dropControllerV3 User Guide
dropControllerV3 User Guide v1.2 (PDF 2.4MB)
dropControllerV3 Kit
dropControllerV3 Kit: Assembly Guide v1.2 (PDF 2.08MB)
dropControllerV3 Kit: Contents (PDF 0.2MB)
dropController Arduino Sketch
dropControllerV2 Arduino Sketch 2019_V2_001. For use on the version 2 device.
dropControllerV3 Arduino Sketch 2019_V3_003. For use on the version 3 device.
dropControllerV3 Arduino Sketch 2019_V3_005_01. For use on the version 3 device.
dropControllerV3 Arduino Sketch 2019_V3_005_02. For use on the version 3 device. Minor changes only. Not an important update.
dropControllerV3 Arduino Sketch 2019_V3_005_03. For use on the version 3 device.
Changes:
| 2019_V3_001 | New version release | |
| 2019_V3_002 | Corrected the pins used for the Bluetooth module | |
| 2019_V3_003 | Added !Serial for Leonardo & Micro Changed the non-connected blink rate |
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| 2019_V3_005_01 | Added Flash Trigger 3 Bug fix: FT2 and FT3 flags |
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| 2019_V3_005_02 | Very minor changes. Tidied some comments, moved some code. | |
| 2019_V3_005_03 | Bug fix. Double quotes causing havoc. |
Libraries
The Arduino sketches requires the digitalIOPerformance library. This is actually outdated but still works with all 328 based Arduinos like the Nano. I have tried in Arduino IDE 1.6.3 and 1.8.5 and the sketch compiles fine. The library does not work with newer non 328P based Arduinos such as the Arduino Micro & Leonardo which are based on the ATmega32U4 chip.
Arduinos are fairly slow at switching pins on an off and digitalIOPerformance speeds things up by cutting out a lot of unnecessary functions the Arduino normal performs. It only works on older Arduinos though. On Arduinos that it does not support the code defaults to the regular Arduino way. In practice I am not sure this makes a difference when using solenoid valves.
Android App
The new Android app is not yet available on the Play Store so for now please side load. The download contains the apk file and also the App Inventor 2 aia file.
dropController Android app version 2019_001_001
dropController Android app version 2019_001_003
dropController Android app version 2019_005_01. Requires V3 device firmware/sketch 2019_V3_005_01 or higher.
dropController Android app version 2019_005_02. Requires V3 device firmware/sketch 2019_V3_005_01 or higher.
Changes:
| 2019_001_001 | Adapted the version 3 app. Initial release. | |
| 2019_001_003 | Added flash trigger 3 Added a drop data graph. This adds a visual representation of the drop times. Minor bug fix. |
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| 2019_005_01 | Bug fix: Flash Trigger 3 | |
| 2019_005_02 | Bug fix: Flash Trigger 3 command |
Windows Program
dropController Windows App version 2019_004 Build 0.0.0.1
dropController Windows App version 2019_005 Build 0.0.0.1. Requires V3 device firmware/sketch 2019_V3_005_01 or higher.
The Windows program does not need to be installed and is run directly from a folder. It requires the .net framework, minimum version 4.0, available at Microsoft .net 4.0 download page and will run on Windows XP SP2 and above.
Changes:
| 2019_005_01 | Added flash trigger 3. Minor bug fix. |
Windows Program Source Files
dropController Windows App version 2019_004 Build 0.0.0.1 source files
dropController Windows App version 2019_005 Build 0.0.0.1 source files.
The Windows app was written in Visual Basic 2013 and maintained in VS2017 and now VS2019 Visual Studio Community IDE.
Visual Studio 2019 Community is free to use for students, open source contributors and small development teams and it is available for download at https://www.visualstudio.com/downloads/. The download is just the installer which will download the main program from the internet.
dropController V1 – Original Version
The original version used a keypad and LCD and was far more complex and inconvenient to use. For those interested see dropController Original version. The page includes a download link for the Arduino sketch. The sketch is heavily commented so you should be able to follow what it does.
This version is no longer supported and I may not be able to answer questions about it.
Early Release Sensor Mode
See the Sensor Mode page