I'm building an 8 COB fixture with supplemental wavelengths and multiple drivers. There's not much on the market for light control. On/off is easily accomplished with timers, but I want more. I want independent intensity control of the various light strings in the fixture. I bought a TC421 programmable light controller, but can't connect to it by WiFi. I looked at Coralux's Storm and Storm-X. They have no way to switch the power to the drivers on and off. You can get around this by dedicating one of its analog outputs to driving a relay. That can tie up channels which could be used for better purposes. There are other controllers used by folks here I've had a look at, but they all seem lacking in one way or another. That makes this a DIY project, an I looked around for an easy way to do this.
A microcontoller seems to be an ideal solution. I have a Basic Stamp, but that's a little slow and has limited I/O capabilities. That left the Arduino or Raspberry Pi. Either one would do, but I chose the Arduino. I've gone ahead and ordered the UNO with several modules that I think I'll need for this project. To start, I won't include any RF communications such as WiFi or Bluetooth. That may be added later, once the base functionality is proven. For now it will be programmed at the front panel, or through the USB port.
So, what functionality do I want:
I'm sure others have different requirements, and I'll consider them when I play the part of a code monkey. Browsing through the available modules, and published projects for the Arduino, I had several ideas for later implementation. Automated watering, environmental controls, nutrient mixing are just some of the applications that I'm interested in down the road.
I'd like to hear your ideas. Please keep it to lighting for now.
A microcontoller seems to be an ideal solution. I have a Basic Stamp, but that's a little slow and has limited I/O capabilities. That left the Arduino or Raspberry Pi. Either one would do, but I chose the Arduino. I've gone ahead and ordered the UNO with several modules that I think I'll need for this project. To start, I won't include any RF communications such as WiFi or Bluetooth. That may be added later, once the base functionality is proven. For now it will be programmed at the front panel, or through the USB port.
So, what functionality do I want:
- Power on/off switching for Meanwell drivers
- independent intensity control for each light channel
- options of instantaneous, ramp, or sinusoidal change for each light channel
- daily cycle, with multiple cycles for each light channel possible
- power failure recovery with soft start
I'm sure others have different requirements, and I'll consider them when I play the part of a code monkey. Browsing through the available modules, and published projects for the Arduino, I had several ideas for later implementation. Automated watering, environmental controls, nutrient mixing are just some of the applications that I'm interested in down the road.
I'd like to hear your ideas. Please keep it to lighting for now.