Raspberry Pi Capability

[Nylefurness]

Hello, I am a novice when it comes to computers and the Raspberry Pi so I hope someone can help me out. I am student at College studying product design. For my second year unit I am creating a computer desk that has a computer inside of it with a raspberry Pi controlling the fans and LEDS. I have done extensive researching into how the raspberry pi works but I have so far been unsuccessful with any progress. Could someone please give me some advice how I can control the fans and LEDS through the raspberry Pi and how many the raspberry Pi can hold. I am wanting to use about 10 fans due the type of case I am building around the computer desk.
Below is the link to the computer parts I will be buying.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/TRMfd6
Thank you.

[texy]

Hi,
I am slightly surprised that your extensive research hasn't shown you how to control fans and LED's
However there are a number of questions that need to be answered in order to specifically answer yours.
10 fans seems like rather a lot for a desk - how do you want them controlled - via temperature sensors, or just on all the time
that the Pi is powered?
How many LED's, and do they need individual control?
You will certainly need an appropriate PSU and the total current will exceed the nominal 2A supply used to power the Pi.

Texy

[B.Goode]

Perhaps start with this basic guide from the Raspberry Pi Foundation's website: https://www.raspberrypi.org/learning/ph ... th-python/

[Nylefurness]

I will want to control the fans via tempretue sensor. I will also want to run two LED strips through the Raspberry Pi so when the sensor reaches a certain tempreture the led will change. For example 50 degrees + will turn the LEDS red. I hope this gives you some more information :/

[texy]

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/TRMfd6
Thank you.

The only relevant part in the list is the fans, which are designed for a PC motherboard. We don't know the voltage or current requirements from the description. You need to find this out, or obtain from another source that tells you the full electrical specs.
rgds,
Texy

[BMS Doug]

Which variety of LED strip are you planning to use? There are several varieties, each with a different control method.
Googling: "raspberry pi LED strip" should give you a start to research.

Similarly, googling: "raspberry pi fan speed control" should give you a start towards figuring out how to run a fan.

Please link the tutorials you have any questions about.

[Nylefurness]

I was thinking of using Adafruit NeoPixel Digital RGB LED Weatherproof Strip 60 LED. If this is not a viable option for a LED strip please could you link me one that is as I am not to sure on which ones are suitable for my build. I have looked at both the links you have sent me and I believe I have a clearer idea how to create my build.

I have another idea how to create my build that uses the same the parts but a different way of connecting everything and I believe it would be easier. I was thinking of connecting the LEDS, a temperature sensor and a LCD display to the raspberry PI. I believe I would be able to code the Raspberry Pi to change colour when the sensor reaches certain temperatures and the temperature would be displayed on the LCD screen if I am correct. Do you think this is a viable option and maybe would be easier that my first idea.

I only have till around March to finish designing my build and have it built, I will only get a around 10 hours a week to build this. Please could you give me your options and ideas on both of these build ideas.
Thank you very much for your help.

[Nylefurness]

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/TRMfd6
Thank you.

The only relevant part in the list is the fans, which are designed for a PC motherboard. We don't know the voltage or current requirements from the description. You need to find this out, or obtain from another source that tells you the full electrical specs.
rgds,
Texy

I have had a look at this problem you have mentioned and using the types of fans I have suggested are the fans are not suitable my the type of build I wanted to do. I have thought of an alternative idea, do you think having the LEDS, temperature sensor and a LCD screen to display the temperature would be a better option. I would have the fans connected to two NZXT Sentry Mix 2 Fan Controller which I can control manually. I would code the Raspberry Pi to display the temperature of the sensor on the LCD screen and have the LEDS change colour when the sensor reaches certain temperature.
Thank you very much for your help on this subject.

[BMS Doug]

I was thinking of using Adafruit NeoPixel Digital RGB LED Weatherproof Strip 60 LED. If this is not a viable option for a LED strip please could you link me one that is as I am not to sure on which ones are suitable for my build. I have looked at both the links you have sent me and I believe I have a clearer idea how to create my build.

I have another idea how to create my build that uses the same the parts but a different way of connecting everything and I believe it would be easier. I was thinking of connecting the LEDS, a temperature sensor and a LCD display to the raspberry PI. I believe I would be able to code the Raspberry Pi to change colour when the sensor reaches certain temperatures and the temperature would be displayed on the LCD screen if I am correct. Do you think this is a viable option and maybe would be easier that my first idea.

I only have till around March to finish designing my build and have it built, I will only get a around 10 hours a week to build this. Please could you give me your options and ideas on both of these build ideas.
Thank you very much for your help.

There is plenty of build advice out there regarding how to use the neo-pixels, don't miss out on the logic level shifter needed to convert the pi's 3v3 gpio to the 5v required by the neopixel.

Your 12v dc fans can be controlled by pwm.

Add the lcd display as well, and a few pushbuttons.

Make your fan setpoints adjustable with the display.

[Nylefurness]

I was thinking of using Adafruit NeoPixel Digital RGB LED Weatherproof Strip 60 LED. If this is not a viable option for a LED strip please could you link me one that is as I am not to sure on which ones are suitable for my build. I have looked at both the links you have sent me and I believe I have a clearer idea how to create my build.

I have another idea how to create my build that uses the same the parts but a different way of connecting everything and I believe it would be easier. I was thinking of connecting the LEDS, a temperature sensor and a LCD display to the raspberry PI. I believe I would be able to code the Raspberry Pi to change colour when the sensor reaches certain temperatures and the temperature would be displayed on the LCD screen if I am correct. Do you think this is a viable option and maybe would be easier that my first idea.

I only have till around March to finish designing my build and have it built, I will only get a around 10 hours a week to build this. Please could you give me your options and ideas on both of these build ideas.
Thank you very much for your help.

There is plenty of build advice out there regarding how to use the neo-pixels, don't miss out on the logic level shifter needed to convert the pi's 3v3 gpio to the 5v required by the neopixel.

Your 12v dc fans can be controlled by pwm.

Add the lcd display as well, and a few pushbuttons.

Make your fan setpoints adjustable with the display.

Thank you, I am currently looking at the website now. I cant seem to find out how many fans the Raspberry Pi can support, I am looking at running 10 fans for my build, the main reason for this large amount fans is that they will be placed all around a the desk. What do you mean by make the fans setpoints adjustable with the display? Sorry If im not very clear, I am a novice at building a computer and using a raspberry Pi.

[texy]

Hi,
the number of fans depends on how you want to control them. Are you happy to have all 10 switch on or off at the same time - you'll need just 1 GPIO port line?
Of if you want each individual fan to be independently controlled them you'll need (for example) 10 GPIO port lines.

By 'the setpoints adjustable with the display', Doug means that on the display you can set the temperature level at which the fans come on, ie when the temperature goes over this limit. You software can be designed to be able to adjust the limit, rather than editing the program.....

Texy

[BMS Doug]

Thank you, I am currently looking at the website now. I cant seem to find out how many fans the Raspberry Pi can support, I am looking at running 10 fans for my build, the main reason for this large amount fans is that they will be placed all around a the desk. What do you mean by make the fans setpoints adjustable with the display? Sorry If im not very clear, I am a novice at building a computer and using a raspberry Pi.

1 Fan per GPIO output, 10 won't be a problem.

To make your project more than just a copy/paste from the internet you need to add unique functionality. For hardware you may have about 10 hrs work (it might take me 3hrs, i'm assuming it will take you longer).
Software can largely be copy/pasted, amalgamating the various programs and modifying them will be what takes the time (and adds originality).

Having some kind of human interface would turn this into an interactive piece instead of a static item.

So the interface should allow the person to adjust the internal settings (such as the control setpoint for the cooling fans or the LED colours).

[Nylefurness]

Thank you, I am currently looking at the website now. I cant seem to find out how many fans the Raspberry Pi can support, I am looking at running 10 fans for my build, the main reason for this large amount fans is that they will be placed all around a the desk. What do you mean by make the fans setpoints adjustable with the display? Sorry If im not very clear, I am a novice at building a computer and using a raspberry Pi.

1 Fan per GPIO output, 10 won't be a problem.

To make your project more than just a copy/paste from the internet you need to add unique functionality. For hardware you may have about 10 hrs work (it might take me 3hrs, i'm assuming it will take you longer).
Software can largely be copy/pasted, amalgamating the various programs and modifying them will be what takes the time (and adds originality).

Having some kind of human interface would turn this into an interactive piece instead of a static item.

So the interface should allow the person to adjust the internal settings (such as the control setpoint for the cooling fans or the LED colours).

I would think it would take me somewhat double the time to do the hardware. But for the software I can do most of it outside of college time, I believe that I know how to code the raspberry Pi . Would it matter what GPIO I put the fans in? Would having the fans turn on and off at different temperature class as human interface?

[Nylefurness]

Hi,
the number of fans depends on how you want to control them. Are you happy to have all 10 switch on or off at the same time - you'll need just 1 GPIO port line?
Of if you want each individual fan to be independently controlled them you'll need (for example) 10 GPIO port lines.

By 'the setpoints adjustable with the display', Doug means that on the display you can set the temperature level at which the fans come on, ie when the temperature goes over this limit. You software can be designed to be able to adjust the limit, rather than editing the program.....

Texy

I would want to control them all individually depending on how many is needed, If the computer gets to warm I would want a fan to turn on and vise versa, if the computer gets cold I would want a fan to turn off. Thank you for clearing that up, I will have a look at doing the setpoints adjustable with the display as I think it could save me a lot of time.

[texy]

I did something not a million miles away, only this was maintaining the temperature of a test jig. I use a DS18B20 to monitor the temperature and then either enable a heater, or switch on a couple of fans. The heater or fans switch on by enabling a cheap ebay sourced dual relay board. Done in python using pygame for the display.

manual_mode.jpg (40.08 KiB) Viewed 1996 times

Texy

[Nylefurness]

I did something not a million miles away, only this was maintaining the temperature of a test jig. I use a DS18B20 to monitor the temperature and then either enable a heater, or switch on a couple of fans. The heater or fans switch on by enabling a cheap ebay sourced dual relay board. Done in python using pygame for the display.

manual_mode.jpg

Texy

That looks like a cool way of controlling the temperature of the rig, I will have to definitely look into doing that because it looks like a interesting way of controlling the temperature. Could you please send me a but more information of how you did that?
Thank you

[texy]

Well you need to break down the project into blocks.
So lets look at how you can measure the temperature - as I said I used a DS18B20. They are simple to connect and drivers are built into the Raspbian code, you just need to enable it. I used one of these as it is already connected to a cable :
http://www.gearbest.com/sensors/pp_2356 ... AhjO8P8HAQ

The only other hardware you will need for the temp sensor is a 4K7 pull up resistor. search this forum, or google will show you how to use it with a raspberry pi - lot's of examples out there, eg
https://thepihut.com/blogs/raspberry-pi ... he-ds18b20

Texy

[BMS Doug]

That looks like a cool way of controlling the temperature of the rig, I will have to definitely look into doing that because it looks like a interesting way of controlling the temperature. Could you please send me a but more information of how you did that?
Thank you

You have probably noticed that neither Texty or I are giving you step by step instructions. Thats part of the nature of this forum, we want you to learn how to do i, not do it for you. I am happy to answer questions and make suggestions but I won't be giving you step by step guides (but there are plenty out there, google is your friend).

Seperating your project into manageable steps is key.

[texy]

That looks like a cool way of controlling the temperature of the rig, I will have to definitely look into doing that because it looks like a interesting way of controlling the temperature. Could you please send me a but more information of how you did that?
Thank you

You have probably noticed that neither Texty or I are giving you step by step instructions. Thats part of the nature of this forum, we want you to learn how to do i, not do it for you. I am happy to answer questions and make suggestions but I won't be giving you step by step guides (but there are plenty out there, google is your friend).

Seperating your project into manageable steps is key.

+1

[Nylefurness]

That looks like a cool way of controlling the temperature of the rig, I will have to definitely look into doing that because it looks like a interesting way of controlling the temperature. Could you please send me a but more information of how you did that?
Thank you

You have probably noticed that neither Texty or I are giving you step by step instructions. Thats part of the nature of this forum, we want you to learn how to do i, not do it for you. I am happy to answer questions and make suggestions but I won't be giving you step by step guides (but there are plenty out there, google is your friend).

Seperating your project into manageable steps is key.

+1

Yeah thats fair enough, I completely understand. I am just trying to gather more and more information on the raspberry Pi as I dont know exactly know what I am doing with it. With the information you have giving me I am now able to start my project, I will keep you updated on how it is going if you would like me to. I will also post more questions if I get stuck and Goggle isn't much of a help.
Thank you both very much for your help and I am sure that I will be able to now start this project.