Project number
25007
Organization
UA Biosphere 2
Offering
ENGR498-F2024-S2025
Coral conservation research depends on the ability to reliably and accurately control lighting. This project aimed to develop a personalized website that gives users the ability to send color and intensity commands to a series of Maxspect 500W LED commercial floodlights at Biosphere 2’s coral research space.
The team’s design works by sending light settings from the main system to individual controllers on the lights via controller area network bus communication protocol. The design includes one Raspberry Pi 5 and three Raspberry Pi Picos that serve as the main and individual controllers, respectively. Each light is equipped with a Raspberry Pi Pico integrated with two digital potentiometers that allow operators to precisely adjust lighting parameters based on given commands.
Users can also apply 24-hour lighting schedules and receive real-time feedback from a photosynthetic active radiation sensor. This allows them to monitor and detect out-of-range intensity values. Additionally, the team gave each microcontroller a housing unit to protect it from the environment and the capability to dissipate heat produced from the electronics. This system enables enhanced lighting control and data collection to support coral conservation research at the U of A Biosphere 2 facility.
The team’s design works by sending light settings from the main system to individual controllers on the lights via controller area network bus communication protocol. The design includes one Raspberry Pi 5 and three Raspberry Pi Picos that serve as the main and individual controllers, respectively. Each light is equipped with a Raspberry Pi Pico integrated with two digital potentiometers that allow operators to precisely adjust lighting parameters based on given commands.
Users can also apply 24-hour lighting schedules and receive real-time feedback from a photosynthetic active radiation sensor. This allows them to monitor and detect out-of-range intensity values. Additionally, the team gave each microcontroller a housing unit to protect it from the environment and the capability to dissipate heat produced from the electronics. This system enables enhanced lighting control and data collection to support coral conservation research at the U of A Biosphere 2 facility.