6 Channel control of PWM menus

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Toolboy
Posts: 31
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:26 am

6 Channel control of PWM menus

Post by Toolboy »

HI

Im building a led light unit that uses 6 different LED colours. Which will connected to the PWM dimming expansion. The 2 on the relay box will be used to sort my led unit in the sump

Im pretty much a beginner at programming, but Ill try if someone can point me in the right direction of how to do the following

I want a menu, in which I can set the maximum % to be reached by each colour. Intially this will take many tweaks till i can get it the way I want it. So I dont want to have to disconnect my reef angel from the tank so that I can connect it to my computer so that I can make a change the programming everytime I want to change. Once it is set I probably will never change it again but who knows.

Would pref like to do this straight from the head unit and not the android apps

The PWM slope will take care of ramping up and down

regards
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lnevo
Posts: 5430
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 9:42 am

6 Channel control of PWM menus

Post by lnevo »

I know a menu is more elegant, but you *could* use some memory locations to set the max % for each color and then tweak it from a browser, app, or client. Once you have it tweaked you could leave it as-is and still have flexibility to control it later on...
rimai
Posts: 12881
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2011 6:47 pm

Re: 6 Channel control of PWM menus

Post by rimai »

Yes, that's what I was going to suggest :(
It's so much easier to use the droid app.
If you want to create menu, it is possible, but it will require you to code your own menu tree and handle it properly.
There is nothing in the libraries that would do that for you.
Roberto.
binder
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Re: 6 Channel control of PWM menus

Post by binder »

Toolboy wrote:The limit of 9 menu items. Does that include the ones already preloaded on my reef angel?

Reason Im asking is cause my LED unit is going to be 6 colours and need to be able to set each one at the max % that I want to get to achieve the colour Im looking for. eg White 100% Blue 100% UV 40% red 30% ect and then let the pwm slope do ramping up and down
I'm not sure if I fully understand the question of including the ones already preloaded on your reef angel. The 9 menu item max can be just about anything you want them to be, including the ones preloaded. If you want an entry for each of the 6 colors, then you would only have 3 entries left on the controller. If that doesn't work for you, then I would suggest 2 options:
1. Create a custom menu for your "color setting". This way you could configure your colors exactly like you want them on the controller. Chances are, you will only configure it once and then not mess with it much later. Then create a "standard" menu that you want on your controller all the time. Once you get your colors set and configured, simply load the standard menu on to the controller and you will be set. This loading would simply involve changing the DrawCustomMenu function in the INO file and reloading the software on the controller.

2. Create your "standard" menu and then have it loaded on your controller. Then use one of the apps (RA Status, Android or iPhone/iPad) and edit the memory locations used for each of your LED colors. This way you can set it via the apps and not have to worry about changing your menu. Then, at any point in the future that you need to change the values, you can simply adjust it on the fly from one of the apps. All this is possible if you have the wifi adapter on your controller. If you don't have the wifi adapter, then you will be limited to option 1.
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jsclownfish
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Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2011 7:52 pm
Location: Saint Louis

Re: 6 Channel control of PWM menus

Post by jsclownfish »

FWIW, I find many times that more menu's or nested menu's would really come in handy. However, I expect I am using a lot of features maybe others aren't. I'm essentially getting extra "read only" menu screens with my second monitor set up. I've thought about trying to make it send info back to the main as more realistic menu option, but I'd have to come up with a communication format to send that info back over I2C to make adjustments and I just haven't tried it yet. In most cases there are plenty of workarounds with the web and smartphone apps.

-Jon
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