Joys of DIY project

[njtiger24 aquariums]

Guys
I figured I would use this area to show my DYI controller, issues, bugs, and progress as it slowly goes. Unfortunately at the time of writing this I don't have access to get screen shots but will upload some later.

Description
Being an IT guy I had a friend suggested using a RaspberryPi as a controller. I am building a web application, which can be accessed via any web device (computer/phone/tablet). Currently the system controls four power outlets, a temp sensor, weekly maintenance reminders, and logging area for information.

Plans
My plan is to have a full automatic system.

Current Bugs
I just received an email and push notification from my tank stating my water's temp was 181f. I was not too concern because I been having issues with that sensor; a cable or two would come unplugged. My concern was normally I would get alert that the water was 32f never 181. Worry my heater was stuck on I called my wife to check. She said the water wasn't hot and when she checked my heater the 'on' light was off.

 

[kschweer]

Cool project! I love diy stuff. Mine are more wood working die to the fact that I'm terrible with technology.

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

Thanks. hope to add some photos and screen shots tonight. I'm not a wood person. I have ideas in my head they just never pan out well lol. I'm trying to build a stand for the controller and I already cut the base board smaller than I needed lol

 

[redfishbluefish]

Following....

Not sure if you know of it, but you might want to check out the site......ReefPi.

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

@redfishbluefish I did not know about that site. I am shocked it didn't popup on some of my searches but I will check them out.

Thanks for following

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

@redfishbluefish are you a member? I see their registration is disabled due to too much spam.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I'm not sure what's going on......I didn't get any spam warning. When I attempted to go to the Membership Application, I got, "The requested page could not be found." Hopefully @kschweer , @SeahorseKeeper or @Edwardw771 could help with this.

 

[kschweer]

Paul I think he's taking about the reeferpi site. If not let me know and I'll look into it for you.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Kevin, I think your right. However, my comment is true about our site.....I couldn't get to an application.

 

[kschweer]

Kevin, I think your right. However, my comment is true about our site.....I couldn't get to an application.

I will look into it. I believe with the new software the way to apply is to click your name in the tool bar and select "account upgrades". I think the application was transferred from the old software. I will see what I can find out. Thank you.

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

Paul I think he's taking about the reeferpi site. If not let me know and I'll look into it for you.

yes I was talking about the reeferpi site

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

Ok here are the screen shots I was talking about. Also I addressed, I think, the bug of false temp reading.

Hardware
* RaspberryPi B+
* Two, Two 15amp outlet
* 4 channel 10amp relay
* 7in touch screen (touch option not working at this moment)
* Water temp sensor


Dash
* Displays the maintenance that is due within 7 days
* Quick Buttons (still coding these)
* Line graph, which is the same thing displayed on the 7in screen, is where the temp is displayed.
- Displays current temp (poll every 1 min
- Displays Today's max and min
- Line display the last 24 hour temps (logged every hour on the hour) ***Note these are temps from when I was having issues so the numbers are off in this picture ***
* Storage left on my card


Tank
* Displays the tanks logged in the system. Still working on what information I want to store here


Water Levels
* Display each test results
* Displays a graph for each level


Maintenance
* Displays maintenance for the tank
* Green font means good
* Yellow font means due within 7 days
* Red font means past due
* System emails me a weekly report every Sunday at 8:00am about what is due the next weekend
-

Live Stock
* Displays the live stock of each tank
- Still working on information here but it does display/calculate how long they been in the tank


Dosing
* Still working on this area but it will display how much I dose each time.

Admin
* Email setting allows me to change which email address it sends to as well as the smtp information
* Tank Maintenance is where I can turn on/off the dash board notification for maintenance
* Alert, still working on, but this area is where it see my 'safe range' for my temp. If it falls out of range I will get an email and a push notification (using Push Bullet)
* Schedule is the schedule for each outlet. The system will compare the time and and if the schedule is enable make sure the outlet is in the correct state. This also is check everytime the Pi boots up so even after a power failure it should get my equipment back on the right schedule without me changing anything
* Outlet section allows me to turn an outlet off or on




There still a lot more I want to do, like add more outlets, water sensor, pH sensor, etc.....

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

So I think I found the route to my false alerts. I swapped basically everything and was still getting some false alerts. After some searching online I discovered the latest OS update required some additional code for the sensor to work correctly. Everything seems to be working correctly now but I have even less hair on my head lol.

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

boo looks like I spoke too soon. Still having false readings.

 

[Edwardw771]

Wow how did I miss this. This is cool

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

thanks @Edwardw771

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

Well seem like the fix in code plus a new cable solved my false temp reading. I ran fine last night with reading the air temp and now its in my sump and so far, knock on wood, its reading correctly.

Speaking of wood. I finally got 'legs' on my board so it is no longer sitting on my RO bucket. It not the prettiest but it does the trick. Maybe when I have more time I can take it slow and build a nicer stand for it. Right now focusing on the tech (which is my area) then I will work on the stand.

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

Well after the meeting I been thinking about my controller some more. Today I spent some time (not much) seeing about getting the touch screen to work. In this process I some how broke the video feed. Lucky I was smart enough to back up my config file and after restoring to my backup I am back to where I was before. Still got the motivation to keep working on this project just not sure which to tackle next. I wanted to tackle the 'quick buttons' (feeding, lights on/off, all off, etc..) but without the touch part of my screen working I would be limited to accessing those buttons from the web (which isn't a deal breaker). I was thinking of getting a pH sensor but after looking at the prices I decided to hold off. I still got ideas in my head going around just trying to figure out which path to take.

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

So the past couple of days I been working on more code for this project. I have added some "quick" buttons that will do some set tasks. The first button I have working is the 'feeding' button. When this button is pressed it will turn my skimmer off for 10mins. While this script is running the button will be lit to indicate it.

 

[kschweer]

Pretty cool stuff man!!