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  3. Irrigation Controller (up to 16 valves with Shift Registers)

Irrigation Controller (up to 16 valves with Shift Registers)

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  • petewillP petewill

    @BulldogLowell said:

    You could try a bigger pullup resistor, maybe the pin floats for a brief moment or it is somehow energized...

    Ok, I'll do some testing with that. I don't think I'll get the chance today but I should be able to do some tomorrow. It works perfectly after the first start up so hopefully a bigger resistor will help.

    BulldogLowellB Offline
    BulldogLowellB Offline
    BulldogLowell
    Contest Winner
    wrote on last edited by
    #39

    @petewill

    yeah, I see in the code that the pushbutton is using interrupt pin, but still needs to be set to input

    pinMode(PushButton, INPUT_PULLUP);
    

    start there, sorry!

    1 Reply Last reply
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    • petewillP Offline
      petewillP Offline
      petewill
      Admin
      wrote on last edited by
      #40

      @BulldogLowell said:

      yeah, I see in the code that the pushbutton is using interrupt pin, but still needs to be set to input

      I thought I added it already with this:

      pinMode(waterButtonPin, INPUT_PULLUP);
      
      

      Is that correct? Maybe that's my problem...

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

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      • petewillP Offline
        petewillP Offline
        petewill
        Admin
        wrote on last edited by
        #41

        @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?

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

        BulldogLowellB 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • petewillP 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?

          BulldogLowellB Offline
          BulldogLowellB 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

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          • petewillP Offline
            petewillP 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

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            • petewillP Offline
              petewillP 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

              BulldogLowellB 1 Reply Last reply
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              • petewillP 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!

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

                @petewill

                glad to hear that worked!

                :thumbsup:

                1 Reply Last reply
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                • BulldogLowellB 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

                  SparkmanS Offline
                  SparkmanS 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
                  • hekH Offline
                    hekH 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

                    BulldogLowellB C 2 Replies Last reply
                    2
                    • hekH hek

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

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

                      https://youtu.be/l4GPRTsuHkI

                      BulldogLowellB Offline
                      BulldogLowellB 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
                      • petewillP Offline
                        petewillP 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

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                        0
                        • RJ_MakeR Offline
                          RJ_MakeR Offline
                          RJ_Make
                          Hero Member
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #50

                          Great Work Guys!!

                          RJ_Make

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                          0
                          • SparkmanS 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!

                            petewillP SparkmanS 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!

                              petewillP Offline
                              petewillP 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

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                              0
                              • BulldogLowellB 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 !

                                BulldogLowellB 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!

                                  SparkmanS Offline
                                  SparkmanS 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 !

                                    BulldogLowellB Offline
                                    BulldogLowellB 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
                                    • tbowmoT Offline
                                      tbowmoT 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

                                      :)

                                      petewillP 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
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                                        • tbowmoT 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

                                          :)

                                          petewillP Offline
                                          petewillP 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

                                          tbowmoT 1 Reply Last reply
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