Reef control technology

Even when broadband access began expanding, the thought of having a router that controlled something for your reef aquarium hadn’t entered the minds of most aquarists. Reefers were oohing and awing over wireless thermometers that placed a probe in your tank and...

Are Starfish Robots the Next Big Thing in Automated House Cleaning?

They make great cleaners in our aquariums, so why wouldn’t starfish be just as awesome at cleaning our homes? According to a recent posting on Discovery News, Turkish designer Rana Alper used starfish as a jumping off point for his design on the ultimate house cleaning robot. Named “Tody”, this robot doesn’t have the typical five legs we see on starfish in the ocean, but instead uses four flexible arms that are said to be lined with gecko-inspired grippers that help it climb all over various surfaces. The unit is made of polymer-metal composites that move with the help of artificial muscles. With this combination of appendages, the Tody can crawl around all over the floor, on top of furniture, and even up curtains. The robot cleans with its massive array nozzles, which is made up of 22 steam nozzles and 29 vacuum nozzles per arm. The water reservoirs and dust bags are located within Tody’s body. The soft-sided robot comes from Turkish designer Rana Alper, and takes much of its form from nature. The shape resembles a starfish, but its mobility and ability to use its arms for various tasks comes from the octopus.

AVAST Marine Works Unveils Solenoid Based Top Off System

AVAST Marine Works has a new toy on the way, and it’s one that looks to further automate aquarium maintenance, specifically topping off evaporated water. This yet to be named product (more on that below) combines AVAST’s reliable pressure sensors with a smart control heavy duty solenoid unit that detects the water level in a sump and allows an RODI unit to respond accordingly. Product X, the unit’s temporary name, uses two pressure sensors to measure the minimum and maximum water levels in the sump, obviously flipping open the solenoid when the minimum water level is reached and allowing the aquarium to fill with freshwater until the solenoid is deactivated once the water level reaches the top level sensor. In addition to maintaining water level, there is also a handy Quick Fill button that allows the unit to completely fill a tank even if it hasn’t triggered the low water level alarm. This is great for those times where extra water is anticipated. Lastly, a set of indicator LEDs are included to let users know what is going on at a glance, whether the unit is filling or sitting idle. As for the product’s name, AVAST is holding a little naming contest over on Reef2Reef that offers up one of these units as a grand prize for the winning name. Forum users just have to log on and suggest a name for the AVAST solenoid unit, with the naming scheme falling under a pirate theme. As for pricing and availability, AVAST lists the item as being in stock and running $200.

The Pacific Sun Intelligent Dosing Pump Sets a New Standard for Automated Dosing

When they’re not dabbling in LED and T5HO lighting, apparently the guys from Pacific Sun also spend their spare time tinkering with other high end aquarium equipment…namely this 5-channel “intelligent” dosing pump. In February 2014, Pacific Sun will unleash this beast onto the aquarium marketplace, making it the largest dosing pump on the market as far as we know. Most dosing pumps come in three and four channel flavors, with the four pump systems usually being a slave unit with no on-board controller. Pacific Sun’s dosing pump, on the other hand, sports five independent channels AND a built-in controller. According to the teaser info, this new dosing system is said to be “super-accurate” with dosages ranging from 0.1ml to 1500ml and the unit cranking out up to 24 doses per day per channel. The Pacific Sun intelligent doser up the bar even further by incorporating a built-in top off with water level sensors and a computer controlled DC pump for topping off up to 300 liters per hour. Stepping up the game even further, the on-board controller allows the unit to be controlled wirelessly using an iOS or Android app, along with both PC and Mac versions of the software. Available in version with silicone tube / Viton tube – provides great accuracy and configure using the wireless controller – using an application on the PC / Mac / Android