Arduino's in permanent projects?

Hi all. I'm just wondering purely out of interest how many arduinos (or homemade whatever) you use around the place in permanent projects? If so what projects?

I have not completed a project yet but there are so many I want to do so I can image there will be a fair few working away around my house soon :slight_smile:

I have a couple now. I have a boarduino dedicated to my CNC project, another has been dedicated to my LED floodlight project.

I've got one more in a breadboard, plus an actual Arduino but not gotten an uno or mega yet. I may be just switching to 'raw' chip on perfboard for some, to bring the cost even lower.

The beasties are just too much fun.

What I do, and many others, is to develop and test the initial code on a arduino board and wire up a prototype to any external components I need to test out. Then when all is tested I pop out the programmed 328p chip and build it into the permanent project adding what few support components the 328p needs to operate with, crystal some caps, a pull-up resistor, etc.

Adding a arduino chip to a standalone projects is about a $10 addition to whatever else the project is using. Dedicating a whole arduino board to a project tends to be too expensive and takes up too much room then is necessary or desirable in most cases.

Lefty

Just like retrolefty said... in some case, it depends... Software first, or Hardware first.

I always follow this procedures :

Hardware First.

  1. Contruct the hardware.
  2. Test the hardware... without the Arduino.
  3. Test the hardware with Ardiuno using a test software to check the hardware.
  4. Code your sofware and tested it.
  5. Build your project. and repeat those procedures.

Software First.

  1. Code the sofware
  2. Contruct a test hardware, to test your code.
  3. Construct the project hardware.
    5, Test the Hardware without Arduino
  4. Test the hardware with the Ardiuno with your code.
  5. Build your project and repeat the Hardware procedures.

Building and code in steps help during troubleshooting.

The building processed at the company I work back in the mid 1990's use those tests procedures.

  1. Assembly
  2. Soldering
  3. Conductivity test.
  4. Test one - Calibration and tested with out the box.
  5. Box assembly
  6. High voltage test ( if the product need that test )
  7. burn in - endurance testing
  8. test two
    9 Quality control
    10 Shipping to customers

My dishwasher has been running off an Arduino for 9 months now. Couldn't be happier with how it's worked out.

retrolefty:
...
Then when all is tested I pop out the programmed 328p chip and build it into the permanent project adding what few support components the 328p needs to operate with, crystal some caps, a pull-up resistor, etc.
...

Hi,

do you have more information what are the needed components? (Or links?) And how do I start with a fresh 328p on the arduino?

best regards
Andreas

@danimath

Check this link : http://www.dalewheat.com. It will show how to breadboard a Atmega328P with a ardiuno bootloader and the support parts. To program, use his USB-TTL board or FDTI board from Sparkfun or USB-TTL mini from Arduino.cc. I build a ZIF board to program my ATmega with Arduino chip. The USB is a USB mini from Arduino.cc. My tread is in this section : Exhibition / Gallery

@Techone: many thanks for the links; a lot to read for a beginner like me!

Andreas

UnaClocker:
My dishwasher has been running off an Arduino for 9 months now. Couldn't be happier with how it's worked out.

Pretty cool - just got through reading that post...

When my wife and I bought our house - we did a couple of things:

  1. Bought a home warranty to cover any repairs like this (kinda needed for a 30+ year old house)...
  2. Bought our appliances used, and made sure they were "simple"

Our dishwasher has a simple knob, and an electromechanical timer. It gets the job done, and the dishes are clean. I think it cost us $150.00; that was 10 years ago. Same thing with our washer and dryer - simple knobs, and -not- front-loading; we paid under $300.00 for both (we've got friends and family who bought the "nice" front-loading washers/dryers; they're constantly having the panels or other things break on them - ours gets the job done without fail. They may not be fancy, but we're not having dinner parties in our laundry room, either).

Short story: I'm unlikely to "Arduino-ize" my dishwasher (or any other appliance) any time soon. I do think your project's cool, though - much applause!

:slight_smile:

Unaclocker-

That dishwasher hack was awesome. We had a Maytag with that exact same front panel and it went out in the exact same fashion after only 4 years. I took it apart and took the panel off and tried to find a new one, but decided the part was too expensive, and I wasn't 100 percent sure it would fix it anyway. So I put mine on the street and bought a new one. Too bad, that dishwasher cleaned the dishes really well.

I'm sure Maytag knows about that horrible design flaw- I won't be buying anything from them again.

My wife and I both enjoyed your dishwasher hack post immensely.

For permanent projects, I always end up creating a clone, tailored to what I'm doing. I design my own PCB, with what I need, and go from there. The last large project was a xmas light display, and I ended up making 15 custom PCBs, each with a 328P on board and an RF module.

Sooner or later here I will create a custom PCB that I can use for anything, but right now I'm just playing with it, trying to figure out what all I need/use before I create a generic enough PCB that I can use over and over again, regardless of the project I'm building.

I also just use the Arduino for testing the hardware/code. When I have that completed, I'll build a prototype using the standalone Arduino model in a perfboard. If I need to make multiple of them, I'll have a circuit board manufactured.

I also program first on the arduino and build a standalone PCB for my projects. Here's an example of a standalone board I developed for a guitar pickup winder. It controls a motor with PWM via a pin on the arduino. It has outputs routed for an LCD also. All input and output pins are accessible.

I'll attach the Eagle .brd file also if you want to play around with it. You can modify to suit any need as it has the basic requirements for an atmega328P to operate.

ArduinoStandalone.brd (105 KB)

Hi all

I have only just started with the Arduino.

I needed something to operate my Central Heating. I have just installed underfloor heating to a new build conservatory.
I needed something to integrate the new system into our existing CH system, without excessive modification of the pipework \ decor
etc.

I now have a control box in the boiler cupboard with an Atmega328 doing the work.
I used Arduino to develop the system, and then built a dedicated PCB containing the programmed micro plus the I\O I needed

(optocouplers for 240V inputs from the thermostats etc. Relays for controlling the pumps, motorised valves and the boiler).

I spent a lot time developing the system using flow charts etc.
the Arduino code has a number of error detection routines built-in, in case of various system failures (valves failing etc) plus the
system has the watchdog timer enabled to handle other unforeseen problems.
It has now been installed and running faultlessly for many months.

I have two - one with a real Arduino board and one with Atmega 328P with bootloadeer.

The first is a whole house telephone intercom system. Description is at Arduino Whole House Telephone Intercom.

The second is a vent controller added to my home HVAC system. In that case, I wanted to power the controller with the 24VAC that operates the HVAC controls. It was easy, compact, and economical to just plop the 328P into my custom circuitry.

The second system activates duct dampers and the furnace fan to automatically draw outside air into the house during cool Summer nights, and occasionally during warm Winter days. When I awake on a Summer morning, the house is usually luxuriously cool, but never cold. The house seldom heats up enough before evening to trigger the air conditioner anymore.