10-08-2015, 11:57 PM
I thought I would talk about the future plans I have for Robo-Tank.
The cold weather is starting to roll into Canada so my days of wanting to go out will be getting limited, cold isn't my thing. :
This'll give me more time to get things done. 
That's me hard at it, been waiting to use that one. 
Anyways here's a list of the things I would like to accomplish before the new year. No guarantee because I have a lot on my plate with other things but I'm pretty sure I can get there, for sure half way.
Internet Connectivity
My plans for the internet is to have basic control only, the big screen is what it was all about for me. With that said I want some off site control and realize everyone else will want that too. There will be one page only, I've already had it working at one point but it needs work. This is how it will basically look.
![[Image: Internet2.jpg]](http://s6.postimg.org/7i8uaoiq9/Internet2.jpg)
It'll allow you to turn any of the 16 relays on or off, view the current light mode, view all the various sensors data and feed the fish. There will also be the ability to see a webcam. When you view the page on your phone everything will be in a single column that you would scroll though. You won't have the ability to make any changes to the settings, you need to use the controller to change those.
Web Alerts
This feature has also been started and tested so I'm basically ready to implement it. For this I'm planning on using a 3rd party service called "PushingBox". This is a free service, appears to be reliable and doesn't require you to always login to keep your account. So far there are 23 different web alerts I have ready to go but there will be many more to come. With this service some user setup is required. First you would choose any of the many alert types they offer, you can receive emails, texts, those phone alerts that show up in the top banner and much more. After you decide how you want alerts, which you can easily change this at any time, you start setting up the different scenarios (alerts) you want to receive. If you have the equipment and want all 23 alerts working you create 23 different scenarios. Each scenario is easy to setup and you can decide the alert type for each alert. After you setup each scenario (alert) you want to use you have a list in PushingBox with a "Device ID" for each alert that PushingBox generated. In the sketch you would copy and paste each Device ID for each alert and you are ready to go. I'll be making a full picture tutorial on how to set it up.
Power Head Control
What good is a controller without full power head control? I've been thinking about this lately and getting closer on a decision. It appears there's 2 classes of power heads, one that stays on or off all the time and the other that uses PWM signal to control the speed of the power head. So there has to be somewhat of a solution for both. I'm going to add 4 extra schedules for 4 relays, meaning whatever you have plugged in those 4 outlets you can turn them on or off via a schedule 4 times a day. Actually 5 times a day if you included the feeding schedule which can be used for so much if you use your imagination. For example if you had 4 power heads that only turn on or off you can select which ones come on at what time in the day 4 times a day.
For those of you lucky to have the adjustable PWM controlled power heads I plan to add a system similar to the LED fading. This will use the standard 8-bit PWM signal giving you 255 increments. You'll be able to setup probably 6 different speed fades for at least 2 power heads. I'll probably go for ability to control 4 power heads this way. For example you would be able to schedule power head one to turn on at 1pm starting at the lowest speed. Then for maybe an hour it will slowly pickup speed to the setting you select. Then maybe at 3pm you want to have speed of power head one to slow down over the next hour. Then at 6pm you want it to come to a slow stop because feeding is happening at 7pm. After feeding you maybe want it to go from off to high over a 2 hour period then at 10pm slow down to half speed over an hour and finally at 12am have it slow turn off over the next hour. And you can do that to 2 for sure and possibly 4 differnt power heads, everyone of them doing there own thing at there own time.
Atlas Scientific Stamps
I'll admit this is something that should be finished already but I don't have any stamps to test and have been holding off getting one for many reasons. This will be done soon though, its working in the controller how I want it to, I just need to get real numbers from the stamps, minor detail of course. I also want to have calibration for each of the stamps built into the controller but I think this will be the last thing I do out of everything I mentioned here. Anyone who actually have and use these stamps should have no problems calibrating them without a few GUI touches as you need to do it to start.
Automatic Top Off
I understand this is important to reef tank owners so it must be added. As I'm starting to understand, basically its just a pump that puts water in the aquarium, reads a couple sensors to know what to do, add some security and done. So easy typing this stuff out. So this is something I hope to get in sooner than later. Could really use input on what are good sensors for the ATO system.
Cooling Fan Control Via Temperature
This feature would mimic the heater control via temperature except it would use on/off or PWM for controlling the fan. There basically two purposes for this feature, cooling LED's and cooling water temperature. Because of that I would like to add control for 4 of them but as I type this I can see the sketch size growing more and more. I wish there was no limit. Because a lot of these features are similar as in they use PWM and on/off of the relays so I'm trying to think of an intuitive way to choose what you have on each signal. Main objective in all this is for flexibility.
So those are the 6 features I would love to get added before the new year, not in any specific order, I look forward to 5 of the 6, the internet connectivity has always scared me because browsers just don't play nicely together along with other things. I have a 3 week trip coming in late January so I need done by then.
I would love to hear comments on how I plan to go and if there's a better way. I'm a bit stubborn but always ready to listen to ideas. I added a poll to the thread, be sure to vote for what you think is most important.
The cold weather is starting to roll into Canada so my days of wanting to go out will be getting limited, cold isn't my thing. :
This'll give me more time to get things done. That's me hard at it, been waiting to use that one. Anyways here's a list of the things I would like to accomplish before the new year. No guarantee because I have a lot on my plate with other things but I'm pretty sure I can get there, for sure half way.
Internet Connectivity
My plans for the internet is to have basic control only, the big screen is what it was all about for me. With that said I want some off site control and realize everyone else will want that too. There will be one page only, I've already had it working at one point but it needs work. This is how it will basically look.
It'll allow you to turn any of the 16 relays on or off, view the current light mode, view all the various sensors data and feed the fish. There will also be the ability to see a webcam. When you view the page on your phone everything will be in a single column that you would scroll though. You won't have the ability to make any changes to the settings, you need to use the controller to change those.
Web Alerts
This feature has also been started and tested so I'm basically ready to implement it. For this I'm planning on using a 3rd party service called "PushingBox". This is a free service, appears to be reliable and doesn't require you to always login to keep your account. So far there are 23 different web alerts I have ready to go but there will be many more to come. With this service some user setup is required. First you would choose any of the many alert types they offer, you can receive emails, texts, those phone alerts that show up in the top banner and much more. After you decide how you want alerts, which you can easily change this at any time, you start setting up the different scenarios (alerts) you want to receive. If you have the equipment and want all 23 alerts working you create 23 different scenarios. Each scenario is easy to setup and you can decide the alert type for each alert. After you setup each scenario (alert) you want to use you have a list in PushingBox with a "Device ID" for each alert that PushingBox generated. In the sketch you would copy and paste each Device ID for each alert and you are ready to go. I'll be making a full picture tutorial on how to set it up.
Power Head Control
What good is a controller without full power head control? I've been thinking about this lately and getting closer on a decision. It appears there's 2 classes of power heads, one that stays on or off all the time and the other that uses PWM signal to control the speed of the power head. So there has to be somewhat of a solution for both. I'm going to add 4 extra schedules for 4 relays, meaning whatever you have plugged in those 4 outlets you can turn them on or off via a schedule 4 times a day. Actually 5 times a day if you included the feeding schedule which can be used for so much if you use your imagination. For example if you had 4 power heads that only turn on or off you can select which ones come on at what time in the day 4 times a day.
For those of you lucky to have the adjustable PWM controlled power heads I plan to add a system similar to the LED fading. This will use the standard 8-bit PWM signal giving you 255 increments. You'll be able to setup probably 6 different speed fades for at least 2 power heads. I'll probably go for ability to control 4 power heads this way. For example you would be able to schedule power head one to turn on at 1pm starting at the lowest speed. Then for maybe an hour it will slowly pickup speed to the setting you select. Then maybe at 3pm you want to have speed of power head one to slow down over the next hour. Then at 6pm you want it to come to a slow stop because feeding is happening at 7pm. After feeding you maybe want it to go from off to high over a 2 hour period then at 10pm slow down to half speed over an hour and finally at 12am have it slow turn off over the next hour. And you can do that to 2 for sure and possibly 4 differnt power heads, everyone of them doing there own thing at there own time.
Atlas Scientific Stamps
I'll admit this is something that should be finished already but I don't have any stamps to test and have been holding off getting one for many reasons. This will be done soon though, its working in the controller how I want it to, I just need to get real numbers from the stamps, minor detail of course. I also want to have calibration for each of the stamps built into the controller but I think this will be the last thing I do out of everything I mentioned here. Anyone who actually have and use these stamps should have no problems calibrating them without a few GUI touches as you need to do it to start.
Automatic Top Off
I understand this is important to reef tank owners so it must be added. As I'm starting to understand, basically its just a pump that puts water in the aquarium, reads a couple sensors to know what to do, add some security and done. So easy typing this stuff out. So this is something I hope to get in sooner than later. Could really use input on what are good sensors for the ATO system.
Cooling Fan Control Via Temperature
This feature would mimic the heater control via temperature except it would use on/off or PWM for controlling the fan. There basically two purposes for this feature, cooling LED's and cooling water temperature. Because of that I would like to add control for 4 of them but as I type this I can see the sketch size growing more and more. I wish there was no limit. Because a lot of these features are similar as in they use PWM and on/off of the relays so I'm trying to think of an intuitive way to choose what you have on each signal. Main objective in all this is for flexibility.
So those are the 6 features I would love to get added before the new year, not in any specific order, I look forward to 5 of the 6, the internet connectivity has always scared me because browsers just don't play nicely together along with other things. I have a 3 week trip coming in late January so I need done by then.
I would love to hear comments on how I plan to go and if there's a better way. I'm a bit stubborn but always ready to listen to ideas. I added a poll to the thread, be sure to vote for what you think is most important.
