kg there is only one option available which gets expensive, if you can build your own AC power bar this would keep the weight down. There probably will be some kind of fee to pay when it arrives but I don't know how much the UK would charge, I do mark the value about half price to help keep that number low.

That optical sensor will work but you will need to add an extra resistor, I can provide that and show where to put it. Most 3.3v-5v Arduino compatible sensors will work.

I looked up the Dsuny light but didn't see any dimming specs, these are rarely sited. If you have a volt meter and can check the wires going to each light we can probably tell if they will work. The signal will be a PWM or Analog, we really need to know the voltage they work at. I also sent Dsuny an email, hopefully I hear back, I'll let you know when I do.

The controller does use the standard Due's, you can unplug and replace easily. You also get all the code and instructions how to upload using Arduino IDE. The display and controller both have an Arduino Due so two are being used.

No need to be sorry, ask everything you need to know, better now than later. :)
 
Hi Rob
Thanks for the welcome and reply.
Im looking at the Robo-Tank Deluxe DIY Aquarium Controller Basic Kit but to include the controller case only as I will make a case for the display and power bar (I have a cnc router)

Says on your website:

This kit includes the following.
Display Parts
  • 7" TFT Touch Screen (tested for defects)
  • Display Circuit Board (assembled and tested)
  • Arduino Compatible DUE R3 (mounted, programmed and tested)
  • Piezo Electronic Tone Buzzer Alarm with keyed Connector (requires soldering)
  • Photocell with wire (requires soldering)
Controller Parts

  • Main Controller Circuit Board (assembled and tested)
  • Expansion Circuit Board (assembled and tested)
  • Arduino Compatible DUE R3 (mounted, programmed and tested)
  • Arduino Compatible w5100 Ethernet Sheild
  • External Green Power LED with Bezel and keyed Connector (requires soldering)
  • VGA Female Sockets with Patch Cable using Keyed Connector (2 sets) (requires soldering)
  • 4 Pin Screw Terminal Connectors for controller (20 pieces)
Power Bar
  • 12v - 3.2 Amp Power Supply (input up to 250v AC) 
  • 5v - 8ch Relay Module (input up to 250v AC) (includes one, requires 2 to run 16 AC outlets plus other small parts)
  • VGA Socket and jumpers for connecting power bar to controller (2 sets) (requires soldering)
  • Depont style jumpers (some requires soldering)
  • 3amp DC-DC Adjustable Regulator Board
  • 2.1mm DC Power Plug
Other Parts
  • DS18B20 Waterproof Digital Temperature Sensor Probe - 5 meter cable
  • DS18B20 Digital Temperature Sensor (no cable included)
  • DHT22/AM2302 Digital Temperature and Humidity Sensor - (no cable included)
  • 12" USB Programming Cable (2 pieces)

The info on the site is a little confusing though.

As far as a power bar is concerned, does it connect via a 25pin vga cable or usb cable, the website says vga but it say on these forums its now usb?

Is it just the 8 way standard Arduino type 8 way relay boards (active low) or is it now a dedicated pcb as per your posts on the forums? (if so is the power bar pcb compatible with the UK 240v AC mains)

Power supply:
The tank it will be used on has a single dedicated 24v 30amp power supply with a battery backup system that supplies the 24v to all of my pumps, wavemakers (all jebao) etc and it has a 10 amp 12v buck convertor for the 12v equipment so I would like to run the robo-tank off of this, that way it will have the battery backup in the event of power failure (and save the weight)

Can the Robo-tank control the Jebao pumps/wavemakers (dcp10000 return and rw8 wavemakers) directly or would I need to use a relay to turn them on/off?

I'm assuming that the system uses 1 Arduino purely for the display and the other one is the main brains of the system.

Thanks again for your help, I'm sure I will think of more questions (sorry lol)
Rob

As a side note, have you thought of using a Raspberry Pi as the main display controller at all, it might make the screen update load faster (and can have the official 7" touch screen)
 
Hi Rob, sorry about the confusion on the website, I need to get some new pictures for the kits, every time I have a board assembled I'm in a rush to get it shipped so still haven't taken pics. Instead of the 2 controller boards you would get one board as I've combined them, the controller would look like the one with a face plate.

The basic kit would still come with the standard 8ch relay module however if you wanted the PCB instead we can do something. It will work with 240v however this would only work if your outlets fit the PCB, I guess you could run wires from the PCB to the outlets. I currently don't have any PCB's for the universal AC outlets I have, the PCB I have only fits the North American or Australian outlets.

If you use the relay module you need the 15-pin VGA cable, the kit would have some of the VGA connectors you would just need to find a cable. It can be a bit of challenge sometimes finding a cable as some have 8, 9 or 10 wires and you need the 10 wire version. Anything on ebay is likely 9 wire, the best is to get it at a computer store and let them know before hand you might be returning it for another. The best way to know is the thickness of the cable which pictures usually don't reflect.

That like a pretty sweet power supply, it shouldn't be a problem using it. Removing it will be good for the controller case to balance out the weight.

Unfortunately those models of Jebao won't work at the moment and I don't have any wavermaker specific code either but will be adding it soon. The return pump would definitely need a relay but since the wavemakers are DC you could use a DC accessory port to turn it on/off however that won't work until v5 of software is finished.

Your correct about the Arduinos, both are the Due so the controller runs pretty fast, it can run without the display once the system is setup so you could turn it off if power went out to save battery. I have thought about the Pi and one day I might have that as an option mainly because the available displays look a lot better. The speed of the display isn't too bad using the Due, it takes about 1 second to read a full screen image so that's the worst case for loading a page and I never use full screen images. Most pages only have small images so it's quick but yeah with the Pi they would be instant.
 
Hi Rob
So with the relay boards the vga cable just carries the gnd, vcc and the 8 signals from the controller then as if they were connected direct to the pins in the Arduino?

If that is so I have some of the relay boards anyway (including a 16 channel one) as I have been playing with Reef-Pi, that is purely browser based (but open source) and does work quite well but I really like the touch screen control/interface of the Robo-Tank.

I'm thinking of having 16 relays, 8 for AC then the other 8 for the DC, it would be easy to integrate into my system them as its just a case of interrupting the power to the pumps & wavemakers to turn them on and off.

Most of my AC stuff can or has been adapted to plug into an IEC style outlet as UK socket are huge!!  That was the reason I built the power unit for all the DC stuff, I was fed up with all the different power bricks & extension leads in the cabinet.

I'm going to take one of the lights apart tomorrow and see if I can find out the control system, the wire between the 2 lights has 8 pins as does the one to the controller, 2 have to be power to the controller as the power supplies connect direct to each light, 1 ground, maybe 4 signals and another return to tell them the controller is connected (they go all channels full on if the controller is unplugged).

I assume with the DIY kits there is an assembly/wiring guide with them? I am fine with soldering & electrics.

I would like to be able to set it up with a maintenance button rule that would turn all pumps, heaters, UV and the ATO off for water changes etc but not power down the whole system can that be done in the software?

Can you work out a price shipped for the Deluxe DIY kit plus the controller case but no relay board or power brick please?
Thanks again
Rob
 
Yeah that's what the VGA cable is for, just makes life a little easier so you can unplug. You have the wiring correct, you can connect 16 relays using the Arduino pins, once I finish v5 8 power bars will be be supported but if you want more you'll need to use I2C and a PCF8574A. The extra power plugs on PCB for relay modules are 12v which I send though the VGA cable, then I use a small DC-DC converter to drop to 5v for the relay module, I do this because of line loss. I can throw in a couple of these small DC-DC modules.

Using 8 relays for DC is a good idea, you could control them like outlets. There is 4 DC accessory ports on the board that do the same but MOSFET instead of relay, each is good for 3amps or about 3.5 amps between the 4. If you plan to turn wavemakers on/off frequently you might want to use solid state relays for those.

If you're able to check voltages for your light you should be able to find the signal wires as the voltage should change depending how high you set the controller channels.

I do have some basic diagrams for assembling the controller, it's really quite basic now. The board has pads for the relays and I can add the connectors and patch cables you can solder your setup to so it plugs into the PCB nicely. I usually solder the VGA socket to the 6" patch and then plug that into the PCB and mount the VGA. Other than that you have an external LED that plugs in, there isn't very many wires. As your familiar with the power bars which is the complicated part you'll have no problems.

In the current software there is no maintenance button as you would like, there is a feed button that will do this and I plan to add the same for maintenance. However you can do this using any 5v DC switch. You would connect the switch to one of the analog sensor ports and then create 2 custom rules, one when the switch is closed to turn off all the equipment and another rule when switch is open to turn it all back on. Then all you would have to do is flip the switch before maintenance.

The case with face plate is basically the same cost as relays and power supply so I'll just do the exchange. Looks like shipping would be $65 with full tracking, they do have an Air mail method for $50 which is usually reliable but I recommend the tracking as I can help easier if it goes missing.
 
Hi Rob
Will be placing an order for it on the 15th when I get paid  :k0507:
I have had a look at the Jebao RW series controller and they are 0-5 volt pwm so will be able to control them fairly easily but I will have to find and order some of the connector plugs before I can do that (or I have to cut the original controllers leads off which I would rather not do) but for now I will just uses relays.
The return pump looks like it uses the same system too, permanent 24v supply direct to the pump and the pwm signal but will need to check its still 0-5 volts.
Still not been able to look at the lights yet but will look as soon as I can.

I did notice that on some of your screenshots you have salinity but not seen a probe mentioned to measure it, is that a future feature or is it able to do that now, start with I will look into just the Ph and salinity monitoring if the costs are not to high.
 
Hi Rob, that sounds good to me, :) thanks!

Thanks for that info, good to know, when you find out about your pump and lights could you let me know?

On my Jebao's I opened the controller as it has screws and removed the small patch cable that plugs into the pumps. I marked the color of wire on the PCB when I unsoldered it and if I ever need the controller I put the patch cable back in.

For salinity, PH, ORP and dissolved oxygen I use circuits from Atlas Scientific, they are a little pricey but do work good. The EC will put out conductivity, TDS, salinity and in sea water specific gravity. Here's some links for what's needed, I didn't put links for probes as you can get those from anywhere but they have a variety as well.

ph circuit
https://www.atlas-scientific.com/product_pages/circuits/ezo_ph.html

ec circuit
https://www.atlas-scientific.com/product_pages/circuits/ezo_ec.html

require two of these, they hold the circuits and 4 wires from board to controller for connections.
https://www.atlas-scientific.com/product_pages/components/single_carrier_iso.html
 
Hi Rob
Placed the order and received the download link but all the files are password protected, tried my login password but it doesn't work.
Any idea as to when I should expect the delivery?
Also what is the version to install, is it the v4.20
Rob
 
Hi Rob, I got your order and thank-you, I appreciate it! I'll email you the password and the current version is 4.2. The controller will come with the Arduinos mounted and programmed, just need to power it up and it'll turn on. I should be able to ship on Friday, I'll send you the tracking number when I have it. Thanks!
 
Ok thanks, would like to be able to open the files so I can have a look at them.
Will I need sd cards to put into the controller & display, if so what size do they need to be?
 
Hi Rob, I sent you the password for the download. You will need 2 memory cards, the display uses standard SD and controller uses microSD, you can use a microSD for display if you have an adapter. 2-4gb cards work best.
 
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