Is there a way to use the PowerSSR Tail and ZeroCross Tail products to dim AC lights with Arduino without using interrupts? ( I have a shield that is occupying the interrupt pins. )
Links:
http://www.powerswitchtail.com/Pages/PowerSSRTail.aspx
http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1230333861/0
Using an interrupt is needed to dim the AC controller. There is no other way.
Okay, maybe, perhaps.
Originally the ATmega8 has INT0 and INT1 as interrupt inputs.
http://arduino.cc/hu/Hacking/PinMapping
The Arduino function attachInterrupt() is for those two pins.
http://arduino.cc/it/Reference/AttachInterrupt
But the newer ATmega168 ... ATmega328p have interrupts on almost every pin: PCINT0 ... PCINT23.
As far as I know, those PCINT pins can also be set a pin-change-interrupt. So it should be possible. But you might have to write your own interrupt routine.
I think that using this will work: Arduino Playground - PcInt
The PowerSSR is just for on/off and needs no Interrupt.
The ZeroCross variant is for fading, so the zero-cross signal is crucial.
A Mega-2560 has 6 interrupt pins.
Krodal:
Links:
Information.com People Search | Free People Finder & White Pages - Locate Anyone
http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1230333861/0Using an interrupt is needed to dim the AC controller. There is no other way.
Okay, maybe, perhaps.
Originally the ATmega8 has INT0 and INT1 as interrupt inputs.
http://arduino.cc/hu/Hacking/PinMapping
The Arduino function attachInterrupt() is for those two pins.
http://arduino.cc/it/Reference/AttachInterrupt
But the newer ATmega168 ... ATmega328p have interrupts on almost every pin: PCINT0 ... PCINT23.
http://arduino.cc/en/Hacking/Atmega168Hardware
As far as I know, those PCINT pins can also be set a pin-change-interrupt. So it should be possible. But you might have to write your own interrupt routine.
I think that using this will work: Arduino Playground - PcInt
@Krodal,
Thanks for pointing out how many more interrupts the 328P has -- WOOT. If those are usable without terrible Arduino S/W gymnastics, this will greatly simplify AC phase control. It appears that the Information.com People Search | Free People Finder & White Pages - Locate Anyone can do AC phase control (dimming) of a non-inductive load, provided one has a time reference for zero crossings. It might be possible to add in a more robust snubber, and use this thing to drive small inductive loads. Not certain, but may be worth a try.
I't not clear to me that this product has a UL listing. If anybody knows about that, either way, please post the details. The disclaimer makes me wonder about this.
For a zero-crossing reference pulse, one could buy one of their Information.com People Search | Free People Finder & White Pages - Locate Anyone devices. However, it's pretty easy to make your own zero crossing detector, for much less. The Arduino Playground - ACPhaseControl example has a schematic for making a zero-cross reference -- and code to do a basic form of phase control/dimming. (That code has a delay loop in its ISR, so I don't like it so much. But it does do the job, albeit not elegantly.)
AC phase control is even easier if you use an AC (transformer-based) wallwart as the basis of your Arduino's power supply -- you can easily and safely get the zero-crossing pulse using an AC opto-isolator. Using transformer isolated/stepped down AC also lets you stay away from connecting your zero-cross detector directly to the AC_hot and AC_neutral to drive your phase control. Happy and safe.
Krodal -- thanks again for posting those helpful links; I appreciate your taking the time and initiative to do so. 
PiJoy
That zero-cross example is not elegant indeed.
This one seems better: http://arduino.cc/playground/Main/ACPhaseControl
I don't mind using high voltages, but if I had to make a zero-crossing detector, I would use a bridge rectifier.
If the power supply is already in use, a second bridge amplifier could be added, next to the existing one.
This circuit uses a diode to seperate the 100Hz signal from the rest.
In that circuit I would first try to remove R1, C1 and filter some noise in the Arduino with software.
R2 could be needed to remove the charge from the capacitance of the diodes.
->added: That's funny. I just read this post: http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php/topic,114451.msg861082.html#msg861082 which mentioned this link: Voltage Controlled AC Light Dimmer and it contains the same schematic.
You can get proportional mains controllers that do not need zero crossing control.
These simply use PWM to feed a proportional control input.