Pi_plates relayplate support

[hugie]

pi_plates makes stackable 7 relay HATs for raspberry pi.  The relays are activated by simple python calls such as RELAY.relayON(platenumber,relaynumber).  What would be involved in implementing a plugin for this?  Has anyone tried?

[dan]

It looks like it would be very easy to modify the cli_control plugin for this.
You would just need to install the pi_plates Python modules with pip and add a line to the cli_control.py file:

Code:

import piplates.RELAYplate as RELAY

Then you could add the relay control commands on the plugin's set up page.

However, the Pi_plates RELAYplate seems a bit pricey. You can get an 8 or 16 channel relay board from Amazon for about 6 to 15 dollars and use the relay_16 plugin with just some jumper wires.

Also astrogerard is working on a I2C plugin that will allow a very large number of relays to be connected to the pi with just a couple of wires. Take a look at his early docs:
[url=https://nosack.com/sipforum/member.php?action=profile&uid=310][/url]https://gitlab.com/seventer/pcf857x_plug...57x-doc.md

Those i2c IO extender boards only cost about $2.00.

Dan

[hugie]

It looks like it would be very easy to modify the cli_control plugin for this.
You would just need to install the pi_plates Python modules with pip and add a line to the cli_control.py file:

Code:

import piplates.RELAYplate as RELAY

Then you could add the relay control commands on the plugin's set up page.

However, the Pi_plates RELAYplate seems a bit pricey. You can get an 8 or 16 channel relay board from Amazon for about 6 to 15 dollars and use the relay_16 plugin with just some jumper wires.

Also astrogerard is working on a I2C plugin that will allow a very large number of relays to be connected to the pi with just a couple of wires. Take a look at his early docs:
[url=https://nosack.com/sipforum/member.php?action=profile&uid=310][/url]https://gitlab.com/seventer/pcf857x_plug...57x-doc.md

Those i2c IO extender boards only cost about $2.00.

Dan

Thanks so much Dan!  I will follow your directions.  One thing you do get with the pi-plates relay plate is what looks to be built in protection for working with dangerous voltages, and they are nicely stackable.  But I agree with you, they are much more in cost. I will look at astrogerard's page.
John

[hugie]

It looks like it would be very easy to modify the cli_control plugin for this.
You would just need to install the pi_plates Python modules with pip and add a line to the cli_control.py file:

Code:

import piplates.RELAYplate as RELAY

Then you could add the relay control commands on the plugin's set up page.

However, the Pi_plates RELAYplate seems a bit pricey. You can get an 8 or 16 channel relay board from Amazon for about 6 to 15 dollars and use the relay_16 plugin with just some jumper wires.

Also astrogerard is working on a I2C plugin that will allow a very large number of relays to be connected to the pi with just a couple of wires. Take a look at his early docs:
[url=https://nosack.com/sipforum/member.php?action=profile&uid=310][/url]https://gitlab.com/seventer/pcf857x_plug...57x-doc.md

Those i2c IO extender boards only cost about $2.00.

Dan

Thanks so much Dan!  I will follow your directions.  One thing you do get with the pi-plates relay plate is what looks to be built in protection for working with dangerous voltages, and they are nicely stackable.  But I agree with you, they are much more in cost. I will look at astrogerard's page.
John

Thanks again, Dan.  I have made a good start at a pi_plates specific module.  One issue is that the pi-plate library wants to put the gpio mode into it's own mode.  Is there any way to prevent SIP from making GPIO calls?  I have for now temporarily commented out lines in gpio_pins.py, but this is not very elegant.  Do you have any suggestions?

[dan]

If you have imported the "gv" module which gives you access to SIP's settings you can just say

Code:

gv.use_gpio_pins = False

That will disable SIP from using them.

Dan