Tank Automation

[ScubaSteve]

Go on Ebay and find an old National Instruments DAQ (preferably a DAQmx USB or a bus card) then download Labview. There's a bit of a learning curve but once you've got it it's a super powerful tool. I am actually setting up a new NI DAQ/Labview system as I type this to control my experimental set-up.

I made a really simple array of transistors that drive +5V circuits to control relays. Each of these relays can handle mains voltages. Took me about a day of soldering to set-up. If you want to cheat you can always buy power switch tails but you're paying a premium for something you could build for $5 or less.

I think the Dr. DAQ system is sufficient but if you want a bulletproof, reliable system with HUGE flexibility and capability I'd highly recommend the NI/Labview route. Make sure you design all your relays to have the proper fail safe in case your computer get's shut-off by accident.

I do this junk all day long so if you have questions on any of it feel free to fire them my way...

[Lampshade]

Thanks Steve, i'll look into that. I found the webControl board's awhile ago on eBay that pretty much has all the transistors in place, and a network interface, as well as a basic logic controller/timer. Only issue was the amount of SSR's needed to drive any components. This Labview route looks great, some prebuilt stuff on EBay for pretty cheap, even found a RS232 card that take's analog and has 10A relay outputs. Probably cheaper bread board though. I'll probably play with it a bit, looks like a fun project once my new tank's up and going.
I've got a PLC running the basic stuff on my tank right now, was looking at upgrading and hopefully adding in some monitoring over the web. Not terribly hard to do if i designed my own webpage, etc. But the issue was getting info to the computer, especially the analogs.
I used to work building automated machinery, but the computer/PLC interface is beond me.

Thanks agains both of you.