Robo-Tank v6.0 is Ready - Now v6.5

[SyberSects]

thinking back i think i had some issue with apache when i first installed. ended up having to manually install apache and everything was fine. i believe that was on this project.. might be wrong. Im sure Rob will have a better answer for you when he pops up. He's pretty quick to reply.

[Rob F]

Hi,

I'm having this error when installing, any ideas as to what it could be?

Thanks,

Will

Hi Will, ah yes the dreaded error. At first I thought it was apache but it turns out it was phpmyadmin, I was trying to remove the prompts during install which seems to be causing the issue. Here's a post explaining what to do, hopefully that works. On a side note if you have v2 or v3 controller it won't work today properly as the pinouts have changed. I will have an update so they work soon.

[stormshack]

Hi,

I'm having this error when installing, any ideas as to what it could be?

Thanks,

Will

Hi Will, ah yes the dreaded error. At first I thought it was apache but it turns out it was phpmyadmin, I was trying to remove the prompts during install which seems to be causing the issue. Here's a post explaining what to do, hopefully that works. On a side note if you have v2 or v3 controller it won't work today properly as the pinouts have changed. I will have an update so they work soon.

Ahh amazing thankyou, will have a look at it now and wait for the next update of Robo-tank :).

[Rob F]

Sounds good, I really will be back at it soon. :)

[gandalf]

Trying this new app.

2 questions:

1. how can I check if ph probe is working ? From the settings, I don't see any ph probe
2. i've connected a dosing pump to DC1, i've enabled the DC1 port (and set that as dosing pump) but when doing a manual dose, the pump doesn't work.

Any idea ?

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Trying this new app.

2 questions:

1. how can I check if ph probe is working ? From the settings, I don't see any ph probe
2. i've connected a dosing pump to DC1, i've enabled the DC1 port (and set that as dosing pump) but when doing a manual dose, the pump doesn't work.

Any idea ?

this with v6.0
the v6.3 doesn't start at all. blackpage on 'dashboard.php'
I think there is an issue connecting to /var/www/html/server.sock (socketClient.php line 32)

the service keeps crashing:
[code]
Feb 4 19:14:25 gandalf-reef systemd[1]: robotank.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 41.
Feb 4 19:14:25 gandalf-reef systemd[1]: Stopped Robo-Tank.
Feb 4 19:14:25 gandalf-reef systemd[1]: Started Robo-Tank.
Feb 4 19:14:25 gandalf-reef systemd[960]: robotank.service: Failed to execute /var/www/html/cpp/startup: No such file or directory
Feb 4 19:14:25 gandalf-reef systemd[960]: robotank.service: Failed at step EXEC spawning /var/www/html/cpp/startup: No such file or directory
Feb 4 19:14:25 gandalf-reef systemd[1]: robotank.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=203/EXEC
Feb 4 19:14:25 gandalf-reef systemd[1]: robotank.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
[/quote]

[Rob F]

Sorry the app isn't setup properly for v2, all the pinouts are different. I almost have an update ready that changes things easy.

With that said if you go to the "configure ports" screen and use the "advanced" tab you can select sensors or outputs from the "function" drop down and ignore the "Robo-Tank" label which is mainly only on that screen anyways.

For example, if you scroll to bottom of page you'll see the 16 pins for PCA9685, pin 15 will be DC1 but on v2 DC1 is pin 0. So you need to edit pin 0 and change function to dosing pump, then it should work. You need to do this to all the ports you want to use. If you go through the manual at the end of each sensor type section is a table showing the pin number for each port. Here's the DC ports.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FtkR...qv23derfc5

Looking at the errors it looks like the startup program is missing, must of somehow got deleted and not replaced, I haven't seen this before. The startup program is very small, I had to add that to make an automated update system. The main program file is "robotank" located in the /var/www/html/cpp folder where startup should be. An update usually requires the main c++ program to be overwritten but that can't happen if it's running so the startup program runs first to check if it's just completed an update and then launches the main program when ready.

Let's try this.

In the SSH terminal type the following commands

cd /var/www/html/cpp

./robotank

This will manually start the program, you will see all kinds of data print out when the program starts. At that point it should run fine until you close the SSH terminal, it'll stop when you do that.

If everything works as expected press CTRL + Z on the keyboard to stop the program.

Then run this command to stop the robotank service in case it's still trying to run.

sudo systemctl stop robotank.service

Now type in the following command, this will compile the startup.cpp file and create the startup file which seems to be missing.

g++ -o startup startup.cpp `mysql_config --cflags --libs`

Then type the following command to get a list of files in the folder.

ls -al

Verify you have the startup file

If so power cycle the controller and it should run as expected.

After the update if you have a black screen you need to press CTRL + SHIFT + R on the keyboard a few times in a row to clear the cache.

[gandalf]

thank you. i'll try.
and what about the ph probe? the document doesn't show the pinout for the probe

[Rob F]

The pH uses I2C, that's the EZO driver in reef-pi with address 99. The program will automatically detect this, you should get a popup saying a new I2C device was detect, select pH and give it a name. It seems there was a problem in 6.3 where it wasn't being detected all the time. With 6.0 you should see it.

[gandalf]

with 6.0 the probe isn't detected probably because on the first configuration, when the Scan Is made, the probe was unplugged. how to reset and trigger a new Scan?

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but i need reef-pi working to use your app?

[gandalf]

Sorry the app isn't setup properly for v2, all the pinouts are different. I almost have an update ready that changes things easy.

With that said if you go to the "configure ports" screen and use the "advanced" tab you can select sensors or outputs from the "function" drop down and ignore the "Robo-Tank" label which is mainly only on that screen anyways.

For example, if you scroll to bottom of page you'll see the 16 pins for PCA9685, pin 15 will be DC1 but on v2 DC1 is pin 0. So you need to edit pin 0 and change function to dosing pump, then it should work. You need to do this to all the ports you want to use. If you go through the manual at the end of each sensor type section is a table showing the pin number for each port. Here's the DC ports.

I did. It doesn't work, the pump doesn't move.

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Dosing pumps now works, pin are 1, 2, 3 and 4, not 0

With 6.0 also works the ph probe and an extender is detected (even if not attached).

6.3 doesn't detect anything.

Upgrading and downgrading is impossible, the only way is to delete everything (/var/www/html, drop database, drop services) and re-install from scratch

[gandalf]

Some new qustions (i've was able to upgrade to 6.3)

1. i think the dosing pump are running too fast, they are Kamoer KFS, it should do 18ml/minutes but here is running MUCH faster, any way to slower it down?
2. when doing the schedule , how can I set how much ml to dose ? in example, 0.5ml at 18:40:40 daily ?
3. i've seen that I can set the hour at which dosing pump is powered on and at which the dosing pump is powered off (creating 2 schedules) but even setting both at 1 seconds in difference, the pump is running for 4-5 seconds anyway (and it starts before the schedule time)
4. is the ph sensor temperature corrected automatically ? If yes, should I configure something in robo-tank to specifcy which temp probe to use for temp correction ? (in case I have multiple probes)

[Rob F]

At this time you can't slow down the dosing pumps.

In dosing page go to settings and calibrate, run that so its good. Then set how much you want to dose, can't do .5 right now only multiples of 1ml. Then create only one schedule to start the pump, it will run long enough required to dose how much you select based on calibration.

No pH temp compensation yet but I know how to add it and will be at some point. For what we monitor temp makes very little difference, the default is 25c. I'll also be adding calibration for temp sensors.

[gandalf]

if you want an help developing the web application please let me know...

it's not clear how to choose the amount of dosing, in example if i won't dose 1ml in the morning and 5ml in the evening, this isn't possible?

[Rob F]

Thanks, I'm ok for now but will keep it in mind. At this time you can only set one dose amount for all schedules.

[gandalf]

i've connected, and calibrated (2 points, 7 and 10) a pH probe but there are some issues.
when the probe is in the sump, It reads value from 6 to 6.5, if i take a water sample from the sump and i put it in a glass, the probe reads 8.

i think there are some Electrical noise. do you have a solution? a new probe should arrive tomorrow, just to be sure

[Rob F]

It sounds like you have some electrical issues, the circuit is fully isolated so the level must be high to affect the circuit. It might be good to start removing equipment until you can determine what's causing it. The circuit's level of isolation is as high as it comes for these so it must be strong.

[gandalf]

It's one of the wave maker.

[Rob F]

Can you try plugging it into an AC outlet on a different circuit to see if it goes away.

[gandalf]

If I plug it directly to an AC outlet, the issue is gone. The issue arise when using the AC pump connected to it's controller. The controller change the "power" affecting the ph probe

Replacing this pump with a better one was already planned for next month, meanwhile i can't use the ph probe.

[Rob F]

Unfortunately something is going on with it's controller to cause that, maybe some filtering went bad in it.