Arduino POT control

Using Arduino Project Guidance
#1

Hi

i have a project in which i have to take control of a device, the device has a pot built in which is used to control a timer (i think). what i need to do is duplicate the pot using the arduino and i have no idea how to go about that. i was wondering if the PWM with a low-pass filter is the right way to go

if anyone could help me that would be great

thank you

#2

The pot can control a timer in different ways, so without knowing how your timer circuit works its not possible to say how you can reproduce its function with an arduino.

Can you post the details/schematic of your timer ?

#3

Hi

well im not the one developing the timer im taking control of a device which has a built in timer. i will attach a picture of the device circuit which i want to take control of there is a on switch. which i used a transistor to turn on and off from the arduino and thats fine. now i want to take control of the pot using the arduino

rsz_20160304_100527.jpg
rsz_20160304_100527.jpg1494×2656 470 KB

#4

It looks like you are trying to hack in to a microwave /oven of sorts ?

As to how its timer is controlled, impossible to say from a picture like that.

You need to work out the circuit by examining the board to see how the pot controls the timer, only then can you work out how / if the arduino can control it.

It may well be better to use the arduino to act as the timer ..?

What you need to be very carefull with is that any part of that devices circuitry might well be at mains voltage that could easily feed back to the Ardunio and blow everything, including yourself !

For that reason I will not offer anything further.

#5

hi

thanks for getting back to me i just wanted to check if using a PWM with a low pas filter would help me achieve my goal

thanks

#6

Without more information it's impossible to say. Is the pot controlling a 5v signal? Then maybe, but I'm betting no. One way that would work is to get a digital pot. That can be controlled by the Arduino just make sure it is rated to carry the current.

#7

Hi

i have used a multi-meter and yes it is carrying a 5v signal. i guess using a digital pot with the spi might be the best way

however i was wondering if reading the analog signal from a digital pot would be the same as a normal pot

example:
spi.transfer(128)

would the analog read function from the arduino give me 1023 as a normal pot would

thanks

#8

The output of a digital pot is a variable resistance the same as the output of a manual pot so yes the signal is the same.

#9

Hi

on the circuit board of the device i am controlling there are two led's, the led's are Bi-Coloured Red-Green 3mm LED with a common Anode (+) and i want to know if the arduino could read the pins of the cathode (-) to tell me which color is activated, if so how would i be able to go around it.

thank you

#10

If you can read it with a multimeter you should be able to read it with the arduino.

#11

i used the analog read with the led connected to a 10kohm resistor and it seemed fine however i have another issue

i am using a wifly shield and i got it to read data and send data from my phone to the arduino via a socket.

  while(SpiSerial.available() > 0) {

#if ARDUINO >= 100
  Serial.write(SpiSerial.read());
#else
   Serial.print(SpiSerial.read(), BYTE);
#endif
  }


if(Serial.available()) { // Outgoing data
#if ARDUINO >= 100  
    SpiSerial.write(Serial.read());
#else
    SpiSerial.print(Serial.read(), BYTE);
#endif
  }

i used this to read values from my phone, however i took the code from an example and was wondering how i could change the code so the incoming values and out going values are stored in a variable so i can preform an if statement

thank you

#12