Generic controllers

Arduino, because some one has probably done it with arduino even if they really shouldn't have. What exactly are you trying to do?

>>1039044
Of course they have. But I bet they're all going to be shield stacking disasters written in that arduino code abomination.

Not that arduino itself is bad. Would probably use one of the small model knockoffs with a wireless module and a custom driver/power board, but that's already a 3 layer block.
Alternatively, an ESP8266 with just the custom board.
But I'd much prefer finding a solution that already comes with an API.

Many things to do. Think smart house but with splicing into circuits instead of relying on overpriced commercial solutions or only being able to turn something on/off.
Most basic example would be replacing an offending color power indicator with a controllable RGB one.

>>1039061
>Of course they have. But I bet they're all going to be shield stacking disasters written in that arduino code abomination.
There are lots of companies that make touch screen panels with integrated microcontrollers, and they have drag&drop programming IDEs for making screen interfaces, but they cost hundreds / thousands of dollars.
One example of many-
http://www.aispro.com/products/industrial-touch-panel-computers

On the internet, 7" 'arduino' touch screens are about $50, arduino megas are $7, Arduino Due clones are $12.
The screen needs an interface shield that costs a few more bucks.
If you are hesitant to buy from mysterious Chinese sellers, then Sainsmart sells a 7" screen+Mega+screen shield for $65.

Pic related: a 7" screen on a clone Mega board. I don't remember if this one is Sainsmart or generic parts. Ive used both, they both work.
Mounting isn't convenient but the screen itself works quite well. The screen shield eats up a lot of the IO pins tho.

If you want a (smaller) screen that won't use lots of pins, the Adafruit screens in serial mode only need like 6 pins + the touch interface. Last I looked Adafruit had 3.2" or 3.5" maybe, they didn't build any 7" screens.... The China screens all seem to be wired in parallel.

>>1039061
perhaps you should get a raspberry pi with a touchscreen, and just use whatever your favorite programming language is to draw buttons and stuff.

>>But I'd much prefer finding a solution that already comes with an API.
if it's arduino, raspberry pi, or some knock off, some one's probably written one for whatever it is.

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>>1039178
Welp nuts, forgot pic.

When I first started building arduino stuff I thought that using a touch-screen was kinda frivolous.... Now I think it isn't if you need to have a LOT of different controls.

When you get to the point that you need dozens of buttons, a touch-screen is cheaper and easier than buying and wiring that many hardware buttons.
And with the touch-screen, you can group buttons logically, alter their color and size and put text on them indicating what they do.
It makes the device much easier to build and much nicer to use.

Even if you just get a smaller $5 non-touch screen, you can wire 6-8-10 buttons around it and show the labels on the screen.

>>1039178
>>1039181
>>1039183
Appreciate the input, but it's not the user interface part that I'm looking for. And I was thinking of using an encoder with a few buttons rather than a touch screen for a separate physical interface.

Looking for a wireless link that would require few additional components to splice into existing electronics.

Something like http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Mini-Small-Volume-Wireless-Remote-Switch-System-Micro-DC3V-5V-Relay-Receiver-Transmitter-Momentary-Toggle-Latched/32631263111.html

>>1039061
arduino's are a dev/prototyping board, people who use them in final builds with a fuckton of shields are retarded

>>1039189
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/433Mhz-RF-Transmitter-With-Receiver-Kit-For-Arduino-ARM-MCU-Wireless/32583663732.html

>>1039301
That's a lot more like what I'm after.
As I understand, it's just a simple AM transmitter/receiver and works like a wireless single pin connection? Still going to need a custom board but that's probably unavoidable no matter what product I choose if it doesn't use mechanical relays.

Any idea what's a good protocol to go with this? Or even have a link for an AVR lib?

>>1039310
TI Chronos has a 433mhz radio. But the screen sucks.

>>1039310
http://www.instructables.com/id/RF-315433-MHz-Transmitter-receiver-Module-and-Ardu/?ALLSTEPS
i've never done this before but have considered it.i thought i saw a rf transmitter/receiver combo with 4 outputs but maybe you would be just as well going with the arduino for debouncing's sake. check this page for a link to the virtualwire library http://www.instructables.com/id/RF-315433-MHz-Transmitter-receiver-Module-and-Ardu/?ALLSTEPS

>>1039377
Arduino library. Typical. At least it's not overbloated so it will be easy to rewrite into something more efficient. Maybe use manchester code for robustness.

Saw the 4 pin output modules but I have no idea how many addresses their system supports.
And since I'll have to implement some additional electronics anyway, might as well do a batch of my own universal rf controllers with wide power input, multiple darlington or mosfet outputs, pwm and protoboard area for whatever else might need adding.

Using an arduino knockoff is still most likely to be the cheapest option (<$2 per board is silly cheap). At least certainly less annoying than soldering SMD components by hand.

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have you considered a gl.inet router? it uses standard wifi and runs linux (i.e. you can write a web UI in lua) and has several GPIO, depending on the version you get.
>external electronics
is about the most vague description ever, so I don't know if it could do what you want.

>>1039933
Seems I have worded my initial post poorly.
It's not the main station that I'm looking for, it's the endpoint receivers that would go into devices. Don't need any bandwidth for this either, just enough for signaling.

By external electronics I mean consumer devices by splicing into the circuits.

>ctrl f
>arduino
>first word in the thread
>15 results

(y)

>>1040012
The routers could act as either endpoint. For example, I built a shitty tricopter using one of those to control it where I would connect to the router with my laptop over wifi and then control it using the laptop. Granted it's a little more expensive than an ESP8266 or one of those 433mhz doodads, but making it turn something on and off is literally 2 lines of bash script with the possibility for lots of smartness if you wanted.
>>1040029
but arduino doesn't even have wireless connectivity

>>1040029
This isn't an arduino project and I haven't even mentioned it in the original post.

>>1040191
It's more expensive than alternatives and would need nearly as much external circuitry for power and switches.
No need to get a bulldozer if all you need is a hammer.