# Submerged: modular aquarium automation



## jsiegmund (21 Jun 2016)

Hi all,

These last few months I've been working on a pet project which I've called "Submerged". I wanted to introduce it here and maybe some of you might be interested in trying it out or even contributing it.

At the moment, submerged supports two kinds of modules: a sensor module for monitoring a tank, and a cabinet module for leak detection and switching relays. These modules are simple and require only power to work. They connect to the "gateway" device via bluetooth. This gateway is a raspberry pi (2B or 3) running Windows IoT. You can connect a display to the gateway to get realtime information about your tank:






The gateway also sends this information to the submerged back-end. The back-end collects all measured data for storage & analytics. A mobile app for smartphones (cross platform although only tested for Android at the moment) can display the data:





At the moment the app displays the live data (along with a small graph of the last 3 hours) and you can click to see the data per hour, day, week or month. Especially for pH this can be very useful. 

The app also allows you to control the relays you might have (linked to the cabinet module). It's simple on/off and each relay can be toggled automatically in "maintenance mode". This allows me to switch everything off for maintenance, but the cabinet light comes on  





There's also notifications included for sensor values running out of preset limits (min/max). These trigger a near real-time notification on your phone. For future versions I'm looking into a LED control module and maybe automatic feeding and water changing. I've got all of the sources published on github (http://www.github.com/jsiegmund/submerged). 

Anyone who wants to use / contribute will have to get the hardware themselves. I've got a list of hardware here: https://github.com/jsiegmund/submerged/blob/master/hardware.md. It's all very common stuff, I've ordered a lot from aliexpress.com. All included I've spent about 150 euro I think. Most expensive parts are the Pi and the Atlas pH stuff which is relatively expensive (tried a Chinese one, didn't fly). 

The code is .NET C#, the back-end is running on Azure. At the moment I'm limited in the number of devices it can support, simply because I need to scale up some things when the number of messages increases. In the github readme you can find some of the things that you can contribute to if you're interested in any way. 

Even if you don't want to contribute, it would be very helpful to know which features you want to see added or what you'd find useful. I can use that to build a backlog. I'm not yet sure how far I'm going to take this, it's a fun hobby project at the moment so don't expect the world at this point.

Love to hear your opinions!


----------



## Ryan Thang To (21 Jun 2016)

i like the ideal. very usefully by the way. i don't have a clue on how to set that up tho lol

cheers
ryan


----------



## jsiegmund (22 Jun 2016)

No problem, I totally get that. The hard part of setting it up at the moment is the hardware, some soldering is required  I guess in the end we might be able to do ready made modules which you only need to register and plug into power, but for now that's a strecht too far.


----------



## markk (22 Jun 2016)

Hi Jasper,

Just picking up from my question in the previous thread.

Can your .NET code run on other platforms (e.g. mono on linux) - or does it require Windows 10 IoT?
and is it possible to control those sensors/switches directly from the Pi (i.e. without the arduinos)?

I ask because I can't help but feel you're adding additional complexity and cost for no significant benefit.

Let me explain 

Using Windows 10 IoT requires you to use a Raspberry Pi 2B or 3. This is at least £25 more expensive than a Raspberry Pi zero, is physically larger and you don't need the additional memory or processing power.
Using Arduinos (rather than direct connection to pi) adds more boxes and cost, still requires wiring for the power and is potentially limiting (both inherently by using arduino's and through the use of bluetooth).

Assuming a basic project with a couple of temperature sensors and switches and ignoring common costs such as power supply, cases and the sensors themselves, the costs of a 'multiple box' solution would look something like:-

Raspberry Pi 3      £31
8Gb SD Card        £3
Arduino nano x2   £6
Bluetooth HC-06   £4
Total                      *£44
*
Whereas using a 'one box' solution looks like:-

Raspberry Pi Zero £4
4Gb SD Card        £3
USB OTG Shim    £1
Mini WIFI dongle   £4
Total                      *£12
*
For someone just getting interested/started, the initial costs are lower and the complexity is reduced - no additional boxes and no need to learn about arduino's as well as pi's.

The arduino route with bluetooth does potentially scale better if you decide to upgrade/expand at a later date (no need to physically touch the gateway device) - but using just a pi and the right initial design, this can be handled (e.g. those DS18B20 temperature sensors can be networked and a single pi can handle reading a number - I have 7 connected to my main system).

Please take this as constructive feedback/criticism and not some sort of personal attack - this looks like a very promising project and I'd really like more and more people to see how easy it is to get started with DIY solutions like these - hence my interest in keeping it as simple and cheap as possible.

Regards,
Mark


----------



## jsiegmund (22 Jun 2016)

markk said:


> Can your .NET code run on other platforms (e.g. mono on linux) - or does it require Windows 10 IoT?
> and is it possible to control those sensors/switches directly from the Pi (i.e. without the arduinos)?



At the moment it requires Windows 10 IoT, but Microsoft is launching .NET core soon which runs on Linux and Mac as well. The current app is already UWP (Universal Windows Platform) so should port over without too much effort. Might depend on some of the API's becoming available for the other platforms though, not sure about that. 



markk said:


> Using Windows 10 IoT requires you to use a Raspberry Pi 2B or 3. This is at least £25 more expensive than a Raspberry Pi zero, is physically larger and you don't need the additional memory or processing power.
> Using Arduinos (rather than direct connection to pi) adds more boxes and cost, still requires wiring for the power and is potentially limiting (both inherently by using arduino's and through the use of bluetooth).



Agreed, to some extent. The main reason for this choice at the time was the availability of the Azure IoT SDK. It's not that I per se wanted to use Windows 10 IoT, but it was the most logical option. When there are good SDK's for the zero, there's nothing in the way of creating a zero compatible gateway and plug that in. You could also do it without any SDK's, but thats too much trouble for me at the moment. That's one of the perks of the current design; you can switch out any of the components for something else. 

The reason for the Arduino modules was mainly the ability to limit cables running everywhere. It's all doable as long as you have one Pi per tank, but if you want to monitor more tanks, you would be running all cables to a central Pi, or you needed to buy more Pi's which is more expensive. The end set-up will feature temperature sensors, ph sensor, flow sensors, multiple leak detection sensors, float sensors for stock fluids, etc. etc. That's a lot of wire. Also, the length of the wires might become a problem when you need to run it across your room to a central point.

For the bluetooth part; alternatives like ESP8266 433Mhz communication are being considered. There's no dependency on bluetooth apart from the gateway module implementations which can be swapped quite easily. 

By the way,  if you write a module class which uses the Pi's hardware instead of connecting to Arduinos via Bluetooth, you can quite easily support the "one box" scenario as well. The rest of the system doesn't care about how a module is connected to the gateway, as long as the gateway is able to retrieve its data. Each module is stand-alone in that sense. I've got a simulation mode in which a second Pi is outputting fake data without any physical arduino's connected. It's just two different classes being used, the rest of the system is completely agnostic. Dependency injection ftw!  



markk said:


> For someone just getting interested/started, the initial costs are lower and the complexity is reduced - no additional boxes and no need to learn about arduino's as well as pi's.



That's true. If you could specify the things you would want a one-box set-up to do, I can look into building it (no promises). 



markk said:


> Please take this as constructive feedback/criticism and not some sort of personal attack - this looks like a very promising project and I'd really like more and more people to see how easy it is to get started with DIY solutions like these - hence my interest in keeping it as simple and cheap as possible.



Sure, no problem at all. I really appreciate any form of constructive feedback so I'm definitely going to take this into account!


----------



## Easternlethal (22 Jun 2016)

I developed something like this once but found that people didn't like messing around with software and wanted buttons and lcds to read directly. Easy enough to program but I just couldn't build a nice enough box with all the right buttons,  displays, knobs and power sockets to support my software. 

I would start more basic -  even just a knob and lcd to let users control their lights in a nice enough box to see if you can really do it. 

Most people will buy anything if it comes in a nice enough box. Sounds simple but oh so hard to pull off...  But don't let me discourage you


----------



## ian_m (22 Jun 2016)

Well here is my controller (article in progress) with buttons, switches, display & ethernet. Can be operated and configured completely from front panel, so that if fiddling at tank during water change time, you decide you want all 4 tubes on right now and want to change light on time to 17:00, it can easily be done from front panel, without resorting to a PC and doing any programming. Its a Siemens Logo! programmable logic controller in a box. Job done.


----------



## jsiegmund (22 Jun 2016)

Easternlethal said:


> I developed something like this once but found that people didn't like messing around with software and wanted buttons and lcds to read directly. Easy enough to program but I just couldn't build a nice enough box with all the right buttons,  displays, knobs and power sockets to support my software.



That is already in place. That screenshot of the dashboard; it's running on a small LCD connected to the Pi which is next to my tank. Mine isn't touch enabled but you can use a touch screen and simply tap the relays to switch them on or off. So you either use the app or the touch screen. No need for physical buttons whatsoever


----------



## Easternlethal (22 Jun 2016)

These are really great and I love them. But by 'nice' I mean it has to be close to ada-level nice. No screws sticking out, no wires showing anywhere, lcd needs to be flush with no gaps where it is mounted, labels need to be etched and not just printed and stuck on, everything needs to be square (i.e machine-aligned) and set in the middle, nice led buttons etc. etc.

My point is that if you can do just one simple box to that standard that only controls lights, it would sell better than a box that looks like a diy job even though it does 100 different things.

And my experience with touchscreens is that the design will look old after 6 months because iphones and google have programmed people into expecting high oled res level graphics that are regularly updated. Also a lot of people can't operate them properly (fat or dry fingers). Most hobbyists prefer a nice chunky button anytime (just look at the hi-fi crowd).

I'm just speaking from personal experience but if you believe in your approach then go for it!


----------



## jsiegmund (23 Jun 2016)

I understand what you're saying, but this is still a DIY style project. It's feasible to create neat looking production grade modules, but I don't have the expertise to do so and at the moment the goal is not to sell stuff. So should anyone be interested in making these, that's perfectly fine with me of course, but don't expect too much 

Here's a pic of the gateway dashboard display next to my tank:


----------



## MrHidley (28 Jun 2016)

I love this, I look forward to setting up some kind of automatic fert dosing system at some point.


----------



## jsiegmund (28 Jun 2016)

Thanks! I do have a dosing pump system already so doing one via this system is not very high on my priority list to be honest, but I'll surely put it on there!


----------



## Julian (28 Jun 2016)

You know what would be really cool, if you could incorporate the tablet display to run across the front panel of your tank. There's got to be clear, LCD displays out there, right?


----------



## ian_m (28 Jun 2016)

MrHidley said:


> I love this, I look forward to setting up some kind of automatic fert dosing system at some point.


This was mine.
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/diy-dual-peristaltic-dosing-pump-with-alternate-switching.22332/


----------



## jsiegmund (15 Jul 2016)

Julian said:


> You know what would be really cool, if you could incorporate the tablet display to run across the front panel of your tank. There's got to be clear, LCD displays out there, right?



If you find one, let me know  



ian_m said:


> This was mine.
> http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/diy-dual-peristaltic-dosing-pump-with-alternate-switching.22332/



Nice. I already have a 4ch dosing pump myself so this one is not very high on the list. Measuring the stock fluids running out is  

Last addition to the project is logging. The mobile app now supports entering simple log messages which you can use to keep track of your latest maintenance. That information can be used to predict the next required maintenance of warn you when your late doing it. I also plan on saving all alert notifications to this list so there's a history to keep track of. For now it's just the basics.


----------



## jsiegmund (17 Jul 2016)

Next up: out-of-stock-detection! I've ordered some cheap-ass float sensors off aliexpress and found a 500ml bottle in which they fit (actually the problem was finding bottles with a large enough opening). The rest is pretty simple; drill a hole, fit the sensor, hook it up to the cabinet module and you've now got an IoT enabled bottle  Ok, still have to write some software for it. Not quite sure whether the fluids are going to affect the sensors in any way, but I don't think so and otherwise that's not too big of a problem.



 


 

Placement of the sensor allows me to have a few days to refill before it really runs out.


----------



## jsiegmund (12 Aug 2016)

Another update! Done a major overhaul of the back-end. Where previously there wasn't much flexibility, there now is lots. I've introduced a generic module based on Firmata which can read all sorts of sensors based on the configuration. That reduces the need for preconfigured modules although that can still be an easy way to provide some ready-made components in the future. The sensor configuration is now completely flexible, allowing to add as many sensors on as many modules as you would like (not tested for hundreds of course). Same goes for the notification settings; normal sensors have min/max thresholds, stock float sensors only signal when running out of stock and moisture only signals when wet.


----------



## jsiegmund (11 Sep 2016)

Here's another update, mainly focused on fixing some bugs and getting the experience more ready to get other users on board. I've published some documentation on how to get started at http://jsiegmund.github.io/submerged/. For now, getting started still requires some manual work deploying the mobile app and gateway using Visual Studio but I'm working on getting that fixed. Within the new app update users can now self-register a new device. The gateway is now more friendly to set-up too, it will request some information the first time it runs and then automatically gets its configuration from the back-end. Theoretically, also updates (adding a new sensor for instance) should be automatically pushed to the device and start working without any required reboot but that part does still need a bit of testing.

Let me know what you think about the documentation website, if there's anything missing or unclear, let me know or create a new issue in the repo (docs have their own branch).


----------



## jsiegmund (13 Sep 2016)

Sooner then expected, I made a small breakthrough in controlling LEDs. I found a controller which can be controlled via TCP which allows me to quite easily send RGB+W values via WiFi to this controller. So there are no technical limitations any more for implementing lighting, but I want to be serious about the UI. Being able to control RGB is fun and all, but we want nice sunset/sunrise programs in an easy to program way. The old controller I'm using at the moment (TC420) comes with software to program it, but that UI/UX sucks big time. So I'm looking for a better way to do it and want to find some inspiration. So I was wondering if any of you have good examples of lighting-control UI's that are user friendly and flexible at the same time. 

What I'm thinking of is programming color + output level linked to a specific time. The software can then calculate the crossfade between different settings and store a program with values per minute (probably sufficient?). But if there's better ways to do it... Would be best if the UI fits a mobile app, since I don't have a desktop version at the moment.


----------



## kadoxu (13 Sep 2016)

Great project! I'd help you if I had the time...


----------



## jsiegmund (7 Oct 2016)

Awesome news for all you LED fans out there! The published source code as of now supports controlling a simple 4 channel (RGBW) Ledenet controller! The mobile app also has a rudimentary way of programming it, I'd love some feedback on that. What I implemented is the following: 

You add a "point in time" to the led controller. That point includes the time of day, RGBW color and a fade-in time in minutes.

You can add as many points although they really should not overlap (this is untested at the moment).
Using the points in time, the gateway will calculate the RGBW value for each minute of the day. It uses the fade-in time to calculate smooth transitions between two point. Obviously 5 minute fades from 0-255 will not be very smooth, I will probably increase the resolution in a future update. 
The app interface for configuring such a point looks like this: 




 

Example: when you program a red color at 10 AM with a fade time of 30 minutes, the controller will start fading in at 9:30. At 10 AM, it will have reached the color you've programmed. If your next point in time is sunlight (full on) at 13:00 with a fade time of 2 hours, the output will remain red until 11 AM and then start fading to sunlight over the next two hours. Again, at 13:00 it will output the programmed value.

In my opinion this allows for a flexible way of programming yet it does not require a lot of effort. At least more convenient than the idiotic program I have now to control my TC420 
*
Note:* the "level" parameter at the moment does nothing, still need a good way to translate that into RGB without getting weird fades. 

Each device has 4 outputs, but since you can link in multiple devices you can pretty much control an unlimited number of channels (enough for now, any way). The downside at the moment is that these have to be configured separately for the time being.

Another thing I need to think about is a way to preview a certain color or even the entire program, software is not ready for that yet.


----------



## Carpman (9 Oct 2016)

Sounds like a fun project, Now you have simulated sunrise are you going to do sunset ?


----------



## rebel (9 Oct 2016)

Wow you've put in so much effort to develop this! 

Would love to hear updates. 

Can this be adopted to other lights such as chihiros etc?


----------



## jsiegmund (9 Oct 2016)

Carpman said:


> Sounds like a fun project, Now you have simulated sunrise are you going to do sunset ?


You can do pretty much any thing you like. If you program a sunrise, you can choose with which color and for how long. The same for sunset. There's no real need to pre-program such sequences.



rebel said:


> Wow you've put in so much effort to develop this!
> 
> Would love to hear updates.
> 
> Can this be adopted to other lights such as chihiros etc?


Thanks! With this generic LED controller, you can attach pretty much any LED fixture as long as there's cables for the LEDs coming out  That said, most fixtures come with their own controllers and connectors, you might not be comfortable cutting those off in order to connect the wires. If your fixture only comes with a main power cord, you would need to open it up and see whether you can connect the LEDs directly. Buying some LED from China is probably easier. 

A fixture also might not work with a generic controller, this would need to be tested for every fixture which of course I cannot do. What kind of cables / connectors does the chihiros have?


----------



## jsiegmund (19 Oct 2016)

Small update.. the experience of editing the LED program on the mobile app has improved a bit. There's now a button to test the program, which will sync the current program from the mobile app with the device and run it. The test run plays back the program in about a minute so you can easily see whether the result is what you were looking for. You can then easily make adjustments and do another test run until you're satisfied with the end result. For convenience it also strips out the dark / blackout periods you will probably have before your program (mornings) and after it (night). I'll put together a documentation page with some more info.

I also installed my float-sensor-equipped bottles with stock solutions, ready to be taken into production  If I have enough time this weekend, I'll connect it up and share some pics.


----------



## kadoxu (21 Nov 2016)

Hi,

I finally have a bit of time in my hands and was thinking about implementing this for my new tank (still in the planning stage) and to (hopefully) eliminate my need for Seneye's monthly slides.

A few tips on the hardware list... pictures and/or links would be very helpful for those (like me) whom don't really know what they are looking for. Post some pictures of your assembly, please! 

Here is my current list:

Gateway
Raspberry Pi 3 Model B

Sensor Module
Arduino Nano
Atlas Scientific EZO-PH pH Circuit
Atlas Scientific COM-101 Pre-assembled Female BNC

2x DS18B20 Waterproof Sensor Digital thermometer Thermal Probe Arduino

Electrode BNC Probe Connector Hydroponic for PH Aquarium Controller Meter Sensor
Wireless Bluetooth HC-06 RS232 Serial 4 Pin RF Transceiver Module (or is it HC-05?)

Cabinet module
Arduino Nano
4 channel Relay Module
4x floater switch

Common stuff
7 Port USB Power Station

3x 4.7kΩ resistor


I have a few questions (I haven't gone through your blog, so I'm sorry if these questions are already answered there):

You don't need Wireless & Bluetooth dongles with the Raspberry Pi 3, do you?
Where did you get the LCD display?
Is the dashboard interactive (making a touchscreen a cool addition), or is it just a status display?
From my understanding you should have the following:
Gateway - Raspberry Pi with LCD display connected to the 4 channel Relay Module.
Submerged Sensor module - PH & temp module that connects using Bluetooth.
Cabinet module (no diagram) - water leak sensors & float switches that connects using bluetooth

Can we use the same gateway for 2 tanks?
You mention an HC-06 bluetooth shield, but your diagram has an HC-05 model... which one is it?
You never mention the Adafruit T-Cobbler Plus, but there is one in your diagrams. Is it needed? Or can we simply use female to female jumpers?
What kind of water sensor do you use? Any of these?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Water-Liq...560243?hash=item2a73de1373:g:UqwAAOSwgQ9Vn9z4

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rain-Sens...608137?hash=item2a5b40ed49:g:PogAAOSw5ZBWNkw-

Both diagrams have a PH Circuit and Temperature sensors... and there are no water sensors and float switches in the diagrams.
Neptune Sketch has 2 x 220Ω resistors... Is this diagram just an initial sketch?
You mention in Common Stuff that you use GX12 4-pins connectors. Where do you use them?
The Relay Module is used to switch the pump, heating, and lights on/off remotely and/or for maintenance mode, right?

My C# is a bit rusty, but I may be able to help you with some coding and documentation if you need it.


----------



## jsiegmund (22 Nov 2016)

kadoxu said:


> Hi,
> 
> I finally have a bit of time in my hands and was thinking about implementing this for my new tank (still in the planning stage) and to (hopefully) eliminate my need for Seneye's monthly slides.
> 
> A few tips on the hardware list... pictures and/or links would be very helpful for those (like me) whom don't really know what they are looking for. Post some pictures of your assembly, please!



Awesome! Would be very cool to see whether we can get a second one running  I'll try my best to update the hardware list a bit and get some pictures in there. 



kadoxu said:


> Here is my current list:
> 
> Gateway
> Raspberry Pi 3 Model B
> ...



That's about right I think. Of course it also depends on what you're planning to monitor but this closely resembles the setup I have over here.

I'll answer the rest of your questions inline: 

You don't need Wireless & Bluetooth dongles with the Raspberry Pi 3, do you?
> I didn't test the onboard Bluetooth support of Win10, which was lacking when the 3 was just released. I'd guess it's probably there now but I'm not sure.
Where did you get the LCD display?
> aliexpress.com, just a simple 7" LCD with HDMI connector. Pretty much all of the hardware I have came from China.
Is the dashboard interactive (making a touchscreen a cool addition), or is it just a status display?
> It's not, but I had the same plan. There's no native support for touch panels in Windows IoT (again; last time I checked), but there's a hackster project that can help with that: https://www.hackster.io/dotMorten/windowsiottouch-44af19. One you have that running, it should be a matter of just hooking up some events to the UI. Those can be made already of course, simply using a mouse and clicking instead.
From my understanding you should have the following:
Gateway - Raspberry Pi with LCD display connected to the 4 channel Relay Module.
> I've got the relay module linked to the cabinet module. You can use the Pi's IO but that will require a bit of coding.
Submerged Sensor module - PH & temp module that connects using Bluetooth.
Cabinet module (no diagram) - water leak sensors & float switches that connects using bluetooth

Can we use the same gateway for 2 tanks?
> It's designed that way, yes. The gateway is reusable, you specify a tank per module. Not extensively tested yet (I only have one). 
You mention an HC-06 bluetooth shield, but your diagram has an HC-05 model... which one is it?
> I've got HC-06, Fritzing didn't have a HC-06 model at the time so I used HC-05. I don't believe it matters that much though. 
You never mention the Adafruit T-Cobbler Plus, but there is one in your diagrams. Is it needed? Or can we simply use female to female jumpers?
> Not needed, but handy for prototyping; especially when you want to use the IO header on the Pi. I recommend having one lying around.
What kind of water sensor do you use? Any of these?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Water-Liq...560243?hash=item2a73de1373:g:UqwAAOSwgQ9Vn9z4
> this one indeed, just a simple conductivity sensor basically, works good enough 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rain-Sens...608137?hash=item2a5b40ed49:g:PogAAOSw5ZBWNkw-

Both diagrams have a PH Circuit and Temperature sensors... and there are no water sensors and float switches in the diagrams.
> True, I haven't updates the diagrams in quite a while
Neptune Sketch has 2 x 220Ω resistors... Is this diagram just an initial sketch?
> I'll have to check, think so. To my knowledge I used resistors for the OneWire sensors (4k7) and the ones that came with the Atlas stuff. Nothing more.
You mention in Common Stuff that you use GX12 4-pins connectors. Where do you use them?
> I've made two simple enclosings for the modules with those connectors on the side. So moved from doing everything prototype style to a bit more of a permanent setup. 
The Relay Module is used to switch the pump, heating, and lights on/off remotely and/or for maintenance mode, right?
> Correct. And you can switch them from the app manually as well.



kadoxu said:


> My C# is a bit rusty, but I may be able to help you with some coding and documentation if you need it.



Cool! Let me know when you need anything. Are you planning on using your own Azure instance, or want to use mine? I've made it all to be multi tenant but that probably needs to better testing as well since I'm the only one using it so far.


----------



## kadoxu (22 Nov 2016)

jsiegmund said:


> That's about right I think. Of course it also depends on what you're planning to monitor but this closely resembles the setup I have over here.


I'm thinking about having something similar to yours, just with fewer sensors (at least to start with)... 1 module with temp & PH sensors for the tank and 1 for the cabinet with 1 leak sensor, 2 fertilizer level switches, and the relay module.



jsiegmund said:


> Gateway - Raspberry Pi with LCD display connected to the 4 channel Relay Module.
> > I've got the relay module linked to the cabinet module. You can use the Pi's IO but that will require a bit of coding.


Even better! I saw a youtube video with everything needed, so I just assumed you were doing the same...



jsiegmund said:


> Can we use the same gateway for 2 tanks?
> > It's designed that way, yes. The gateway is reusable, you specify a tank per module. Not extensively tested yet (I only have one).


Nice, I have 1 nano tank running with a Seneye device and another one in the planning stage where I want to implement at least your temp and ph sensors from the start, after that I'll add an auto-dosing pump for fertilizers and the cabinet module with it. Then, the plan is to replace the Seneye in the other one with these modules (saving money on the long run by eliminating the need for monthly slides).



jsiegmund said:


> Are you planning on using your own Azure instance, or want to use mine? I've made it all to be multi tenant but that probably needs to better testing as well since I'm the only one using it so far.


Don't know really... I never used Azure before and created a free account yesterday. I'll probably try to create my own instance first and then we can try to use yours in order to test the multi tenant feature.

Thank you!


----------



## kadoxu (22 Nov 2016)

The Arduino Nano, did you get the original ones, or the cheap Asian copies?


----------



## kadoxu (22 Nov 2016)

In the Submerged Sensor Module diagram, you have a Pre-Assembled Female BNC, can one be used, or should I use a Single Circuit Carrier Board instead?
http://www.warburtech.co.uk/product....scientific.com-101.pre-assembled.female.bnc/
http://www.warburtech.co.uk/product...scientific.sccb.single.circuit.carrier.board/


----------



## jsiegmund (27 Nov 2016)

Hi @kadoxu, sorry for not replying any sooner. I'm in the midst of buying a new house so haven't got that much spare time. Oh and I got to present the Submerged solution on a Dutch IT conference last week, awesome stuff  



kadoxu said:


> Nice, I have 1 nano tank running with a Seneye device and another one in the planning stage where I want to implement at least your temp and ph sensors from the start, after that I'll add an auto-dosing pump for fertilizers and the cabinet module with it. Then, the plan is to replace the Seneye in the other one with these modules (saving money on the long run by eliminating the need for monthly slides).



Yup that should work just fine. I have not investigated whether there is a maximum of bluetooth devices to pair with, but three of four should not be the issue. Bluetooth range could be an issue, make sure there's not too much distance between the Pi and Arduino's. 



kadoxu said:


> Don't know really... I never used Azure before and created a free account yesterday. I'll probably try to create my own instance first and then we can try to use yours in order to test the multi tenant feature.



Sure, no prob. Do take into account that some of the components used are not available in a free version, so when your trial runs out it'll start costing money. I'm running my back-end off my MSDN subscription (which gives 130 eur free credits every month).



kadoxu said:


> The Arduino Nano, did you get the original ones, or the cheap Asian copies?


Cheap copies do just fine. On aliexpress, search for the robodyn ones, they're quite good. I got almost everything off aliexpress, just takes a bit of patience waiting for the components to arrive.



kadoxu said:


> In the Submerged Sensor Module diagram, you have a Pre-Assembled Female BNC, can one be used, or should I use a Single Circuit Carrier Board instead?
> http://www.warburtech.co.uk/product....scientific.com-101.pre-assembled.female.bnc/
> http://www.warburtech.co.uk/product...scientific.sccb.single.circuit.carrier.board/


Single circuit carrier is definitely the easiest way to go. You can also mount everything directly on a PCB but my soldering skills are far from good enough for that.


----------



## kadoxu (27 Nov 2016)

jsiegmund said:


> Hi @kadoxu, sorry for not replying any sooner. I'm in the midst of buying a new house so haven't got that much spare time. Oh and I got to present the Submerged solution on a Dutch IT conference last week, awesome stuff


No problem, I still have a lot to read and am still waiting for the breadboard, so I can't really do much for now... and I'm also a week away from moving to a new house! 



jsiegmund said:


> Sure, no prob. Do take into account that some of the components used are not available in a free version, so when your trial runs out it'll start costing money. I'm running my back-end off my MSDN subscription (which gives 130 eur free credits every month).


Hum... I have an MSDN subscription from work... maybe I can use that account.


I am happy to say that the new versions of Windows 10 IoT Core already support wireless, Bluetooth and the touchscreen!


----------



## jsiegmund (12 Dec 2016)

Here's an update! Unfortunately selling my current apartment means I need to clear out my tank and I've decided to sell it to buy a new one for the new house later in 2017. Although that doesn't necessarily means that development on Submerged will stop, it'll definitely mean that it will slow down. I'll keep everything up & running and try to provide support, buy just can't guarantee quick responses as my priorities are different at the moment.


----------

