Vertex Cerebra Controller

[unclesalty]

Originally Posted by kien

Sweet! I've been wanting to ditch my profilux for some time now and this looks to be a kick ass replacement!

I originally was thinking of a profilux myself but the Vertex Cerebra kind of makes the profilux look like a old dinosaur! lol

[Tracey2]

I have been looking into this controller as well, I emailed to get a price and was told it would be inline with the other top controller on the market which I guess is profilux so I am expecting 1000-2000. Someone I know who attended MACNA told me it would not be released for another 6 months, anyone else heard this??

[mseepman]

i spent a long time chatting with both Pro-line and the guys from Vertex on this controller and they felt very strongly that it should be out just after Christmas if the parts that they had been waiting for arrived in any quantity. I think the bigger issue will be whether they have it available with the modules that people want to see available right away on a controller of this sort...PH, Temp, ORP, Conductivity, 1-10v dimming. Although I absolutely loved it when I saw it...I have a bad feeling that it's going to be "incomplete" from a module perspective for quite a long time.

[unclesalty]

Sounds like it won't be too long now! Here is a couple quotes I found on RC




"There are a couple of parts that had to be redesigned and are on the way from Japan to Austria now. As soon as they're received the completion of the beta test untis will be done and shipped out"



"When Mojo says they can eventually run your whole house, he really isn't joking about that. This controller is going to be something that hobbyists never could have dreamed would be reality for their aquarium, or entire home!"

[Ross]

The funny thing is that all the Apple FanBoys / Apple polishers on this site noticed the Mac sitting on the desk, but didnt read the article saying its an Android system!


"Aquarium controllers have become incrementally better over the years but the Android-powered Cerebra will be a giant leap in performance and capabilities which stem from the fact that the Cerebra is not so much an aquarium controller and more like a fully modern computer which is optimized for just about every aquarium task you can think of."

[reefermadness]

Well I'm sure they realized it wasn't going to run a mac OS......android is the logical choice.

I don't get why people get so worked up about controllers though. They are glorified timers, temp controllers and pH moniters. Toys I guess.

[philg3]

I wouldnt get my hopes up if I was a mac user, if you read the previous post about the cerebra it is definitely powered by Android.

http://reefbuilders.com/2011/02/17/v...oid-app-store/

[unclesalty]

Just found some info+specs on it and this controller sounds like it will be "KING OF THE CONTROLLERS. I definately "want" one but it sounds like its going to be: (a)stay home alone and buy a Cerebra or (b)a trip to Cuba with the wife! lol





Hardware:

ARM Cortex-A8 CPU by Freescale
32bit processor
800MHz
512Mb RAM
24bit color display capable of 16,777,216 colors.
32KB instruction and data cache
Unified 256KB L2 cache
Neon SIMD media accelerator
Vector Floating point co-processor
Battery buffered RTC
Power management mode
Other Material, design and construction:

Anodized Aluminum outer body combined with ABS/PC end caps
USB and other connectors hidden in our half-hexagon conduit compartment
3.5” Wide Screen Touch display
8 layer board construction more than 850 components
Back wall connection plate to mount on the wall or in cabinet.
Swiveling bracket
V-Grid network module
Multimedia:

OpenGL ES 2.0 and open VG 1.1hardware accelerator
24-BIT display supports up to WXGA resolution
High quality hardware Video de-interlacing
Image and video resize, inversion and rotation hardware
Alpha blending and color space conversion
Security:

All network connections firewalled
Operation software:

Android 2.2
Fast and responsive
Enables user to illustrate apps.
Vertex™ App-Store:

Buy Apps
Sell Vertex™ approved apps
Share knowledge, Ideas, create, expand and grow
Wireless Communication:

W-LAN
Bluetooth
Zig-Bee (802.15.4 PHY)
GSM
Features:

First app based aquarium controller
Modules connected over USB 2.0
SD card
Supports external tablets
Graphical menus
Embedded web server to monitor, configure and or control over Internet or Intranet.
Auto detection of new hardware
Ethernet connection onboard
NTP time control
Automatic firmware update capable
Multiple fail safe and error detection features
Galvanic isolation of modules via optocouplers and DC-DC convertors/ 2KV isolation
Supports “Smart Digital” sensors, capable of error detection, 2 way communication
Supports industry standard sensors
Battery powered wireless remote sensors
Monitor and report power consumption of each connected device
Programmable logic
Email Alerts
SMS alerts
Data logging, history, graphing
Remote monitoring and control via Internet and GSM
I-Phone App
Capable of being linked to Zig-Bee universal remote controllers
Printer compatible to print reports, logs and or graphs
Browse Internet
Watch high resolution videos
V-light composer for simulating sunrise, sunset, weather simulations…
LED diming and control
Variable speed pump control
Modify, create and or write apps to fully customize control of your system
Parameters:

Monitor and control PH
Monitor and control Redox
Monitor and control conductivity (Both salt and fresh water)
Monitor and control dissolved oxygen
Monitor and control temperature
Monitor and control ambient humidity
Monitor and control dissolved Co2
Monitor and control ambient Co2 Levels
Monitor and control many other parameters via V-Chrome such as Calcium, magnesium…


Additional modules:

PWM
Variable AC outlets
1-10V
Dali
Air-flow meter and regulators
Fluid-flow meter and regulators
V-Cam wireless Camera for remote real time viewing
Par/Lux
Remote low power wireless sensors
Leak detector
Fluid level sensor mechanical and or optical
UPS Module; enables the life support system in case of power interruption
Variable speed power-heads such as Tunze
Construction of Modules:

Each module consists of 2 parts, primary and secondary.
Primary module is universal for most devices and will connect to cerebra via USB.
The secondary modules are function specific which will connect to a primary module
Devices are interchangeable through different USB connections and different modules
Modules casing; anodized Aluminum with ABS/PC end caps
Supporting devices via USB and or many other applicable connectors

Power blocks:

Anodized Aluminum construction
Quality relays with In-rush surge protection
Will be available in 6 and 8 socket blocks
Quality components
Additional USB ports on power blocks, one uplink and 3 downlinks
Hall sensors on board to measure current draw/ consumption of each connected device
Native support of:

Libra dosing systems
V-Chrome colorimeter
V-Cam wireless camera module
Illumina luminaires
Illumilux luminaires
Cerebra introduces an entirely new user interface based on an elegant wide screen touch display and revolutionary software that allows users to monitor, configure and or control every aspect of their system’s operations with just a tap of their finger. It allows the aquarist to share thoughts, ideas, acquire methods, information and or illustrate an app to set his or her own foot-print on aquatic cyber space through Vertex™ Cerebra.
See you out there in V-SPACE.
Vertex Aquaristik™ GmbH

*Most if not all mentioned features and or devices above are targeted to be released by or before Interzoo 2012.(This time line does not include any specific apps.)

[cale262]

Anyone want to buy an APEX and an RKE...

I was looking at a brochure at one of the LFS, not a huge amount of info but it's looking good IMHO.

[phi delt reefer]

Originally Posted by cale262

Anyone want to buy an APEX and an RKE...

I was looking at a brochure at one of the LFS, not a huge amount of info but it's looking good IMHO.

pm what you have for the APEX and RKE - i have a buddy looking to buy a controller very soon. would need to be shipped to Ontario.