That RadioShack Armatron is the spark that got me interested in robotics. I found one in the garbage when I was a kid and have been fascinated by electronics and robotics ever since.
One of the things that's kind of hard, but I think why Eli's more political or current affairs driven content gets more attention is he tends to be more animated. He tends to get over the top excited about different things, which may not lend itself well to instructional content, sometimes you need just a quiet dispassionate description, but a funny ironic! I think would help make especially code come alive a little bit. code can be dry and that's just the reality of it. But I think generally taking some of the format from the current events, first why we should care about this, What's being said in an article, and then explanations and exclamations afterwards summing up what was just said. But this could also just be my ADD mind that likes flashy and loud stuff.
Wouldn't there be a way in linux to somehow query the /proc/ directories for into on the tty devices to know if its amc1 or 0 and then make the python script use that so that you don't have to hardcode the value in?
I wonder if this would work with WS2811 Pixel LEDs? Using the free program Falcon player on the PI and send signals to the Arduino to send data to the pixels.
I do totally get the interest in having a computer script in say Python control real world actuators but I still dont get why you don't just use a cheap PLC, or a Zelio type relay controller etc. Cost is similar if not cheaper and you can have many more inputs, outputs as well as analog logic. So like you alude to at the end, what about control a valve open position based on an input value as well as the output value based on a target, like a PID controller etc. I just don't get the point in using an arduino and a pie when it's so cheap to buy a plc or relay controller that's much more capable and faster. Maybe I am wrong though?
I agree that for such tasks a small relay controller is sufficient. Maybe Eli just isn't aware of such devices. As an automation engineer I work with those but I know several IT people that were surprised to know such devices exist and what they are capable of.
Here is a senario, what if the Pie loses power for a substantial amount of time? How would you program the arduino to respond to having it's master being dead?
I was working on a greenhouse project last year and never got around to the pi side of cooler things you could do thinking about fail safes like this, to have each level be stand alone. My thought was at first think from the biggest computing system in my IoT projects to the pi then to the Arduino, that my Arduino code could be a lot more simplified. For my learning sake it made more sense thinking about fail safes from different angles like yours ground up and I made the Arduino stand alone control the greenhouse. I decided to do things needed in the greenhouse as functions so I don't see why you couldn't just add an argument to run the loop in absence of serial input to run this type of loop just calling the functions, the loop is still small to manage working on since it's just calling functions in different ways. Some people asked me why not just use Arduino network to a computer. For my purposes that fail safe could if I wanted have a backup Arduino way to send data to a computer server for the cooler networking stuff that the pi just makes life easier. The pi also being a stand alone layer of it's own not needing any networks but still a lot more versatile in the decision making processing. Like the Arduino can make simple "keep the damn plants alive" decisions but the pi can actually monitor their health and needs more carefully without either of them needing to find a way to a powerful computer or needing me able to see what's going on. So I'm super stoked to see how these classes evolve! Life got ahead of me, different priorities so didn't learn that far if there'd be any issues with that? I never worked extensively on serial communications other than the monitoring side so maybe there's drawbacks I can't see. If the Arduino has it's own power source what happens when serial communication goes dead? Is there a way to issolate any surge from whatever happened to the pi? Eli kind of touched on these topics, unplugging the Arduino to change components. How come you can power a Pi from a usb battery while charging the portable battery but it reboots when you unplug the charger from the battery bank type problems when choosing a power setup for something embedded..? Limitations of the battery charge controller creating the surge or the voltage output of the usb? All important things to learn and think about hashing out your hardware setup for projects you want to be able to change all the time easily while they still doing what you need them to, before investing in designing something embedded you just put there and never think about changing while you're trying to learn.
@@bleu-greensmountain5861 Great response! That failsafe argument is the only thing that I could think of too. That idea of "just keep the damn plants alive" being isolated to the Arduino is also a good one. Just have the Pi monitor only. And if you're really overkill, push a biweekly update that modifies itself based on the behavior of the plants. The Pi would only be needed for a few seconds to upload to the Arduinos. Making that algorithm might be more pain that it's worth though. I'm really exited for this too man, I too stopped programming for a while and it feels like a chunk of my brain has gone missing. But I've NEVER dabbled into the hardware side of things. So, this series should be a great motivator for me.
@@heritic1hero I was lucky to have a family member with engineering background nudge me to start thinking about fail safes. Instantly I realized I had to go ground up from the greenhouse design it's self, like what if even the Arduino failed at sensor points of fans? Just realized that has to be in my code at the Arduino or the pi won't be helping more than showing the problem before I can fix. One person was like why wouldn't you just use more modern greenhouse design have ventilation flaps balanced pumping airflow into the greenhouse that the temp opens them wider as hot air tries to escape? Cause I'm not an architectural engineer with expensive software or a budget to risk getting it wrong in real application?? Lol so worst case the flaps open full and I have near outdoor temps till I can fix the situation. The whole idea was how could I make a greenhouse in my tiny city apartment yard out of recycled junk.. An Arduino and a Pi I can have under $100 of hardware and junk do something useful, even monitor it on my phone at work, just constantly improving it without having to be an engineer or expert at electronics designs that could take me hours of work I might not have when I find a limitation in some circuit I hashed out.. it's true I might not have time for a few weeks to get parts replaced but still want to monitor it because I can spare an hour when I get home to manage manual work with the actual plants I think your question and at the root of incorporating any fail safes is ask why the part would fail first, do a risk analysis of how the Pi could fail in different scenarios in different types of projects or environments. Then build up from that point you covered your ass and keep learning :) even when I see technicians doing maitanence on a building electronic or mechanical you can see the work plan for their day is like this. Might be a few weeks before a joke of a little outdated part comes in but they have to get the system up and running safe with infrastructure too old for a simple quick lasting fix.
The tiny size of the green house only goal is save money on food with junk I have or find any remarkable feat of engineering would be pointless. I could have weighted ventilation flaps and lose heat that I wanted to keep for cold Spring or fall nights if I don't program that into the air being pumped in.. but my junk upcycled fans go because bad weather and the fact they're so small sucking air and rain into themselves flaps are closed too much day and night and I'm gone the weekend.. everything weeks of growth toasted lol
I know this is basic using an uno, but perhaps you could expand it to esp32, that opens so many wifi/bluetooth options. (For example i am using a nano to control my christmas tree but next i am using a esp32 so i can use my phone as a color picker and to change programs eliminating the need for buttons)
I like that the sweater is the tech videos and the hoodie is the news videos.
That RadioShack Armatron is the spark that got me interested in robotics. I found one in the garbage when I was a kid and have been fascinated by electronics and robotics ever since.
One of the things that's kind of hard, but I think why Eli's more political or current affairs driven content gets more attention is he tends to be more animated. He tends to get over the top excited about different things, which may not lend itself well to instructional content, sometimes you need just a quiet dispassionate description, but a funny ironic! I think would help make especially code come alive a little bit. code can be dry and that's just the reality of it. But I think generally taking some of the format from the current events, first why we should care about this, What's being said in an article, and then explanations and exclamations afterwards summing up what was just said.
But this could also just be my ADD mind that likes flashy and loud stuff.
You didn't do a good job of summing it up in the end, perhaps I should have waited at the end of the video to comment lol
Finally a technical talk 😅
He is baaack
Finally! Thanks!
clear and concise 👍🏾
Wouldn't there be a way in linux to somehow query the /proc/ directories for into on the tty devices to know if its amc1 or 0 and then make the python script use that so that you don't have to hardcode the value in?
8:57 *Jazz music stops*
Seems like solution to almost similar problem unix.stackexchange.com/questions/66901/how-to-bind-usb-device-under-a-static-name
I wonder if this would work with WS2811 Pixel LEDs? Using the free program Falcon player on the PI and send signals to the Arduino to send data to the pixels.
Commenting for analytics and to help vids like this do better.
I do totally get the interest in having a computer script in say Python control real world actuators but I still dont get why you don't just use a cheap PLC, or a Zelio type relay controller etc. Cost is similar if not cheaper and you can have many more inputs, outputs as well as analog logic. So like you alude to at the end, what about control a valve open position based on an input value as well as the output value based on a target, like a PID controller etc. I just don't get the point in using an arduino and a pie when it's so cheap to buy a plc or relay controller that's much more capable and faster. Maybe I am wrong though?
Maybe learning.
I agree that for such tasks a small relay controller is sufficient. Maybe Eli just isn't aware of such devices. As an automation engineer I work with those but I know several IT people that were surprised to know such devices exist and what they are capable of.
Here is a senario, what if the Pie loses power for a substantial amount of time? How would you program the arduino to respond to having it's master being dead?
I was working on a greenhouse project last year and never got around to the pi side of cooler things you could do thinking about fail safes like this, to have each level be stand alone. My thought was at first think from the biggest computing system in my IoT projects to the pi then to the Arduino, that my Arduino code could be a lot more simplified. For my learning sake it made more sense thinking about fail safes from different angles like yours ground up and I made the Arduino stand alone control the greenhouse. I decided to do things needed in the greenhouse as functions so I don't see why you couldn't just add an argument to run the loop in absence of serial input to run this type of loop just calling the functions, the loop is still small to manage working on since it's just calling functions in different ways.
Some people asked me why not just use Arduino network to a computer. For my purposes that fail safe could if I wanted have a backup Arduino way to send data to a computer server for the cooler networking stuff that the pi just makes life easier. The pi also being a stand alone layer of it's own not needing any networks but still a lot more versatile in the decision making processing. Like the Arduino can make simple "keep the damn plants alive" decisions but the pi can actually monitor their health and needs more carefully without either of them needing to find a way to a powerful computer or needing me able to see what's going on. So I'm super stoked to see how these classes evolve!
Life got ahead of me, different priorities so didn't learn that far if there'd be any issues with that? I never worked extensively on serial communications other than the monitoring side so maybe there's drawbacks I can't see. If the Arduino has it's own power source what happens when serial communication goes dead? Is there a way to issolate any surge from whatever happened to the pi?
Eli kind of touched on these topics, unplugging the Arduino to change components. How come you can power a Pi from a usb battery while charging the portable battery but it reboots when you unplug the charger from the battery bank type problems when choosing a power setup for something embedded..? Limitations of the battery charge controller creating the surge or the voltage output of the usb? All important things to learn and think about hashing out your hardware setup for projects you want to be able to change all the time easily while they still doing what you need them to, before investing in designing something embedded you just put there and never think about changing while you're trying to learn.
@@bleu-greensmountain5861 Great response! That failsafe argument is the only thing that I could think of too.
That idea of "just keep the damn plants alive" being isolated to the Arduino is also a good one. Just have the Pi monitor only.
And if you're really overkill, push a biweekly update that modifies itself based on the behavior of the plants. The Pi would only be needed for a few seconds to upload to the Arduinos. Making that algorithm might be more pain that it's worth though.
I'm really exited for this too man, I too stopped programming for a while and it feels like a chunk of my brain has gone missing. But I've NEVER dabbled into the hardware side of things. So, this series should be a great motivator for me.
@@heritic1hero I was lucky to have a family member with engineering background nudge me to start thinking about fail safes. Instantly I realized I had to go ground up from the greenhouse design it's self, like what if even the Arduino failed at sensor points of fans? Just realized that has to be in my code at the Arduino or the pi won't be helping more than showing the problem before I can fix. One person was like why wouldn't you just use more modern greenhouse design have ventilation flaps balanced pumping airflow into the greenhouse that the temp opens them wider as hot air tries to escape? Cause I'm not an architectural engineer with expensive software or a budget to risk getting it wrong in real application?? Lol so worst case the flaps open full and I have near outdoor temps till I can fix the situation. The whole idea was how could I make a greenhouse in my tiny city apartment yard out of recycled junk.. An Arduino and a Pi I can have under $100 of hardware and junk do something useful, even monitor it on my phone at work, just constantly improving it without having to be an engineer or expert at electronics designs that could take me hours of work I might not have when I find a limitation in some circuit I hashed out.. it's true I might not have time for a few weeks to get parts replaced but still want to monitor it because I can spare an hour when I get home to manage manual work with the actual plants
I think your question and at the root of incorporating any fail safes is ask why the part would fail first, do a risk analysis of how the Pi could fail in different scenarios in different types of projects or environments. Then build up from that point you covered your ass and keep learning :) even when I see technicians doing maitanence on a building electronic or mechanical you can see the work plan for their day is like this. Might be a few weeks before a joke of a little outdated part comes in but they have to get the system up and running safe with infrastructure too old for a simple quick lasting fix.
The tiny size of the green house only goal is save money on food with junk I have or find any remarkable feat of engineering would be pointless. I could have weighted ventilation flaps and lose heat that I wanted to keep for cold Spring or fall nights if I don't program that into the air being pumped in.. but my junk upcycled fans go because bad weather and the fact they're so small sucking air and rain into themselves flaps are closed too much day and night and I'm gone the weekend.. everything weeks of growth toasted lol
...Wouldn't a better solution be just using some NPN transistors and resistors to connect stuff to the Raspberry Pi to be controlled?
How to activate arduino sketch only when prompted or activated in node red and not when arduino is connected to serial port. Thx. Pls advise
I know this is basic using an uno, but perhaps you could expand it to esp32, that opens so many wifi/bluetooth options. (For example i am using a nano to control my christmas tree but next i am using a esp32 so i can use my phone as a color picker and to change programs eliminating the need for buttons)
look into dr zzz wled vids he covers it verry well
Will do, have the software written but i am always open to new ideas, EVERYONE can teach you something
Do you have github link maybe?
Thnx
If only people would understand how useful this stuff is around the house....
cheers!
👏👏👏👏👏