Hello all,
My name is Tony, and am currently starting to work on a project for me and possible to later produce for others in my situation.
I have only slightly touched the surface of programming. I currently am a computer science major and have been working with computers since XP (pre-SP1); before that I couldn't walk if that give you a hint as to why I am so late in the game.
I have a high technical aptitude and look forward to exchanging ideas with y'all. Currently live in East Texas.
My project started like this, met my significant other about 2 and half years ago, she had a, what I thought, massive freshwater fish tank. I got really into the fish keeping scene over the next year. Skip ahead a year and I built my first reef tank. Had a crappy light over it that was not worth a diddly and then I discovered LEDs on reef tanks. Put some together and have been a fan of them ever since.
Since that time i have upgrade my tank, upgraded my light and everything is working perfectly. Now it's time for me to go even further into the electronics part of it. I want to build a controller for it. Not just a timer on and off type thing, but a simulator of sorts for the brightness, intensity, etc. Basically I want the light I have on it simulate dusk, dawn, sunset, sunrise, cloud movement, and if possible control other things later on, so I need room for expansion.
I expressed my interest on other forums and they said give Arduino look-see, and so here I am. New to the programming world, not even sure what I am getting myself into, but hell, I think if I'm competent enough in computers to remotely fix an offline computer in Australia, i think I should be able to handle a little programming basics.
So, this is where the questions come in.
I read through most of the website and gathered as much information as I could and still was mounds of it left over to absorb that I went into an overload and confused myself entirely.
What exactly do I need to control something like that?
- Currently I have 48 LEDs in 12 string series on 4 dimmable drivers by Meanwell with a multi-voltage PSU to control the dimming in 3v increments.
- Max current, (before life expectancy of LED shortens drastically) is 1000mA but would like to keep it under that by 50-100mA.
I would like to have everything controlled automatically, but also manual override to show off some of the workings of the light controller.
Expansion options:
I need to get something up front that will accommodate expansion of additional electronics that are in my tank, not just the light.
So does anyone have any insight as to what I am trying to achieve?