Published February 24, 2019 © MIT

Aquarium Control & Monitoring

Controlling lights and CO2 admission to a aquarium. Sensor data is stored so it can be used for statistics.

IntermediateShowcase (no instructions)22,183

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Arduino UNO

DHT22 Temperature Sensor

Infrared Module (Generic)

Adafruit Waterproof DS18B20 Digital temperature sensor

Adafruit RGB Backlight LCD - 16x2

2-Channel SPDT Relay Carrier with 5VDC Relays

SparkFun RTC Module

Resistor 10k ohm

Resistor 4.7k Ohm

Single Turn Potentiometer- 10k ohms

Capacitor 10 µF

Metalic Case

9V 1A Switching Wall Power Supply

Breadboard (generic)

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Soldering iron (generic)

Digilent Mastech MS8217 Autorange Digital Multimeter

Hot glue gun (generic)

Story

Project aims to control lights and CO2 admission to a planted aquarium. User has 2 lights time interval to set and one CO2 time interval. In the defined time intervals relays that control lights and CO2 are turned on or off. Additional sensors were added to read data about the aquarium and room.

So far so good. The interesting part of the project is still to come: the time intervals, relay controls and sensors data are driven and stored by a PC running Linux and NodeJS server. The server stores sensor data in a database and exposes a web interface for users to setup time intervals and see historical sensor data in chart format. Communication between NodeJS server and Arduino is done using serial port. Web application requires authentication in order to gain access to controls and sensor data.

Details on how to install and run NodeJS server can be found on GIThub.

PS: This is my second project using Arduino, so any advice would help me a lot.

Arduino Aquarium Controller

Relay:

Arduino controls 2 relays that are set on/off based on 3 time intervals:

2 time interval for aquarium lights (you can setup 2 periods during the day when aquarium lights are on)

one time interval for CO2 (solenoid that controls the addition of CO2 in the aquarium)

Time intervals can be set via web interface and are stored in EPROM in order to be able to restore them after a power failure. Read / write data to EPRON are kept to a minimum. Make sure on initial Arduino setup you write write only once the default values on EPRON. You do this by removing comments here:

// should run only once at initial setup
// writeSettingsFromMemory();

Sensors:

The setup has 2 sensors:

An ambient temperature and humidity sensor

A waterproof temperature sensors that is submerged into the aquarium

Sensor data is updated every 20 mins. (time interval value can be easily adjusted) and the updated data is displayed on the LCD and sent to server via serial port. Server is storing the data in a database (mongo DB) in order to be used as statistical data in web interface.

Time control:

Project uses Time and TimeAlarms Arduino libraries to manage time and schedule events that control relays. Schedulers are also used to periodically read sensor data and send data to server. RTC module is used to keep track of time in case of a power failure. Time library syncs with RTC module based on a schedule.

Server & Web Interface

The server for this setup is is using NodeJS, Express and MongoDB and is capable of communicating with Arduino through serial port. The server also exposes some APIs endpoints that are used to communicate with the web interface.

The web-interface is a single page Angular 5 app. The application is responsive and can adapt to any screen size. App communicates with the server using APIs. The following features are supported by the web-app .. so far:

login & user management: access to aquarium data and control via web interface or API are secured with login

Aquarium Controls: control the 2 relays directly from web interface (manual mode on light and CO2). Displays the total amount of time when lights and CO2 are on.

Aquarium scheduled time intervals when lights and / or CO2 are on / off can be set directly from web interface

Statistics: sensor data displayed using charts. Charts can displayed data from current day, last week or last month.

Hardware needed

Old PC or laptop. In this setup i used and oldish MSI mini PC Celeron 1.8Ghz, 2GB DDRAM3, 256GB HDD.

On this PC I've installed a light Linux distribution with minimal UI: Lubuntu

Starting the server

Prerequisites:

NodeJS v8+ installe on server

MongoDB installed server

Angular CLI

Start server in development mode using following command

$ npm run dev

This is usually used when developing the server and web-interface.

Start server in production mode using following command

$ npm run prod

More details here.

Further steps would be:

setup up a web-server that servers the generated Angular web-app (static files : html / css / js / images / fonts). I recommend using NGINX for this.

make sure web-server and NodeJS API start automatically on startup in order to recover after power failure

I would be happy to share more details on this. Just let me know.

Web-Interface Print-Screens

Web-app on iPad

Mobile preview

Code

Sketch File

#include "RTClib.h"
#include <Time.h>
#include <TimeAlarms.h>
#include <DHT.h>
#include <OneWire.h> 
#include <DallasTemperature.h>
#include <LiquidCrystal.h>
#include <EEPROM.h>
#include "IRremote.h"

// RTC
RTC_DS1307 rtc;

// DHT humidity senzor
#define DHTPIN 10     // what pin we're connected to
#define DHTTYPE DHT22   // DHT 22  (AM2302)
DHT dht(DHTPIN, DHTTYPE); //// Initialize DHT sensor for normal 16mhz Arduino

// Water proof senzor DS18B20
#define ONE_WIRE_BUS 13
OneWire oneWire(ONE_WIRE_BUS);
DallasTemperature sensors(&oneWire);

// LCD screen
LiquidCrystal lcd(12, 11, 5, 4, 3, 2);
byte degSymbol[8] = {
  B11100,
  B10100,
  B11100,
  B00000,
  B00000,
  B00000,
  B00000,
};
int lcdPage = 0;

// IR
int irPin = 6;
IRrecv irrecv(irPin);
decode_results irResults;
long irKey = 0;

// Serial read globals
char rx_byte = 0;
String key = "";
bool isKey = false;
String value = "";
bool isValue = false;

// Aquarium LED default values
int led1OnH = 8;
int led1OnM = 30;
int led1OffH = 12;
int led1OffM = 30;
int led2OnH = 18;
int led2OnM = 30;
int led2OffH = 20;
int led2OffM = 0;

int led1OnHAddress = 0;
int led1OnMAddress = 1;
int led1OffHAddress = 2;
int led1OffMAddress = 3;
int led2OnHAddress = 4;
int led2OnMAddress = 5;
int led2OffHAddress = 6;
int led2OffMAddress = 7;

// Aquarium CO2 default values
int co2OnH = 7;
int co2OnM = 0;
int co2OffH = 21;
int co2OffM = 0;

int co2OnHAddress = 8;
int co2OnMAddress = 9;
int co2OffHAddress = 10;
int co2OffMAddress = 11;

// Aquarium options
bool ledAuto = true;
bool co2Auto = true;
bool co2On = false;
bool ledOn = false;

// Aquarium status
float aquariumTemp;

// Ambient status
float ambientTemp, ambientHum;

// Status send to DB every 15 mins
int statusSendMinutes = 20;

// Alarms
AlarmID_t led1OnAlarm = 0;
AlarmID_t led1OffAlarm = 0;
AlarmID_t led2OnAlarm = 0;
AlarmID_t led2OffAlarm = 0;
AlarmID_t co2OnAlarm = 0;
AlarmID_t co2OffAlarm = 0;

// Relay pins
int relayLed = 7;
int relayCo2 = 8;

void setup() {
  pinMode(relayLed, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(relayCo2, OUTPUT);

  // Use only without RTC
  // setTime(10,19,0,16,2,19);

  Serial.begin(9600);
  dht.begin();
  sensors.begin();

  lcd.createChar(0, degSymbol);
  lcd.begin(16, 2);

  // Start Ir reciever
  irrecv.enableIRIn(); // Start the receiver

  if (! rtc.begin()) {
    Serial.println("Couldn't find RTC");
    while (1);
  }

  if (! rtc.isrunning()) {
    Serial.println("RTC is NOT running!");
  }

  // Sync time lib with RTC
  setSyncProvider(getRTCTime);
  setSyncInterval(60 * 60 * 4);

  // should run only once at initial setup
  // writeSettingsFromMemory();

  readSettingsFromMemory();
  updateLedState();
  updateCo2State();
  updateRelay();
  sendStatus();

  setAlarms();
  Alarm.timerRepeat(60 * statusSendMinutes, sendStatus);
  Alarm.timerRepeat(60, updateLcd);
}

void loop() {
  while(Serial.available()){
    // Read seril data and create key values pairs
    rx_byte = Serial.read();

    if (rx_byte != '\n') {
      if (rx_byte == '$') {
        isValue = false;
        isKey = true;
        continue;
      }
      if (rx_byte == '=') {
        isValue = true;
        isKey = false;
        continue;
      }
      if (rx_byte == '&') {
        setData();

        value = "";
        key = "";
        isValue = false;
        isKey = false;
        continue;
      }

      if (!isKey) {
        value += rx_byte;
      } else {
        key += rx_byte;
      }
    } else {
      if (isValue) {
        setData();

        if (key != "" && key != "ledOn" && key != "co2On") {
          updateLedState();
          updateCo2State();
          updateAlarms();
          updateRelay();
        }
      }

      value = "";
      key = "";
      isKey = false;
      isValue = false;
      sendStatus();
    }
  }

  // IR remote loop
  if (irrecv.decode(&irResults)) {
    dumpIR(&irResults);

    irrecv.resume(); // Receive the next value
//    Serial.println(irKey, HEX);
//    Serial.println();

    if (irKey == 16720605) {
      toggleLed();
    } else if (irKey == 16712445) {
      toggleCo2();
    } else if (irKey == 16724175) {
      loopLcdPage(-1);
    } else if (irKey == 16743045) {
      loopLcdPage(1);
    }
  }

  Alarm.delay(1000);
}

void dumpIR(decode_results *irResults) {
  int count = irResults->rawlen;
  irKey = irResults->value;
}


void setAlarms() {
  led1OnAlarm = Alarm.alarmRepeat(led1OnH, led1OnM, 20, LedOn);
  led1OffAlarm = Alarm.alarmRepeat(led1OffH, led1OffM, 20, LedOff);

  if (led2OnH != 0) {
    led2OnAlarm = Alarm.alarmRepeat(led2OnH, led2OnM, 20, LedOn);
    led2OffAlarm = Alarm.alarmRepeat(led2OffH, led2OffM, 40, LedOff);
  }

  co2OnAlarm = Alarm.alarmRepeat(co2OnH, co2OnM, 40, Co2On);
  co2OnAlarm = Alarm.alarmRepeat(co2OffH, co2OffM, 40, Co2Off);
}

void updateAlarms() {
  Alarm.free(led1OnAlarm);
  Alarm.free(led1OffAlarm);

  if (led2OnH != 0) {
    Alarm.free(led2OnAlarm);
    Alarm.free(led2OffAlarm);
  }

  Alarm.free(co2OnAlarm);
  Alarm.free(co2OffAlarm);

  setAlarms();
}

void sendStatus() {
  readSensors();

  Serial.print("LOG");
  Serial.print("||");
  Serial.print(now());
  Serial.print("||");
  Serial.print(ledOn);
  Serial.print("||");
  Serial.print(ledAuto);
  Serial.print("||");
  Serial.print(led1OnH);
  Serial.print(":");
  Serial.print(led1OnM);
  Serial.print("||");
  Serial.print(led1OffH);
  Serial.print(":");
  Serial.print(led1OffM);
  Serial.print("||");
  Serial.print(led2OnH);
  Serial.print(":");
  Serial.print(led2OnM);
  Serial.print("||");
  Serial.print(led2OffH);
  Serial.print(":");
  Serial.print(led2OffM);
  Serial.print("||");
  Serial.print(co2On);
  Serial.print("||");
  Serial.print(co2Auto);
  Serial.print("||");
  Serial.print(co2OnH);
  Serial.print(":");
  Serial.print(co2OnM);
  Serial.print("||");
  Serial.print(co2OffH);
  Serial.print(":");
  Serial.print(co2OffM);
  Serial.print("||");
  Serial.print(ambientTemp);
  Serial.print("||");
  Serial.print(ambientHum);
  Serial.print("||");
  Serial.println(aquariumTemp);

  Alarm.delay(500);
  lcd.clear();
  updateLcd();
}

// Function called once serial has recieved a key value pair
void setData() {
  if (key == "") {
    return;
  }

  bool newStatus;
  Serial.print(key);
  Serial.println(value);

  if ( key == "led1OnH" ) {
     led1OnH = value.toInt();
     EEPROM.update(led1OnHAddress, led1OnH);
  }
  else if ( key == "led1OffH" ) {
     led1OffH = value.toInt();
     EEPROM.update(led1OffHAddress, led1OffH);
  }
  else if ( key == "led1OnM" ) {
     led1OnM = value.toInt();
     EEPROM.update(led1OnMAddress, led1OnM);
  }
  else if ( key == "led1OffM" ) {
     led1OffM = value.toInt();
     EEPROM.update(led1OffMAddress, led1OffM);
  }
  else if ( key == "led2OnH" ) {
     led2OnH = value.toInt();
     EEPROM.update(led2OnHAddress, led2OnH);
  }
  else if ( key == "led2OffH" ) {
     led2OffH = value.toInt();
     EEPROM.update(led2OffHAddress, led2OffH);
  }
  else if ( key == "led2OnM" ) {
     led2OnM = value.toInt();
     EEPROM.update(led2OnMAddress, led2OnM);
  }
  else if ( key == "led2OffM" ) {
     led2OffM = value.toInt();
     EEPROM.update(led2OffMAddress, led2OffM);
  }
  else  if ( key == "ledOn" ) {
     bool newStatus = value == "true";
     if (ledOn != newStatus) {
      ledAuto = !ledAuto;
     }

     ledOn = newStatus;
     updateRelay();
  }
  else if ( key == "co2On" ) {
     bool newStatus = value == "true";
     if (co2On != newStatus) {
      co2Auto = !co2Auto;
     }

     co2On = newStatus;
     updateRelay();
  }
  else if ( key == "co2OnH" ) {
     co2OnH = value.toInt();
     EEPROM.update(co2OnHAddress, co2OnH);
  }
  else if ( key == "co2OffH" ) {
     co2OffH = value.toInt();
     EEPROM.update(co2OffHAddress, co2OffH);
  }
  else if ( key == "co2OnM" ) {
     co2OnM = value.toInt();
     EEPROM.update(co2OnMAddress, co2OnM);
  }
  else if ( key == "co2OffM" ) {
     co2OffM = value.toInt();
     EEPROM.update(co2OffMAddress, co2OffM);
  }
}

void readSettingsFromMemory() {
  led1OnH = EEPROM.read(led1OnHAddress);
  led1OffH = EEPROM.read(led1OffHAddress);
  led1OnM = EEPROM.read(led1OnMAddress);
  led1OffM = EEPROM.read(led1OffMAddress);
  led2OnH = EEPROM.read(led2OnHAddress);
  led2OffH = EEPROM.read(led2OffHAddress);
  led2OnM = EEPROM.read(led2OnMAddress);
  led2OffM = EEPROM.read(led2OffMAddress);

  co2OnH = EEPROM.read(co2OnHAddress);
  co2OffH = EEPROM.read(co2OffHAddress);
  co2OnM = EEPROM.read(co2OnMAddress);
  co2OffM = EEPROM.read(co2OffMAddress);
}

void writeSettingsFromMemory() {
  EEPROM.write(led1OnHAddress, led1OnH);
  EEPROM.write(led1OffHAddress, led1OffH);
  EEPROM.write(led1OnMAddress, led1OnM);
  EEPROM.write(led1OffMAddress, led1OffM);
  EEPROM.write(led2OnHAddress, led2OnH);
  EEPROM.write(led2OffHAddress, led2OffH);
  EEPROM.write(led2OnMAddress, led2OnM);
  EEPROM.write(led2OffMAddress, led2OffM);

  EEPROM.write(co2OnHAddress, co2OnH);
  EEPROM.write(co2OffHAddress, co2OffH);
  EEPROM.write(co2OnMAddress, co2OnM);
  EEPROM.write(co2OffMAddress, co2OffM);
}


void updateLedState() {
  if (!ledAuto) {
    return;
  }
  int h = hour();
  int m = minute();

  if (led1OnH > h || led2OffH < h) {
    ledOn = false;
    return;
  }

  if (led1OffH < h && led2OnH > h) {
    ledOn = false;
    return;
  }

  if (led1OnH == h && led1OnM > m ) {
    ledOn = false;
    return;
  }

  if (led1OffH == h && led1OffM <= m ) {
    ledOn = false;
    return;
  }

  if (led2OnH == h && led2OnM > m ) {
    ledOn = false;
    return;
  }

  if (led2OffH == h && led2OffM <= m ) {
    ledOn = false;
    return;
  }

  ledOn = true;
}

void updateCo2State() {
  if (!co2Auto) {
    return;
  }

  int h = hour();
  int m = minute();

  if (co2OnH > h || co2OffH < h) {
    co2On = false;
    return;
  }

  if (co2OnH == h && co2OnM > m ) {
    co2On = false;
    return;
  }

  if (co2OffH == h && co2OffM <= m ) {
    co2On = false;
    return;
  }

  co2On = true;
}

void toggleLed() {
  ledOn = !ledOn;
  ledAuto = !ledAuto;

  updateRelay();
  sendStatus();
}

void toggleCo2() {
  co2On = !co2On;
  co2Auto = !co2Auto;

  updateRelay();
  sendStatus();
}

void updateLcd() {
  if (lcdPage == 1) {
    updateLcdPage1();
  } else if (lcdPage == 2) {
    updateLcdPage2();
  } else if (lcdPage == 3) {
    updateLcdPage3();
  } else {
    updateLcdPage0();
  }
}

void loopLcdPage(int val) {
  int newPage = lcdPage + val;

  if (newPage > 3) {
    newPage = 0;
  }

  if (newPage < 0) {
    newPage = 3;
  }

  lcdPage = newPage;
  updateLcd();
}

void updateLcdPage0() {
  int h = hour();
  int m = minute();

  lcd.setCursor(0,0);
  if (h < 10) {
    lcd.print(F("0"));
  }
  lcd.print(h);
  lcd.print(":");
  if (m < 10) {
    lcd.print(F("0"));
  }
  lcd.print(m);
  lcd.print(F(" | "));
  lcd.print((int) ambientTemp);
  lcd.write(byte(0));
  lcd.print(F(" "));
  lcd.print((int) ambientHum);
  lcd.print(F("% "));
  lcd.setCursor(0,1);
  lcd.print(aquariumTemp);
  lcd.write(byte(0));
  lcd.print(F(" "));
  lcd.print(ledOn);
  lcd.print(F("-"));
  if (ledAuto) {
    lcd.print(F("A"));
  } else {
    lcd.print(F("M"));
  }
  lcd.print(F(" "));
  lcd.print(co2On);
  lcd.print(F("-"));
  if (co2Auto) {
    lcd.print(F("A"));
  } else {
    lcd.print(F("M"));
  }
  lcd.print(F("  "));
}

void updateLcdPage1() {
  lcd.setCursor(0,0);
  lcd.print(F("LED: "));
  if (ledOn) {
    lcd.print(F("on "));
  } else {
    lcd.print(F("off"));
  }

  lcd.print(F(" | "));

  if (ledAuto) {
    lcd.print(F("auto "));
  } else {
    lcd.print(F("user "));
  }
  lcd.setCursor(0,1);
  lcd.print(F("CO2: "));
  if (ledOn) {
    lcd.print(F("on "));
  } else {
    lcd.print(F("off"));
  }

  lcd.print(F(" | "));

  if (co2Auto) {
    lcd.print(F("auto "));
  } else {
    lcd.print(F("user "));
  }
}

void updateLcdPage2() {

  lcd.setCursor(0,0);
  lcd.print(F("LED: "));
  if (led1OnH < 10) {
    lcd.print(F("0"));
  }
  lcd.print(led1OnH);
  lcd.print(":");
  if (led1OnM < 10) {
    lcd.print(F("0"));
  }
  lcd.print(led1OnM);
  lcd.print(F("-"));
  if (led1OffH < 10) {
    lcd.print(F("0"));
  }
  lcd.print(led1OffH);
  lcd.print(":");
  if (led1OffM < 10) {
    lcd.print(F("0"));
  }
  lcd.print(led1OffM);

  lcd.setCursor(0,1);
  lcd.print(F("     "));
  if (led2OnH < 10) {
    lcd.print(F("0"));
  }
  lcd.print(led2OnH);
  lcd.print(":");
  if (led2OnM < 10) {
    lcd.print(F("0"));
  }
  lcd.print(led2OnM);
  lcd.print(F("-"));
  if (led2OffH < 10) {
    lcd.print(F("0"));
  }
  lcd.print(led2OffH);
  lcd.print(":");
  if (led2OffM < 10) {
    lcd.print(F("0"));
  }
  lcd.print(led2OffM);
}

void updateLcdPage3() {
  lcd.setCursor(0,0);
  lcd.print(F("CO2: "));
  if (co2OnH < 10) {
    lcd.print(F("0"));
  }
  lcd.print(co2OnH);
  lcd.print(":");
  if (co2OnM < 10) {
    lcd.print(F("0"));
  }
  lcd.print(co2OnM);
  lcd.print(F("-"));
  if (co2OffH < 10) {
    lcd.print(F("0"));
  }
  lcd.print(co2OffH);
  lcd.print(":");
  if (co2OffM < 10) {
    lcd.print(F("0"));
  }
  lcd.print(co2OffM);
  lcd.setCursor(0,1);
  lcd.print(F("                "));
}

void readSensors() {
  ambientTemp = dht.readTemperature();
  ambientHum = dht.readHumidity();
  sensors.requestTemperatures();
  aquariumTemp = sensors.getTempCByIndex(0);
}

void updateRelay() {
  if (ledOn) {
    setRelayState(0, 1);
  } else {
    setRelayState(0, 0);
  }

  if (co2On) {
    setRelayState(1, 1);
  } else {
    setRelayState(1, 0);
  }
}

void setRelayState(int relay, int state) {
  if (relay == 1) digitalWrite(relayCo2, state);
  if (relay == 0) digitalWrite(relayLed, state);
}

// functions to be called when an alarm triggers:
void LedOn(){
  ledOn = true;
  ledAuto = true;
  updateRelay();
  sendStatus();
}

void LedOff(){
  ledOn = false;
  ledAuto = true;
  updateRelay();
  sendStatus();
}

void Co2On(){
  co2On = true;
  co2Auto = true;
  updateRelay();
  sendStatus();
}

void Co2Off(){
  co2On = false;
  co2Auto = true;
  updateRelay();
  sendStatus();
}

// Returns RTC date time
// Used to sync alarm library
time_t getRTCTime() {
  DateTime now = rtc.now();
  Serial.println("Sync RTC time");
  return now.unixtime();
}

Credits

mihaimascas

0 projects • 5 followers

Aquarium Control & Monitoring

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Arduino Aquarium Controller

Server & Web Interface

Web-Interface Print-Screens

Schematics

Fritzing

Code

Sketch File

Aquarium server

Credits

mihaimascas

Comments

Embed the widget on your own site

Aquarium Control & Monitoring

Aquarium Control & Monitoring

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Arduino Aquarium Controller

Server & Web Interface

Web-Interface Print-Screens

Schematics

Fritzing

Code

Sketch File

Aquarium server

Credits

mihaimascas

Comments

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