Build an X10 Doggy Dish
■ FIGURE 11
other as shown in
Figure 15.
Set the bowl
right side up
and connect the
sensor pads to
the DiosPro and
power it up by
plugging in the
battery connector. Slowly fill the
dish with water
until the readout
starts to display
50. Using a small
cup, remove small
amounts of water
until the display
reads 0 once
again; this is the point that the dish will
alert you when it needs more water.
If you aren’t happy with the level,
reposition the sensor pads until you are.
■ FIGURE 14
■ FIGURE 13
■ FIGURE 12
• STEP 6 — Test the FireCracker
Interface. Connect the FireCracker to
the DB9 connector that you attached
to the Carrier 1 board back in Step 2,
as shown in Figure 16. Load up the
program DDishP2.txt (available from
the Nuts & Volts website at www.nuts
volts.com) and program it into the
DiosPro using the EZRS232.
The program is set to turn device
K3 on and off, depending on the
water level. You can change this by
modifying the constants used in the
call to the SendX17Adata routines.
Connect the sensor pads if they are
not already connected and add water
to the bowl. The K3 device should
turn off as long as the water level is
okay. It will turn on when the water
level drops below your sensors. The
program tests the dish every 10 seconds which seems like a good rate.
• STEP 7 — Final Assembly. By this
point, we have tested the control system, the sensors, and the water levels
and are happy with their operation.
It’s much harder to program the
DiosPro once it has been installed
under the bowl.
Dry fit the controller and battery
holder first by holding them in place.
Make sure you can reach the board
with the sensor pad wires as shown in
Figure 17. Don’t install the batteries
and controller too close to any of the
sensor pads or they may interfere with
the readings. Position the Carrier 1
board so that you can still install the
EZRS232 when needed.
Once you are happy with the location of the controller, place some double stick foam tape on the FireCracker
and stick it in place. You will also want
to attach some foam tape to the
■ SCHEMATIC 1
■ FIGURE 15
May 2007 39
