Arduino Automated Watering

Hey guys hoping for some simple answers before diving into this project.

The basic idea is an arduino is hooked up to 2 motors that will fill and drain a reservoir on specific internals.

What is the best way to use timers in this application? The intervals may be long (12hrs)

Would delay() calls be clunky? Would i2c Real time clocks be overkill?

I will have the program displaying data (and eventually a menu) over LCD, I need a timer function that will still read button presses.

Thanks in advanced for any insight. I'm slowly catching on to best practices.

Top Replies

fmilburn over 7 years ago

Hi Parker,

Don’t use delay. Set up a check in your loop for the elapsed time and properly manage overflow. If you google “arduino millis() overflow” you will find a discussion of this.

You have not provided enough information to determine if a RTC is needed but probably not. You can get started without it.

Pick a LCD that already has an Arduino library. Buttons are easy to add in your loop or use an interrupt.
Cancel
Vote Up +5 Vote Down

Sign in to reply

Cancel
fmilburn over 7 years ago

I don't know your background but here is some additional free advice . Define the problem as best you can and then break both hardware and firmware into manageable pieces. You can see my approach starting with this post of a project I currently have active. I'm not using an Arduino but this kind of approach is applicable to any project. It will also allow you to get more specific advice from Element14 members.
Cancel
Vote Up +3 Vote Down

Sign in to reply

Cancel
fmilburn over 7 years ago in reply to fmilburn

Oops... the link to the intended post is missing. Will try again: AIS Alarm
Cancel
Vote Up 0 Vote Down

Sign in to reply

Cancel
gadget.iom over 7 years ago

Hi pjacobsen

fmilburn is right. Millis() is probably the best way to go. Delay() function is a locking function so your program will be unresponsive until the time has elapsed. If you are checking for button presses this won't be listened for until the timer has elapsed.

This snippet of code might be what you are looking for:
https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/BlinkWithoutDelay
Cancel
Vote Up +3 Vote Down

Sign in to reply

Cancel