Connecting

[Rob Wheatley]

Hi Rob
Robo-Tank finally arrived today after being held up by customs...….

I have got it set up on test and have the first relay pack connected to it, they all work fine (I had to put the connector on the outside of the controller box to get the VGA cable to connect) going to do the second one tomorrow and make the housings for them.

First impression are very good, cant wait to get it set up on the tank.

Few questions
1 Is there any way to calibrate the touch screen as it is way out at the moment.

2 What connections do I use for the temp sensors, air & humidity, water etc as the only diagram I can find is for the older (I assume) controller.

3 How do I connect an optical (3 wire) level sensor for the ATO, I will use a mech float for the high level (unless I can use optical for that to)

4 What are the usb connections for on the controller (labelled addons/powerbar) and how are they connected.

Sorry if I am being a bit thick but I don't want to just plug things in and blow something up!!!

[Rob F]

Hey Rob, glad to hear it arrived, did the VGA connectors not fit on the case like they were supposed to?

The display shouldn't need calibrating, I did use it for testing the controller. If you're pressing your finger flat on the screen it can give a lot of bad readings, the best way is to use the back of your finger and touch screen with tip of nail. Did you do any uploading of sketch on display?

Sorry about the documents, I thought had them changed but missed the listing on the kit you ordered, I'll send those to your email right away.

I'll also send an image showing how to wire the optical sensor, I assume it's like the one in the link? In order to use this you will need approximately a 390ohm resistor.

https://www.google.com/search?q=optical+...T2v11zTR3M:

I use to sell these sensors but had a lot of issues so have since stopped, you should add some silicon where the cable enters the sensor as moisture can get in there and ruin the sensor, also it's best to have the sensor mounted sideways as the water can cause reflections and when the sensor comes out of the water a drop can stay on the sensor and mess it up. You can only use an analog sensor like this on the main ATO sensor port, the backup port is setup so it doesn't rely on the Arduino so it can only be a switch of some sort. The backup float simply cuts the GND to the ATO circuit so it shuts down if anything goes bad. The ATO also won't work without the backup sensor.

The USB ports are for AC power bars, addons I'll have in the future, circuits from Atlas for ph etc and anything else that uses I2C. In the documents I'll send it has a diagram showing how they are wired. Because you're building your own power bars it's easier connecting them directly to the I/O pins on Arduino like I use to, that's why you won't need them. However if you ever plan to add a 3rd power bar you'll need to use them with a module that goes between the relay module and ports.

No worries on the questions, sorry things aren't as clear as they should be, if you have more feel free to ask.

[Rob Wheatley]

Hi Rob
Sorry was trying to use my finger on the screen, works fine with a stylus DOH!

The VGA connectors fitted the box no problem but if they were installed from the inside then the cable wouldn't connect, no big problem, just installed them from the outside, Both relay packs are working, housing made for the 24vdc one, going to make the 240vac one today if I feel up to it (stinking flu came on yesterday)

Got the temp sensors working fine, all reading as they should (did look at trying to calibrate them but it doesn't do anything in the screen when I touch the calibrate icon.

ATO is all connected but works in reverse with the Optical sensor, in the water the pump runs, out of the water it stops, is there a way to change this at all?

With the AC outlets is there a way of setting them to be on by default as I want to connect my main return pump to one but want it to turn on automatically when the system starts, guessing it is in schedule but I want it on all the time unless feeding.

Will be ordering some Atlas probes for it very soon

[Rob F]

Hey Rob, hope the stinking flu leaves you tomorrow, that should never happen on a weekend.

Yeah using the finger takes some getting use to, if too much surface touches the screen it gets lost. Ah now I see on the VGA sockets, I forgot they had to go on outside of case, before using those screw anchors they worked ok on the inside but having the anchors is a better trade off.

Sorry there is no process to calibrate the temp sensors, I'm adding that in v5 for sure. Also you'll notice the powerhead button on hardware menu does nothing as well.

I'm surprised by the ATO but you can reverse it by changing a couple lines of code around in the controller sketch. I'm make sure to add a setting in update so this can be done easily.

If you haven't yet download the 4.2 package from your account and setup your computer according to the "first time programming guide" in the download. Once you have it finished open the controller sketch and find line 2711 and 2720.

Code:

2711:     digitalWrite(atoPumpPin, HIGH);
2720:     digitalWrite(atoPumpPin, LOW);

Change the HIGH to LOW and LOW to HIGH and then upload, that should get it working properly. If it works set the "maximum run time" on service page to 1 minute and then let the ATO run for that minute to make sure it shuts off when the ATO icon near the clock turns red. After that happens you can press the red icon to reset the ATO.

To keep an outlet on all the time setup a schedule for that outlet and have it turn the outlet on, time for schedule doesn't matter and at least one day must be selected. That should keep it on even after restarts. The scheduling is going to be greatly improved so don't shake your head just yet. :)

[Rob Wheatley]

Thanks Rob, will try that ASAP,
Was posting in the V5 thread as this came through lol.

[Rob F]

No problem, if you need more info let me know.

[Rob Wheatley]

Hi Rob
Changed the lines in the code as per your post but its still working backwards!!

It is now as below:

{
pmATOerror = millis();
atoCheckMillis = 250;
atoStatus = 3;
digitalWrite(atoPumpPin, HIGH);
if (atoAlert.getStatus() == 1) atoEmail(); // alert
serialPrintln(7002);
}
}
else if (atoSensor1data.mode() < atoWaterLevel)
{
if (atoStatus == 3)
{
digitalWrite(atoPumpPin, LOW);
if (atoAlert.getStatus() == 1) ato2Email(); // alert
serialPrintln(7003);

Any ideas?

---

Doh , I had changed it in the sketch the other day but forgot I had the changed it back to how it was, BANG HEAD lol

It has reversed the pump but its the sensor input I need to reverse, When the sensor is in water the ATO is green and the pump is OFF, after a minute the ATO turns red.

[Rob F]

lol that's funny, sorry it didn't work, I can see that now. I was away today but will look into what needs to be switched shortly, I'll make sure to test it this time so it works for sure.

[Rob F]

Ok well I should have gone with my first thought and it would have worked. Now I remember why I changed it when I started using the float switch for main sensor. Float switches can be reversed by flipping the actual float so if you ever go to a float switch you don't need to change any code. I flipped the code because I wanted the code to match the default setup of these floats so it was less confusing and one less step to setup but didn't think how that would affect the optical sensor.

All I did is reverse the greater than > and less than < where it compares the sensor value and water level value, the HIGH and LOW would stay original. Here's the full function to make life easier, just replace it with what you have, should be line 2693 - 2731.

Just to clarify, in the settings the "ATO Water Level" does nothing if a float is connected to main ATO port but it will affect the optical sensor. This will affect the sensitivity determining how low the water level should drop before it gets triggered.

Code:

void checkATO()
{
 if (atoCheckMillis > 0) {for(byte i = 0; i < 9; i++) {atoSensor1.readSensor();}}
 else atoSensor1.readSensor();
 if (atoError == 0)
 {
   if (atoSensor1data.mode() < atoWaterLevel)
   {
     if (atoStatus == 0) {pmATOdelay = millis(); if (atoCheckMillis == 0) {atoStatus = 2;} else {atoStatus = 1;}}
     if (atoStatus == 1)
     {
       if (millis() - pmATOdelay > 15000){atoStatus = 2;}  // delay before activing pump
     }
     else if (atoStatus == 2)
     {
       pmATOerror = millis();
       atoCheckMillis = 250;
       atoStatus = 3;
       digitalWrite(atoPumpPin, HIGH);
       if (atoAlert.getStatus() == 1) atoEmail();  // alert
       serialPrintln(7002);
     }
   }
   else if (atoSensor1data.mode() > atoWaterLevel)
   {
     if (atoStatus == 3)
     {
       digitalWrite(atoPumpPin, LOW);
       if (atoAlert.getStatus() == 1) ato2Email();  // alert
       serialPrintln(7003);
     }
     atoCheckMillis = EEPROM_read(33);
     atoLenConv();
     prevMillisATO = millis();
     atoStatus = 0;
   }
 }
 else prevMillisATO = millis();
}

[Rob Wheatley]

Thanks Rob, Will see if I can try it today, got it set up with float switches at the moment as it is now fully controlling one of my tanks, all working perfectly and just as expected.

I have to say I am VERY happy with my Robo-Tank, you have done (and are doing) a fantastic job with it and I am so glad I came across your web site.

One more question, with the atlas probes there are 3 different EC kits available, K 0.1, K 1.0 and K 10, Am I right that its the K 1.0 kit I need?

[Rob F]

Glad to hear you're happy, that makes me happy. Hopefully with the next update you like it even more.

You do want the K1.0 kit but I have to say I'm disappointing with the Atlas kits. They include the cheap carrier board that doesn't even hold the circuit so you need to somehow connect them both yet they specifically say no wires should be used on circuit so not sure what they expect people to do, I guess solder it directly to the carrier board which I think voids the warranty. Also this board isn't isolated and that's basically a must, maybe not for other applications but definitely for the aquarium. They do have an isolation addon available with the kit however that gets messy to connect and could affect the readings if not done properly. So if you get the kit you should also get this carrier board to hold the circuit which connects directly to the controller. With this you only connect 4 wires from the circuit to the controller addon port. They do have other carrier boards to hold more than one circuit if you plan to use their PH or something else.

https://www.atlas-scientific.com/product...r_iso.html

---

EDIT: Looks like you would save $4 without the kit and get everything separate. :)

[Rob Wheatley]

I was going to get the Whitebox Labs Tentacle Shield Mini as I want to add a Ph probe as well, will save on space too.
The UK is a rip off, I would only save 50p on the kit price from the UK supplier!!!

I am away next week and a friend is Tank sitting, cant wait to show him it, I recon he will want one lol

[Rob F]

Sounds good, that will work, at least you have a UK supplier I doubt I could get this in Canada, we have nothing lol...