Open G-ECU (grow electronic control unit)

[fuzygrowth]

i for one don't mind buying it in kit form and soldering it all up myself... please bro... let me know when you are ready to pump out one of these kits... all you have to do is write up some good directions, you obviously handy with the puter, just put up a website with full instructions on how to solder. just one thing you noticed is you had something like "target res temp" but no place to set parameters for a chiller... i guess you would need another relay to activate the rez chiller... but actually all the chillers have their own controller so i guess it doesn't matter now that i think about it. g'luck bro, and you got alot of growers here who want you to succeed.

 

[een]

Nutrient dosing only seems aimed at one resevior and is limited to 3 parts based on the software screen shots I saw.. Im guessing this setup needs to be used on a one resevoir system or otherwise you will need one controller per res? I guess with something this awsome we could just adapt by using one big res and syncronizing the rooms but I just thought I would ask.

Sorry for the slow response. That's right it's really only intended for one res, one fan, one light etc.

You could run more than one simultaneously but you would have to coordinate it by PC, as they don't have the brains or hardware to talk to each other directly.

Also as each nutrient dosing pump/valve needs a relay output, and as there are only 6, if you are using 3 part dosing that's half your outputs gone, so you can't use all the features seen on the utility at the same time, only a subset. Out of interest how many part dosing do you need?

 

[een]

I got the PCBs this week,



I've partially assembled one, so far all the relays work, the battery charges and cuts in if you disconnect the power, and the RS232 works and can plug directly into a Telaire 8001/2/3. Still to test: ph input, ec input, digital inputs, fan speed controller, humidity sensor, light sensor, digital inputs, buzzer, lcd, one-wire bus... Lol. It will take 2-4 weeks to test all the hardware and do the free version of the software.



The plan for the free software is to do this:
* lights: light timer plus flip flop function
* flood and drain pump control: time-limited, pump-to-flood with limit switch
* report ph, ec, humidity, 2 temp sensors... basically all the sensors and inputs... on the screen in real-time, log to .csv format for charting in Excel

The not-free software (all the functionality on the screen shots) will be $100 straight up or 150 on a payment plan. The payment plan option is a little complicated (but good and has a low cost trial option!) and I will set up a webpage at ogecu.com over the weekend. Sorry this is technically spam.

 

[een]

The PCB fits in an ATX case, and should also fit in an 8x8" junction box.

Every ATX case I've seen uses these four mounting holes:



So you will be able to rip out that old 1GHz motherboard with 512MB of RAM and replace it with a more up-to-date OGECU, boasting a full 20MHz and 4kB of RAM, but with stuff that matters like a pH and EC input.




I thought you could cut out the card slots and put an aluminium panel over it, then mounts outlets on the panel. Otherwise I guess you would run leads off teh PCB straight out the card slots.

 

[mushupork5]

NICE update. are all of the components through hole?

as for the free version of the software it should also have the functionalirty of turning on exhaust fans with certain temp. will you also be offering up some APIs?

 

[een]

NICE update. are all of the components through hole?

as for the free version of the software it should also have the functionalirty of turning on exhaust fans with certain temp. will you also be offering up some APIs?

Two of the capacitors are surface mount (because the through hole versions are huge and overpriced), but you can still solder through hole versions onto the pads if they are all you can get.

You will be able to use the nice config utility I posted to make a config file, then in your C# project you just have to include the code for the API, create an OGECU 'object', then the code goes something like this:

ogecu.LoadConfig("config.dat");

forever
{
if (ogecu.TempNow > ogecu.AirTempSetpoint)
ogecu.SetFan(100);
else
ogecu.SetFan(0);
}

I will setup a project so you just have to start typing code between the brackets.

 

[The Dopest]

 

[minds_I]

Hello all,

Een, Has your code for temperature considered hysteresis in the thermistor and the thermal system itself- What I am getting at is the oscillation about the setpoint.

You should allow time for the system to reach a thermal steady state after an adjustment in the fan speed (I presume). Otherwise you are going to get an oscillation from a linear system (presumed linear) about a thermal setpoint. This is due to in part to the heat transfered at various volumetric flow rates and temperature differences of incoming ambient air and interior temperature.

Interesting concept however would it not be more feasible to use an older computer (286) with a dau card? Its a fine idea but you would gain more flexibility I believe and this also gives you communication abilities as well. Cell phone alarms and warnings.

Just my opinions.

minds_I

PS: I have knack for closed loop control systems
http://www.superlogics.com/pci-data...al-io-analog-output-board/pci-p8r8/19-628.htm

 

[buddymag00]

dont have any input exept to say i think i would buy this product if it was cheap , effective and easy to use. user-friendliness is a must! also i would personaly only be interested in the version with exsiting licenced software . keep up the good work could be onto a winner!

 

[Guest]

Man I gotta quit reading threads backwards lol interesting stuff but above this electricians head for sure!One thing that caught my eye,this device is to be powered by the mains in a panel with no overcurrect protection?It would seem an sensitive elctronic gismo like that would need OC protection for sure.Have you considered incorporating in-line fuses or something like that?Forgive me if I misunderstood reading threads backwards is a hard habit to break for some odd reason lol.O no I'm strung out on reading backwards!

 

[Guest]

backwards reading on out strung I'm no O!

 

[lac]

why dont you guys make a wiki so everybody (including me ) could upload their ideas ?

 

[emkman]

count me in! I've been wanting to do this for a while. I can help develop the open source version of the software if I have time.

 

[mrgrowmez]

whatever happened to this??

 

[WhoDAT]

Yea it looked good, but like every other one of these threads, its a dead end. Id love for this guy to prove me wrong.

 

[justin_s_guy]

1-Wire!

1-Wire!

Yea it looked good, but like every other one of these threads, its a dead end. Id love for this guy to prove me wrong.

Well, this isn't a dead end:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/gplcontroller/

The beauty is, this is a commerical quality, open-source application. The hardware is really easy to wire up too! In fact, if you search the forums here at ICMAG, you will see simple "1-Wire" schematics which work with this software.

--JSG

 

[een]

Actually my project is only this >< far from ready, so neither are dead ends I am a software guy too and I believe you Justin. If you do a search for GrowTronix one of the links is to where he is asking for someone to write software. Do you know what happened exactly, did he hire you and you had a falling out, or did he hire someone else and then use your stuff w/o crediting it?

 

[justin_s_guy]

Een,

Glad to hear you are close to completion. bra. All I can say is be careful publishing source code. This world is full of thieves! If you release code, do it in full public view - I'd recommend Sourceforge.net - and copyright everything in your own name, even if you GPL it. That way there can be no question about who is the author, and who is the thief ;-) I wish you success and I'll be watching ;-)

--JSG

 

[ItsGrowTime]

Tagged! Cant wait to see the finished product een.

 

[daddyweez2000]

Come on baby where you at?