Hello Arduino Forum,
I am new here and to Arduino. I ordered the beginners kit and completed the first exercise. At this point I realized that the beginners kit had already answered the questions I had about my project. The code syntax is very c like (I suspect it is c) so I don't think I need to complete the rest of the exercises to learn the coding. This is due to the fact that I am a professional software engineer with 20+ years of experience with C, C++ and Objective C plus other languages. Here are details of the projects I will be doing.
1 . DrainMaster RV Waste Valve control.
I have been talking to DrainMaster about getting my RV Android Control tablet to monitor and control new drain valves made by DrainMaster. This valves are electric and have a switch to controll them. I need that switch in the wet bay but could also use 1 inside. I don't want to try and run wires to them inside so I would like to use the existing Android tablet command station in the RV to have an app using bluetooth to control the valves. Here is my plan.
Run a Nano 33 BLE Sense board (it does not have to be sense but it maybe fun to play with the sensors so why not). I have a device to down convert the RV 12v system to 3.3v for the board (Amazon.com). Each Valve will have 2 inputs 1 each for open and closed status and 1 output valuve that will need to run a relay to supply a 12v signal to toggle the value. The toggle needs to run via a relay and will hold a high (12v) signal for a period of time like 100ms. The inputs for each valve will need to be opto coupled as the input is on the same overall 12v system but with the power reduction me and DrainMasters lead engineer feel it is best to isolate. I am assuming I don't need to do this with the relay as it kinda acts like that but I may do it anyway. There will be 3 valves in total and then the status and control will be push via bluetooth to an Android app I will write.
WIth this project any good small relay I can use that will take in the board voltage (I assume 3.3v) and handle 12v going across it. Also any good opto couplers I should look at getting.
- Factory Five Roadster Kit Car Controls
This one is fun. I have been building a Factory Five kit for a few years now. I am getting close to doing my wiring. Most of the wiring is going to be standard and not need an Arduino. However I am also building this kit with a mind that I may import it into the UK if I decide to move back there from the US. Therefore I need to have some control of the rear fog light. It needs to only be on when the head lights are also on. Now I can acheive this with some simple wiring and a relay, but if I have an arduino I can also do other cool things like changing the button light colors based upon latched state. So for instance if the fog light button is pressed the led around the button will turn green. If the head lights are on the led will be blue until latched on when it will again turn green. There are several buttons I wish to do this with.
I plan to use the Mega 2560 Rev3 board again supplied with 5v and with opto coupled inputs and outputs. I plan to mainly use transistors on the ground side of the LED's to acheive this (I think this is right from what I remember of my research). For the fog light that will use a standard automotive relay if I can drive one from 5v I might need to make it 12v in this case I would just use the same relay I use for the drain valves. Advise here would be awesome.
Thanks
James