ADK / Ethernet Shield Problem Solved!

Fixed! A quick trip to Radio Shack for some hookup wire (22 gauge, solid) and I manually wired the ICSP pins from the Ethernet Shield and now I have a web server that's just a bit bigger than a deck of cards.



Here is the ISCP pin mapping to the ADK pins for future reference:

(MISO)  50 <--  1 o  o 2 --> +5V
(SOCK)  52 <--  3 o  o 4 --> 51 (MOSI)
RESET      <--  5 o  o 6 --> GND

Only pins 1,3 and 5 need to be connected (orange wires in the picture). The Ethernet shield still works if you leave pins 2, 5 and 6 disconnected (red, yellow and green wires in picture).

Android ADK and Arduino Ethernet Shield Woes

I think I figured out why my Arduino Ethernet shield won't play nicely with my Android ADK Arduino board.

You see the black, six-pin header connector on the right side of the blue board (the Ethernet Shield)? That's the the ICSP bus in Arduino-speak. That's supposed to connect into a matching set of pins on the white Arduino board so the Ethernet shield can to its "talkin' to the interweb" thing. Do you see matching pins on the ADK board? Yeah, neither do I.



Turns out this is a bit of a problem, because the Arduino Ethernet Shield documentation states:

Arduino communicates with both the W5100 and SD card using the SPI bus (through the ICSP header).

Like I said, bit of a problem. Looks like there are exposed copper pads on the bottom of the ADK board for the ICSP connections, so I could solder in some connections if absolutely necessary. Those pads (MISO1, MOSI1, SOCK1) are clearly wired to 50,51 and 52 as described in the Arduino Mega 2560 schematics.

Time for some hand wiring...

Arduino Irrigation Controller Projects Across the Web

I've done a bunch of research on this type of project in the last few weeks. Here are some interesting links from around the web that I find useful and/or interesting:

Arduino Irrigation Projects

• viknet project - webbased Jquery Scheduler for home automation, sprinkler, and remote access
• Kevin Colyar's project - iPhone-based Remote Control of Irrigation valves using Arduino, Sinatra server and iPhone (very close to what I'm planning for my first itteration.)
• Hypnopompia project - DYI Arduino board that uses a telnet control system over ethernet
• Jason F. Ball irrigation controllers Version 1, Version 2 and Version 3 - Custom DYI boards based on Arduino (Dude is building himself a reflow oven from a toaster over so he can cook his SMDs onto his board, holy crap!)
• drj113 project (via Instructables) - DYI Arduino board with an ethernet jack and 6 valve controllers
• Gerry Duprey project (10 zone and 27 zone controller design) - Seems like a very robust hardware design, but it's PIC16F877P based, not Arduino.
• M.H.Kabir project - SMS-controlled Wireless Irrigation System

Seems like all these guys built custom hardware, which is cool, but I'm going to use mostly off the shelf parts (for the first iteration, anyway).

Supporting Technology Projects

• DomoticHome project : not actually controlling irrigation, but using Ethernet shield and with a Android app client
• RESTduino - A nice REST interface for Arduino. Very cool.

Let the Arduino Hacking Begin!

I have jumped into Arduino hardware hacking and bought some shields to use with the ADK I got from work. The idea is to use these to remotely control my irrigation system at home.