Normally on spectrometer led

Software Plugins
1

I would like to use the LED in the spectrophotometer to grow algae. However, the LED is currently only lit during measurements. Is there a way to keep the LED on continuously and have it turn off briefly when taking OD measurements? Any suggestions or guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

David

2

Hi @davidhcsic,

This is a good idea, but not implemented in previous version of the plugin. I’ve just released a new version (version 0.2.12) of the spectrometer plugin that should allow this behaviour with a configuration change:

[spectrometer_reading.config]
...
always_keep_led_on=1

Try this and let me know if gives the desired result.

3

Hi @CamDavidsonPilon,

Thank you for the quick reply. The led in never turned on. Here is what I tried so far:

  • I flashed a new card with version: 24.10.29 (worker leader)
  • I have installed the plugin. I think it is the last version because I can see the new flag on the configuration file.
  • Modified the flag: always_keep_led_on=1
  • Started spectrophotometer reading (qwiic cable).
  • Tested different spectrometers.

Could there be a conflict with other configurations?

Thanks,

David

4

hm hm, that’s weird. Let me test again today. Did you try turning OD reading on (i think that’s required, which is silly…)?

btw you don’t need to reflash the image each time, you can run pio plugins uninstall spectrometer-reading-plugin and then reinstall again.

5

Thank you. Turning OD on worked. It takes a bit to turn the led on. Any chance we can add this led to the day/night cycle automation?

The OD works great BTW.

Thanks,

David

6

I just wrote an experiment profile to keep it on for 20 hours and then turn off for 4 hours:

experiment_profile_name: Spectrometer Daily Cycle

metadata:
  author: Gerrit Niezen
  description: Cycles the spectrometer on for 20 hours and off for 4 hours to use the light for  microalgae growth.

common:
  jobs:
    spectrometer_reading:
      actions:
        - type: start
          hours_elapsed: 0.0
        - type: stop
          hours_elapsed: 20.0
        - type: repeat
          hours_elapsed: 24.0
          repeat_every_hours: 24
          actions:
            - type: log
              hours_elapsed: 0.0
              options:
                message: "Turning spectrometer on for 20 hours"
                level: info
            - type: start
              hours_elapsed: 0.0
            - type: stop
              hours_elapsed: 20.0