5 Volt supply for sensors with IndIO
I'm a mechanical engineer by trade and have a bit of a mental block electrically. I can muddle through, but it's not my strong suit. I'm working on an HVAC project using an Arduino MEGA and hoping to swap it over to the IndIO version controller soon. My question is (sorry if it is silly) where can I pick up another 5 volt power supply to run my sensors. I see where I could grab the pin out of the IDC cable and use it, but what if I am connected to the GPRS module or the ethernet module? Could I use a voltage regulator and step down the supply voltage say from 24 volts that I would feed the controller with to 5 volts? I guess I could make my own regulator, but being that this will potentially be a marketed product, I'm thinking I need to use listed components to make it all happen. If I'm understanding the controller correctly, could I not use one of the analog outputs and set it to 5 volts?
For my hybrid evaporative condenser setup, I'll probably have 4 temperature sensors, currently DHT11s, but will be swapping to the DS18B20s so I can use only one digital and get the addresses of each, I would then also have a DHT11 used for the temperature and humidity, a flow sensor, and a modulating valve, which is as of now a 2 position valve I am timing the stroke of and basing the movement off of full stroke time.
Thanks
Kelly
The more I play around with these controllers the more I think maybe a better way to proceed is to use the PROTO controller I bought to read my 5v temp sensors and a flow sensor and then use an RS485 connection to the INDIO and just use it to open and close my solenoid valves and modulate my 0-10 volt water valve based on passed temp and flow values.
Your answer
Please try to give a substantial answer. If you wanted to comment on the question or answer, just use the commenting tool. Please remember that you can always revise your answers - no need to answer the same question twice. Also, please don't forget to vote - it really helps to select the best questions and answers!
Keep Informed
About This Forum
This community is for professionals and enthusiasts of our products and services.
Read GuidelinesQuestion tools
Stats
| Asked: 11/5/18, 3:08 PM |
| Seen: 2185 times |
| Last updated: 11/9/18, 1:55 AM |
hi, you can indeed use a PROTO if you want to stick with those 5V sensors, and add an RS485 port and use Modbus RTU to make the data available to the INDIO which would be the Modbus Master. Another way is to move to industrial type sensors and use the INDIO analog input channels, 0-10V or 4-20mA. If you need more than 4 channels, you can hook up 2 INDIOs over their RS485 with Modbus RTU again.