Aquarium LED Controller: 3-Channel 24-Hour Timer With Microcontroller PC Setup

Hi, Ive looked around on the internet and im having such a hard time finding a circuit like the one i need. I have led strips that im going to use as an aquatic light for my aquarium. I need to setup a morning / day / night cycle. The circuit id like to build needs to have three channels each being control for different on and off times or i can make the same circuit three times each controlling a different color light... dont matter. A little information on different circuits and idea would be great. If there is any way to use like a micro controller so i can set times via pc would be ideal too. Any ideas about were to start would be great thanks so much!!

Hi, did you try using a Real-Time Clock circuit to measure time and a microcontroller to control the LEDs. RTCs usually have a common interface (serial like I2C or sometimes full parallel) and you can read and set through the software running on the microcontroller.

I agree with Dorin, use a microcontroller with a RTC module and be sure to include a battery backup (like a coin battery) so you don't loose your clock setting when your power goes out or your main batteries need replaced.

Depending on your experience with microcontrollers, we can help point you toward a system that is easy to use. The Arduino and Basic Stamp are both easy platforms for beginners.

If you want a simple solution that doesn't require a lot of knowledge about programming, look at Linear Technology's Timerblox page:

http://www.linear.com/products/timerblox

This is the first time I have seen that family of parts. I like the Delay Block/Debouncer. I once was working on a Microcontroller project that had a keypad and getting the debounce to work right took a bit of work since I had some additional interrupts/events I was looking for. I would have like to offload the debounce portion of the code to a device like this.