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All in one Arduino

Michaelo

By Michaelo
in DIY Astronomer

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Michaelo

Michaelo

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I'm trying to get a list of all DIY projects where an Arduino is used...

I have read several post where one Arduino is used for dew control and another for focusing and another for something else...

My aim is to combine as many projects as possible into an All in One Arduino project (using one Arduino)...

If successful I will supply the sketch, PCB layouts and schematics...

This may take a bit of time but what else am I to do when the clouds roll in ;)

Mike

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Michaelo

Michaelo

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Thanks for the info themos, I'm looking into ASCOM as I write... lots to learn...

As I want to use one main Arduino based controller to control up to 8/16 devices that might just be the place to start... no point in reinventing the wheel ;)

Now that makes three devices...

  • Dew Heaters..
  • Focusing...
  • Autoguiding...

Mike

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Michaelo

Michaelo

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Then aim is to build all the devices separately, then combine as many as is feasible in one controller...

Not going to reinvent the wheel, if a device exists and is perfect for the task, then I will use it with a view to adding additional functionality...

Communication between devices may be possible using low a cost IR or Radio solution...

Also want to allow for optional PC control at a later stage...

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ncjunk

ncjunk

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This was, and still is, my idea as well but two small children have stopped my ability to work on it.

I've done-

Power box with relay control

Cloud sensor (with george doing a great version)

Focuser with ascom driver

The ascom standard is relatively straight forward, you are just passing the right information to the right pre-configured ascom commands and thats it.

You'd need to be carefull with timing and make sure no one process hogs all the resources.

I also plan on adding a high res encoder to my eq6 and getting an arduino to provide tracking corrections....aahh best laid plans and all that :unsure:

Sent from my GT-P5110 using Tapatalk 2

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yesyes

yesyes

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I don't mean to rain on your parade.. ;-)

But I wouldn't use one Arduino for everything. I prefer to have several Arduinos each dedicated to one or 2 tasks.

They are cheap, so there's not much financial reason to have only one. Then you would need to run long cables from all sorts of places to your one Arduino.

Also, the Arduino cannot multi-task. So squeezing a lot of different functions into one Arduino might result in timing issues.

But if you're interested, I have the following Arduino devices / projects so far

- Weather Station (outside temperature, sky temperature, humidity) communicating through Ethernet shield via SNMP

- An observatory clock with 8 digit 3" LED display, 8x64 LED matrix display for text, real-time clock module, GPS receiver to get correct time and display of local coordinates, IR remote

- ASCOM focuser running the SGL Observatory Automation software

- DSLR TEC cooling controller (not quite finished)

- my biggest Arduino project so far: Home Automation with several Arduinos Minis throughout the house. they are either sensors (temperature, humidity), RGB LED controllers, IR remote senders/receivers and many more to come

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Gina

Gina

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I agree with Chris, I prefer to use Arduinos for just one or two functions each. I already use two for AP, both Minis - one for dew control and the other for DSLR Peltier cooling control. The first is in a little box mounted on the dovetail (to reduce cabling) and the other in a big box on the pier containing the displays as well as cooling control and power distribution. Arduinos are small enough and cheap enough to use exactly where you want them. The other advantage of separate Arduinos is not "having all your eggs in one basket" if one fails you don't lose everything.

I may well use another Arduino for controlling my roll off roof. I already have the winch. I may use a rain (or cloud) detector to close the roof automatically.

I also have other projects on the go.

  • Weather station also
  • Remote control of CCTV camera selection and direction control for security and livestock watching. This uses two Arduinos, one in the remote control and the other in the base unit. They will be connected by wireless link.
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Islander

Islander

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I'm in the process of building an Arduino based weather station. I've got as far as writing and testing some basic routines to read a humidity sensor and pressure sensor, calculate dewpoint and wind chill, and log the results to an SD card. I've found an anemometer and wind vane kit and I'm going to use one of the Maplin tipping bucket rain gauges easily modified for increased resolution and nice and cheap. :) I may add either an ethernet shield or an Xbee wireless interface in the future too.

I've also used an Arduino to make a camera shutter/flash trigger and intervalometer. They're cheap and easy to work with. I agree with Chris and Gina, they aren't particularly suited to multithreading and are cheap enough to use one for a single purpose. It would be possible to make one device perform a large number of tasks but timing would be a nightmare to manage.

I'll have a look at your thread Gina - it might give me some ideas. :)

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