Reef Ai Controllers May Control the World

If you just took in the styling and led lights, you would be seriously short-changing the the new Reef Ai Aquarium controllers. The top of the line Reef Ai Prime controller features a full-blown 1.7GHz QuadCore processor with 2GB of RAM and 8GB FLASH hard drive - that is nothing less than a Linux computer that could run this site. This kind of power is just not found in aquarium controllers. The Reef Ai is also open-source with Arduino programming like the Reef Angel before it, but with gigs of room for code instead of 256k. It's obscene. Then there are the sensors. Humidity sensors, leak sensors, and smoke & gas sensors. A water level and a PAR sensor that also measure temperature and flow rate. How about video-streaming with the 720p web cam? Yeah, that too. In pre-order now. Coming this November. More details below.








Reef Ai was originally a reef monitoring system developed by Greg Tomko for his marine ornamental hatchery in New York. Reef Ai is a family business with no less than three Tomko's: Greg is the self-taught mechanical, electrical and software engineer. Scott Tomko does the manufacturing, and Gary Tomko does the laser cutting. Rounding Reef Ai off are Linda Close doing the marketing & graphic design and Steve Keator doing software engineering as well.

Reef Ai controllers start at $149 for the Reef Lite series and goes up to $550 for the Reef Ai Prime.



The Reef Ai Prime system:

• PowerBar 10: Includes 10 soft-start, solid-state relay outlets with PID control for heaters, 4 0-10v ports for controlling lighting or powerheads, and 10 programmable Arduino pins for DIY enthusiasts
• Additional Sensors: 2 pH/ORP sensor ports, 1 salinity/TDS port, humidity, air temperature
• Button Control: Three programmable buttons for enabling user-defined settings
• Accessory Support: Serial control of specialty lights, such as the Acan and AI Sol; control of Ecotech Marine products, including Radion lighting and Vortech pumps available with RF moule from Reef Angel (purchased separately). Reef Ai also accepts ALL Reef Angel expansion modules

*Make it WiFi by adding this component -> WiFi Adapter

Package Includes:

• Quad Core Brain
• Sun Drop
• Water Level Sensor
• Leak Detector
• Fiber Optic Hub
• HD 720p Video Cam
• 10 Power Bar
• Probe Hub
• pH Probe -Lab Grade
• Lighting Control Hub
• Humidity Sensor
• Skimmer Cup Level Sensor
• Lab Grade Power Supply
• Button Box
• (5) 6ft USB Cables
• (2) USB Hubs

The Reef Ai prime is exceptional in that you can plug a keyboard and monitor directly in it for local access and monitoring.

As an owner of a Reef Angel controller, I can't get over the programming capacity of the Reef Ai. It already feels like the sky is the limit with the Reef Angel - and that is just 256k compared to gigabytes. Reef Ai says you can have 128 components running through their controllers. And if that isn't enough, you could even add plug-and-play Reef Ai Arduino DIY boards to make your own sensors or expansion modules. Speaking of which, Reef Ai is compatible with all of Reef Angel's existing expansion modules too.



To complete the package, Reef Ai is going after the plug and play crowd as well by making it as simple as going online and registering your controller to get online access to your controller via Reef Ai's central web server. The graphical software appears intuitive and will run over your computer or phone as well.

With all this power and open-source, I really look forward to seeing what Reef Ai crowd comes up with.

In pre-order now with delivery starting in about a month.

More details:
https://www.reefai.com/product-category/package-systems/

 

Looks like a fun one for the diy folks.

 

Wow on the specs!

 

I joined this forum just to comment on this.
Over the last several weeks I've been planning a very similar DIY build for my tank. There are many threads out there about people using raspberry pis, arduinos, and various sensors to build these, but I haven't a single thread that indicated success.

My initial reaction to this product: it is way too cheap. I don't see how they're breaking even on the hardware costs alone.

Since this is an open source solution with off the shelf hardware, there's a good chance that I'll abandon my project and get this one.

 

Rostasteve thanks for joining. I had similar thoughts about the cost but just assumed they make it up in volume and doing their own assembly.

Please keep us posted if you go the Reef Ai route. I would really love to see the results of your efforts.

Welcome to 3reef!


matt

 

Is Reef Ai the same maker as the Reef Angel?

 

Wow talk about getting a lot of bang for your buck.

Can't wait til someone does a review on one of these things

Thanks for sharing MattMatt

 

No problem. And me either.

No. I don't believe there is but I will ask.

 

Ok I asked Reef Angel - the answer is 'no.' Reef Ai is allowed to sell their modules though.

 

Minor correction...

The hatchery was Scott (Tomko) and Linda (Close)... Scott's father designed the system for their hatchery, Midnight Mariculture.

The one thing I see, and I told Scott this, is the acrylic cases won't pass UL, if he plans on going the UL route. In this day and age in the aquarium world, UL is definitely needed. not having it will preclude your product from many establishments.

Reef AI and Reef Angel are on opposite coasts and have zero connection, well, besides I know both