The Sodium Launcher Arduino/Xbee Sketch...

Simple stuff, but here it is:

//Single Servo Servo controlled by Xbee after receiving character commmand
*****************************************************************/
// We'll use SoftwareSerial to communicate with the XBee:
#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
#include <Servo.h>
Servo myservo;  // create servo object to control a servo
                // a maximum of eight servo objects can be created


int pos = 0;

// XBee's DOUT (TX) is connected to pin 2 (Arduino's Software RX)
// XBee's DIN (RX) is connected to pin 3 (Arduino's Software TX)
SoftwareSerial XBee(2, 3); // RX, TX



void setup()
{


  XBee.begin(9600);
  Serial.begin(9600);
  myservo.attach(9);

}

void loop()
{
  if (Serial.available())
  { // If data comes in from serial monitor, send it out to XBee
    XBee.write(Serial.read());
  }
  if (XBee.available())
  { // If data comes in from XBee, send it out to serial monitor
    Serial.write(XBee.read());
 
  }

while (Serial.available ()>0) {
    char incomingByte = Serial.read();
   Serial.println(incomingByte);
   if(incomingByte=='1'){
     for(pos = 90; pos < 180; pos += 1)  // goes from 0 degrees to 180 degrees
  {                                  // in steps of 1 degree
    myservo.write(pos);              // tell servo to go to position in variable 'pos'
    delay(15);                       // waits 15ms for the servo to reach the position
  }
  for(pos = 180; pos>=90; pos-=1)     // goes from 180 degrees to 0 degrees
  {                              
    myservo.write(pos);              // tell servo to go to position in variable 'pos'
    delay(15);                       // waits 15ms for the servo to reach the position
  }

   }

}
}

sodium launcher with xbee's

Fun little project. Sodium blowup demonstration covers a lot of ground in chemistry: molarity, acid/base, logarithms,ph, periodic trends, stoichiometry. We work out the predicted ph of the bucket of water after the sodium reacts and makes sodium hydroxide. Thought it would be fun to put together a simple radio controlled sodium launcher with a pair of xbee's signalling a servo motor to drop the sodium - for safety, of course.

           Launcher.  Servo run by arduino receives command via xbee.

Arduino Ethernet Shield and Xbee

This summer I worked with the folks at the Chattanooga Public Library's 4th Floor Lab and we've now got a basic sketch that integrates the Arduino Ethernet Shield with XBee Communication.  I've searched high and low for someone to post an Arduino sketch that integrates them, but I haven't found one.  Well, if you too have been looking, here it is!  I used this some a few months ago to post some sensor data that was being logged several hundred feet away in the field and sent via XBee 1 to XBee 2 stacked with the Arduino Ethernet Shield.  There's plenty of html code changes you can add or change to make your 1990's-looking webpage better.  Hope it's useful!  Merry Christmas!

*/

#include <SPI.h>

#include <Ethernet.h>
#include <SoftwareSerial.h>

// XBee's DOUT (TX) is connected to pin 2 (Arduino's Software RX)

// XBee's DIN (RX) is connected to pin 3 (Arduino's Software TX)

SoftwareSerial XBee(2, 3); // RX, TXint ReadingNumber=0;

char link[]="wirelessearthwatchdawgs.blogspot.com"; //link data

// Enter a MAC address and IP address for your controller below.

// The IP address will be dependent on your local network:

byte mac[] = {

   0x90, 0xA2, 0xDA, 0x0D, 0xA8, 0x6B

};

IPAddress ip(192,168,1,120

);

//IPAddress ip(172, 16, 100, 120);

// Initialize the Ethernet server library

// with the IP address and port you want to use

// (port 80 is default for HTTP):

EthernetServer server(8081);

void setup() {

  // Open serial communications and wait for port to open:

  Serial.begin(1200);

   XBee.begin(1200);

  while (!Serial) {

    ; // wait for serial port to connect. Needed for Leonardo only

  }

  // start the Ethernet connection and the server:

  Ethernet.begin(mac, ip);

  server.begin();

  Serial.print("server is at ");

  Serial.println(Ethernet.localIP());

}

void loop() {

  // listen for incoming clients

  EthernetClient client = server.available();

  if (client) {

    Serial.println("new client");

    // an http request ends with a blank line

    boolean currentLineIsBlank = true;

    while (client.connected()) {

      if (client.available()) {

        char c = client.read();

        Serial.write(c);

        // if you've gotten to the end of the line (received a newline

        // character) and the line is blank, the http request has ended,

        // so you can send a reply

        if (c == '\n' && currentLineIsBlank) {

          // send a standard http response header

          client.println("HTTP/1.1 200 OK");

          client.println("Content-Type: text/html");

          client.println("Connection: close");  // the connection will be closed after completion of the response

          client.println("Refresh: 5");  // refresh the page automatically every 5 sec

          client.println();

          client.println("<!DOCTYPE HTML>");

          client.println("<html>");
          client.println();

          //set background to yellow

          client.print("<body style=background-color:yellow>");

          //send first heading

          client.println("<font color='red'><h1>My Web Title</font></h1>");

          client.println("<hr />");

          client.println("<hr />");

          //output some sample data to browser

          client.println("<font color='blue' size='5'>Sample data:w/m2");

          // output the value of each analog input pin

          boolean xbeenewline = false; // initialize boolean variable to keep track if a new line has been seen.

          while (xbeenewline == false) {          //when this is false; a new line hasn't been seen; 

            char c = XBee.read ();        // render it as characters, rather than as integers.

            if (c == '\n') {          // if c hits the ASCII symbol for new line

              xbeenewline = true;   // it's true that the server sees a new line from the xbee feed

              boolean newxbeenewline = false;  // initialize a variable that will serve as the recognition of the end of a line of data

              while (newxbeenewline == false) {  // keep reading data, we arent' at the end of the line yet

                char c = XBee.read();

                if (c == '\n') {            // but when we see the symbol for end of line

                  newxbeenewline = true;    // we're done reading data

                } else if (c != -1) {       // -1 is the value for nothing sent by xbee, so don't print it

                 

                  client.print(c);

                  delay (1);

                }

              }

                client.println ("<br/>");                                    //(“<br />”);

          client.println ("<hr/>");   

      

          client.println ("<font color='blue' size='5'>Link: ");         //(“<font color=’blue’ size=’5′>Link: “);

          client.print ("<a href=");            //(“<a href=”);

          client.print(link);

          client.println(  ">Visit our Project Site!</a>");          //(“>Visit Scienceprog!</a>”);

          client.println ("<br/>");                                    //(“<br />”);

          client.println ("<hr/>");                             //(“<hr />”);

            }

          }

          client.println("</html>");

          break;

        }

        if (c == '\n') {

          // you're starting a new line

          currentLineIsBlank = true;

        }

        else if (c != '\r') {

          // you've gotten a character on the current line

          currentLineIsBlank = false;

        }

      }

    }

    // give the web browser time to receive the data

    delay(1);

    // close the connection:

    client.stop();

    Serial.println("client disconnected");

  }

}

Getting those final test runs in

After a few days in the garbage pail simulation, I figured we'd get a realistic current usage for 24 hours with all the circuitry running.  We put a  Vernier current logger in line and took readings every  6 minutes.  Vernier has a good statistics function so I could get the total consumption over the day (the integral- for all you calculus folks).  Pretty much was as predicted ~.84 amps/day.  Definitely puts us comfortably in the zone for leaving the station for a month with a 42 amp-hour battery (50 days, in theory). .  There's enough room in the box to put two batteries in parallel for a seasonal duty cycle, but we'll hold off on that until this project proves it's mettle over a 30 day field test.

Water buoy-proof of concept phase

Testing it out in a municipal waste bin filled with water- water goes up and down with the rain and some occasional hose input.  Decided to put the steel pipe aside and go for schedule 80 PVC held with three pieces of rebar at 120 degrees separation each driven well into the creek bed.  I couldn't imagine doing this in anything bigger than very small tributaries with such a design, but that's what we're testing.  Looking to get it out in a few days.  Have a couple of ideas for securing the battery and for providing a bit of ventilation for the hydrogen gas that would emit.

Cutting Pipe for our Buoy Design

The idea is to have a dense foam cylinder inside a pipe in the stream that rises and falls with the stream level.  The pipe is vertical, and held by rebar, big rebar.  The probes will stick out of the cylinder while the cables go up into a sealed, watertight box where all the circuitry and battery are stored. I'll try to have a diagram out soon.  Pipe is expensive.

Francophone readers and commenters welcome

I've noticed that a fair number of blog guests are from the Francophone world, mostly France.  While I can't say that I'm an absolute master of the language (to say the least!), I d speak it fairly well and welcome any feedback or questions in the language.  Ce serait avec plaisir, mais veuillez m'excuser si mon ecriture est plein de fautes grammatiques.