Skip to content
  • MySensors
  • OpenHardware.io
  • Categories
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
Skins
  • Light
  • Brite
  • Cerulean
  • Cosmo
  • Flatly
  • Journal
  • Litera
  • Lumen
  • Lux
  • Materia
  • Minty
  • Morph
  • Pulse
  • Sandstone
  • Simplex
  • Sketchy
  • Spacelab
  • United
  • Yeti
  • Zephyr
  • Dark
  • Cyborg
  • Darkly
  • Quartz
  • Slate
  • Solar
  • Superhero
  • Vapor

  • Default (No Skin)
  • No Skin
Collapse
Brand Logo
  1. Home
  2. My Project
  3. Irrigation Controller (up to 16 valves with Shift Registers)

Irrigation Controller (up to 16 valves with Shift Registers)

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved My Project
371 Posts 56 Posters 304.6k Views 52 Watching
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as topic
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
  • P petewill

    @BulldogLowell said:

    were you not getting a compile error? on the PushButton variable being undeclared?

    Ok, I still think I have some things to learn about interrupts. I thought PushButton was the method being called when the interrupt was triggered. I didn't think it was the pin. I thought the pin was the first item 1 in this case. But, I thought 1 isn't even the pin. It's the interrupt number which is pin 3 in the case of a Pro Mini. I also thought I needed to declare the pinMode even if it's already in the interrupt. So confusing... Am I totally off?

    B Offline
    B Offline
    BulldogLowell
    Contest Winner
    wrote on last edited by
    #42

    @petewill

    post deleted, my bad! your understanding is 100% correct!

    your PushButton is the ISR, so you are right

    Try the extra pullup or pull-down

    really sorry for confusing you! I'm mega jet lagged

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • P Offline
      P Offline
      petewill
      Admin
      wrote on last edited by
      #43

      @BulldogLowell said:

      I'm mega jet lagged

      Totally understandable :)

      Ok, I'll try the other options discussed above and post back. Thanks.

      My "How To" home automation video channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq_Evyh5PQALx4m4CQuxqkA

      1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • P Offline
        P Offline
        petewill
        Admin
        wrote on last edited by
        #44

        @BulldogLowell said:

        Try the extra pullup

        Well, I had almost no time to work on MySensors stuff this weekend. :( I did do a quick test last night and it seems the external pullup worked! I power cycled the node 3 times and each time it worked flawlessly. I'll continue to test but so far so good. Thank you!

        My "How To" home automation video channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq_Evyh5PQALx4m4CQuxqkA

        B 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • P petewill

          @BulldogLowell said:

          Try the extra pullup

          Well, I had almost no time to work on MySensors stuff this weekend. :( I did do a quick test last night and it seems the external pullup worked! I power cycled the node 3 times and each time it worked flawlessly. I'll continue to test but so far so good. Thank you!

          B Offline
          B Offline
          BulldogLowell
          Contest Winner
          wrote on last edited by
          #45

          @petewill

          glad to hear that worked!

          :thumbsup:

          1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • B BulldogLowell

            I put together an extension of the multi-Relay controller for use as a controller for your irrigation project if you have more zones than available pins on your Arduino.

            This sketch features the following:

            • Allows you to cycle through All zones or individual zone control.
            • Use the (n+1)th device to activate each zone in numeric sequence (zero to n) using
              Variable1 as the "ON" time in minutes in each of the vera devices created.
            • Use the individual zone controller to activate a single zone. This feature uses
              Variable2 as the "ON" time for each individual device/zone.
            • Connect according to pinout in the sketch and uses an 74HC595 (or equiv) Shift Register as to
              allow the MySensors standard radio configuration and still leave available digital pins
            • Compiles to ~12,000 Bytes, so will run on any Arduino
            • Turning on any zone will stop the current process and begin that particular process.
            • Turning off any zone will stop the current process and turn off all zones.
            • Sketch must collect your desired intervals so it takes several minutes to startup.
            • If you change your desired time intervals for your zones, simply restart your arduino
              and it will self update to reflect those changes.

            Example, I am using with 8 relays:

            This will create 9 devices. Zero through 7 are the individual relays. Eight is the Sequencer, so to speak (refer to attachment).

            Once you create this and add it using the gateway, go to each of zero through 7 and edit Variable1 and Variable2 for what time you want to use for the Sequencer or Zone respectively. Then save the settings. Then, restart your arduino; your arduino will extract these settings and save them to an array.

            When you turn on device 8 (aka the Sequencer) the relays will actuate in order from zero to seven, each one staying on for the period entered in the Variable1 field. There is a 5 second delay at the start of a new zone to allow for the valves to hydraulically reset.

            When you turn on any of devices zero through 7, it will run that zone only for the period of time entered in Variable2.

            Selecting any new zone (0-8) will stop the current process and start as per above.

            Hope you have a use for it. If you see any opportunity to improve, or find a bug, let me know.

            Jim
            modified. Attached wrong file, whoops!

            Sprinkler.ino

            S Offline
            S Offline
            Sparkman
            Hero Member
            wrote on last edited by Sparkman
            #46

            @BulldogLowell Thanks for posting this. A sprinkler controller to replace my Rainbird controller is next on my list of projects.

            For those looking for a good and relatively cheap soil moisture sensor, these ones are pretty good and use a capacitive sensor: http://www.ebay.com/itm/261675851824. They transmit on 433 MHz. I currently use them with RFXCom and HomeSeer, but for those that don't have RFXCom, the protocol should be relatively easy to reverse engineer and then use directly with MySensors and a 433MHz receiver. I've also bought a few from here: https://www.plantcaretools.com/en/webshop/wireless-moisture-sensor-en-detail. Both sellers were good to deal with. The only drawback to them is that the antenna (and therefore range) is not very good, but there is an easy mod to improve that: http://www.domoticz.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2712

            Cheers
            Al

            DrJeffD 1 Reply Last reply
            1
            • H Offline
              H Offline
              hek
              Admin
              wrote on last edited by hek
              #47

              Added your project to the main site togeter with @petewill excellent new video.

              http://www.mysensors.org/build/irrigation

              https://youtu.be/l4GPRTsuHkI

              B C 2 Replies Last reply
              2
              • H hek

                Added your project to the main site togeter with @petewill excellent new video.

                http://www.mysensors.org/build/irrigation

                https://youtu.be/l4GPRTsuHkI

                B Offline
                B Offline
                BulldogLowell
                Contest Winner
                wrote on last edited by BulldogLowell
                #48

                Cool @hek!

                Well done @petewill So easy for folks to follow along your outstanding video!

                MySensors Community Rocks!

                DrJeffD 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • P Offline
                  P Offline
                  petewill
                  Admin
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #49

                  @BulldogLowell said:

                  MySensors Community Rocks!

                  Agreed!!! Thanks to both @BulldogLowell and @hek for making this possible. I love seeing it hanging on my wall every time I go into the basement :)

                  My "How To" home automation video channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq_Evyh5PQALx4m4CQuxqkA

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • R Offline
                    R Offline
                    RJ_Make
                    Hero Member
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #50

                    Great Work Guys!!

                    RJ_Make

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • S Sparkman

                      @BulldogLowell Thanks for posting this. A sprinkler controller to replace my Rainbird controller is next on my list of projects.

                      For those looking for a good and relatively cheap soil moisture sensor, these ones are pretty good and use a capacitive sensor: http://www.ebay.com/itm/261675851824. They transmit on 433 MHz. I currently use them with RFXCom and HomeSeer, but for those that don't have RFXCom, the protocol should be relatively easy to reverse engineer and then use directly with MySensors and a 433MHz receiver. I've also bought a few from here: https://www.plantcaretools.com/en/webshop/wireless-moisture-sensor-en-detail. Both sellers were good to deal with. The only drawback to them is that the antenna (and therefore range) is not very good, but there is an easy mod to improve that: http://www.domoticz.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2712

                      Cheers
                      Al

                      DrJeffD Offline
                      DrJeffD Offline
                      DrJeff
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #51

                      @Sparkman I like the sensors, I just built some and was dbating the way to make smaller, what kind of battery life do those moisture sensors have?

                      @petewill Time to change my current 16 valve arduino sprinklers to a little smarter version like yours! I love this community.
                      You have been coming on with some awesome videos and contributions!

                      P S 2 Replies Last reply
                      0
                      • DrJeffD DrJeff

                        @Sparkman I like the sensors, I just built some and was dbating the way to make smaller, what kind of battery life do those moisture sensors have?

                        @petewill Time to change my current 16 valve arduino sprinklers to a little smarter version like yours! I love this community.
                        You have been coming on with some awesome videos and contributions!

                        P Offline
                        P Offline
                        petewill
                        Admin
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #52

                        @DrJeff I agree this is a great community! So much fun!

                        Thanks for the kind words! All credit for this project goes to @BulldogLowell though. I just made the video :)

                        My "How To" home automation video channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq_Evyh5PQALx4m4CQuxqkA

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • B BulldogLowell

                          Cool @hek!

                          Well done @petewill So easy for folks to follow along your outstanding video!

                          MySensors Community Rocks!

                          DrJeffD Offline
                          DrJeffD Offline
                          DrJeff
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #53

                          @BulldogLowell Sorry For not giving the credit where it is due! Major Props @BulldogLowell !

                          B 1 Reply Last reply
                          1
                          • DrJeffD DrJeff

                            @Sparkman I like the sensors, I just built some and was dbating the way to make smaller, what kind of battery life do those moisture sensors have?

                            @petewill Time to change my current 16 valve arduino sprinklers to a little smarter version like yours! I love this community.
                            You have been coming on with some awesome videos and contributions!

                            S Offline
                            S Offline
                            Sparkman
                            Hero Member
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #54

                            @DrJeff said:

                            @Sparkman I like the sensors, I just built some and was dbating the way to make smaller, what kind of battery life do those moisture sensors have?

                            They've been running for about 9 months on the first set of batteries (2xAAA) so far and are still going strong.

                            Cheers
                            Al

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • DrJeffD DrJeff

                              @BulldogLowell Sorry For not giving the credit where it is due! Major Props @BulldogLowell !

                              B Offline
                              B Offline
                              BulldogLowell
                              Contest Winner
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #55

                              Thanks @DrJeff

                              I just made an irrigation controller... @petewill made it for everyone!

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • T Offline
                                T Offline
                                tbowmo
                                Admin
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #56

                                just for inspiration, here's another irrigation controller video (no, it's not mine.. but one of my friends that made it)

                                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRU0xrd8dn0

                                :)

                                P DrJeffD 2 Replies Last reply
                                0
                                • DidiD Offline
                                  DidiD Offline
                                  Didi
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #57

                                  Wow 48 channels thats awesome

                                  if (knowledge == 0) { use BRAIN; use GOOGLE;use SEARCH; } else {make POST;}

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • T tbowmo

                                    just for inspiration, here's another irrigation controller video (no, it's not mine.. but one of my friends that made it)

                                    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRU0xrd8dn0

                                    :)

                                    P Offline
                                    P Offline
                                    petewill
                                    Admin
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #58

                                    @tbowmo WOW! What did he use that for??

                                    My "How To" home automation video channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq_Evyh5PQALx4m4CQuxqkA

                                    T 1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • T tbowmo

                                      just for inspiration, here's another irrigation controller video (no, it's not mine.. but one of my friends that made it)

                                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRU0xrd8dn0

                                      :)

                                      DrJeffD Offline
                                      DrJeffD Offline
                                      DrJeff
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #59

                                      @tbowmo Time for a Shower, Can you say body sprays! :)

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • P petewill

                                        @tbowmo WOW! What did he use that for??

                                        T Offline
                                        T Offline
                                        tbowmo
                                        Admin
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #60

                                        @petewill

                                        He recently planted a lot of trees, so instead of walking around and watering each one manually he made this

                                        Its a arduino with a nrf24 module, but not using the mysensors library (yet...)

                                        P 1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • T tbowmo

                                          @petewill

                                          He recently planted a lot of trees, so instead of walking around and watering each one manually he made this

                                          Its a arduino with a nrf24 module, but not using the mysensors library (yet...)

                                          P Offline
                                          P Offline
                                          petewill
                                          Admin
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #61

                                          @tbowmo said:

                                          @petewill

                                          He recently planted a lot of trees

                                          I guess so :)

                                          Cool!

                                          My "How To" home automation video channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq_Evyh5PQALx4m4CQuxqkA

                                          1 Reply Last reply
                                          0

                                          Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.

                                          Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.

                                          With your input, this post could be even better 💗

                                          Register Login
                                          Reply
                                          • Reply as topic
                                          Log in to reply
                                          • Oldest to Newest
                                          • Newest to Oldest
                                          • Most Votes


                                          15

                                          Online

                                          12.0k

                                          Users

                                          11.2k

                                          Topics

                                          113.4k

                                          Posts


                                          Copyright 2025 TBD   |   Forum Guidelines   |   Privacy Policy   |   Terms of Service
                                          • Login

                                          • Don't have an account? Register

                                          • Login or register to search.
                                          • First post
                                            Last post
                                          0
                                          • MySensors
                                          • OpenHardware.io
                                          • Categories
                                          • Recent
                                          • Tags
                                          • Popular