Am I right in thinking that the OpenSprinkler PI has no manual override such as “buttons on the box”?
==> You are right that there are no physical buttons on OSPi. You can stop zones or start a program manually using the web interface, but there is no physical buttons and no LCD screen on OSPi.
I’ve worked with Raspis before – but only software and only the ‘classic B’ version. I see the OpenSprinkler only uses some of the GPIO pins. Could the others be used for some kind of keypad / simple display? (I used to be a dab hand with CMOS logic so this is one option)
==> Yes there are plenty of spare GPIO pins. You can check the OSPi user manual to see what pins are used and which are free to use:
https://openthings.freshdesk.com/solution/articles/5000631606-user-manual-opensprinkler-pi-ospi-v1-4-
Or what might be a simpler option if over-engineered, would be to use a mini touch screen from Adafruit. This could be configured to show a browser pointing to localhost. If necessary, I could create a simplified ‘override’ web interface using something like Flask.
Has anyone done anything like this?
==> I don’t know. I have never used adafruit touch screen.
Can a ‘shield’ be fitted with the case? Or can I only really use a wired connection (eg. to USB/HDMI)?
(one thought was a second adjacent Raspi configured as a touch pad browser but that might be overkill – could be simpler though)
==> Probably not, because the height of the case is tailored to the assembly. Anything extra is likely to make it higher than the case.
Speaking of the case: I know it isn’t water proof. Is it reasonably dust proof? I’ll be putting it in the workshop. This could get sawdust, spiders,etc.
==> Yes it’s pretty dust proof. I don’t think it prevents spiders though, as they can creep through any tiny hole.