I have a 5 zone hydroponic system, I want to turn a pump on 18hrs, then cycle through 5 solenoid valves at 1 minute each. Just got Arduino board in mail, I'm systems engineer, not a programmer. Could someone give advice or point me toward where to look,
Could someone give advice
Why not use a mechanical timer?
https://scontent.ftpa1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13230170_1276309565732289_7156067322215928616_n.jpg?oh=89b260032f9f7e279861b9c707708ae5&oe=57E0D9D4
Of the timers pictured only one is capable of 1 minute on/5 off. The Railbirds and Orbits limit you to 8 programs daily, so you could just loop thru 8 times. This is just the start, ph control, water levels, ppm functions to be added.
Of the timers pictured only one is capable of 1 minute on/5 off.
You need 1 on/4 off, don't you?
How will the Arduino know what time it is? It makes a lousy clock.
After the pump runs for 18 hours, with each solenoid opening for 1 of 5 minutes, what happens?
Cycling through the solenoids is easy.
for(byte s=0; s<5; s++)
{
OperateSolenoid(i);
}
The OperateSolenoid() function is pretty simple. The argument is an index into the array where you have the pin numbers that the solenoids are attached to. Set the appropriate pin HIGH or LOW to open the solenoid. Call delay() for 60000UL milliseconds. Set the appropriate pin LOW or HIGH to close the solenoid.
Executing the loop that changes the open solenoid every minute, for 18 hours is pretty simple. That would just be a outer for loop that iterates 18 * 12 times (since the inner loop iterates for 5 minutes).
Then, a long delay (6 hours) and start over again.
Thanks for the answer. Ooh boy, much to learn. After system rests for 6hrs (nighttime) Then loop starts over. Don't know about clock,was envisioning just hitting reset at dawn and let it run from there. Turn pump on with Blink circuit and 324,000,000 on time, verify crashes at my off time of 104,000,000 error message of "too many arguments to function". I think I understand what you're saying, enough to give me a direction to explore anyways. Thanks again.
The on time and off time arguments do not have commas in the literal values, do they?
No, I left off the } at the end. Got my pump led working, now trying to add solenoids by adapting the for loop iteration.