Manual Override and other questions

[winwaed]

Hello, I’m seriously looking at using the Raspi version of the OpenSprinkler for our lawn sprinkler. I’m in the process of converting one of our existing stations to use drip watering. The old electro-mechanical controller appears to be bullet proof (and manages fine with power cuts – imagine that!) but it is limited to one program. Having a mix of sprinklers and drip mean we need at least two programs – one for each.

I think a Raspi / OpenSprinkler approach has a lot going for it – especially flexibility. Also I assume the program is saved to the SD card, so power cuts shouldn’t be a problem.

Programming through wifi could be convenient, but we still need a manual override. This would be for testing / maintenance (I prefer to keep muddy hands away from my phone, thank you!) and also for occasional contractor use. The latter doesn’t happen much, but showing them how to log in to our wifi/etc is just too much hassle. Give them something simple.

Am I right in thinking that the OpenSprinkler PI has no manual override such as “buttons on the box”?

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)

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?

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)

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.

Sorry for all the questions!
I do have my own blog so I could write up what I end up doing, and of course in the spirit of OpenSprinkler would release any new software under a suitable open license (probably Berkeley).

– Richard Marsden

[winwaed]

Looking further at the screens, there appear to be two choices:

The Adafruit Capacitive touch screen:

https://www.adafruit.com/product/1983

This is about the size of the PI and attaches to the GPIO, but uses different pins to the OpenSprinkler.

Or the Pimoroni/Official touch screen which is 6in (ie. homebrew mini tablet sized). This attaches to the “Display” connector on the Model 2 & 3.

I’m leaning towards the cheaper Adafruit display.
Either way, I don’t think the OpenSprinkler box cover would fit, so I’m thinking of mounting all components in a wall-mounted box with a latching door.

[Ray]

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.

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