dropController V3 User manual

dropControllerV3. User manual 1.2
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dropController V3
The dropController is a solenoid valve controller used for water drop
photography. It is available DIY, as a kit or as a fully assembled device.
Full details for building your own device can be found at www.dropcontroller.com
Control is performed from either a Windows program over USB or an Android
app over Bluetooth.
This manual uses images from the Windows program but the Android app
has the same functions.

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Contents
Page
GettingStarted 3
GettheApp 3
Open the Windows App for the First Time 3
Connect the Windows App to the dropController 4
TheFourTabs 6
Settings 7
Settings on the Setting Tab 8
MirrorLockUp 8
TriggerPulseTimes 9
Leonardo 9
Sounds 9
DeviceVersion 9
ValveDrain 10
LoopMode 10
ResetAll 10
DropsTab 11
DropDataSettings 12
NumberofDrops 13
Triggers 14
CameraTrigger 14
FlashTriggers 15
TheSTARTbutton 16
SingleSequenceMode 17
LoopModeandDeltaValues 19
DeltaValues 21
DeltaValueLimits 24
DropDataCheck 25
GraphTab 26
AboutTab 28
FirstDrops 29
Milk 30
CameraSetUpandFocus 30
Ambientlight 32
MakeSomeDrops 33
WorthingtonJets 35
TallerWorthingtonJets 37
First Collision 38

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Getting Started
This guide covers connecting and using the dropController device only. It
presumes you have a dropController already set up with the firmware
installed. If you have not, check out the website.
Get the App
If you haven’t already done so, download the latest Windows app. Go to
https://www.dropcontroller.com/downloads/ and scroll down to the
Windows Program section. Click the link for the latest version to start the
download. The download is a zip file containing a folder.
After downloading, unpack the zip archive
and place the folder somewhere
convenient. Mine is on the desktop. There
is no need to install the program; it is run
from the folder.
Open the folder and you should see the
actual program.
Starting the Windows App for the First Time
Double click the dropController file to start
it.

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The program will start and you should see
the main Drop Data screen.
When the Windows app runs for the first time it creates 2 text files;
dropData.txt and settings.txt.
These files hold the apps settings and on start the
app will load the settings from the previous session if
they are available.
Connect the Windows App to the dropController
Power the dropController and connect it to a computer. No need to connect
valves or flashes at this time. The yellow LED should be blinking. This
indicates it is on but not connected to the app.
In the app, jump to the Settings tab.
At the top left you can see the connection controls.

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To connect, in the drop down menu select the COM
port the dropController is connected to.
In my case it is on COM 4.
The R button refreshes the list of COM ports
click Connect
After the app connects the Connect button will say
Dis-connect.
If the app cannot connect it
will give you an error
message. Just try again.
If you go back to the Drops tab, the large
START button should now be green.
On the dropController, the yellow LED
should be on (not blinking).
You are now connected and ready to start.

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The Four Tabs
The dropController app has 4 Tabs; Drops, Settings, Graph, and About.
The Drops tab is where you set the drop times and sizes. The drops page
also has the controls for the camera trigger and flash triggers.
The Settings tab contains the general settings (things that normally only
need doing once), the connection controls, and the valve drain controls.
The Graph tab shows a chart of the drop settings. This helps visualize the
drop sequence.
The About tab gives basic information about the app version and, after
connection is made, the dropController firmware version.

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Settings
I’ll start with the Settings Tab simply because there are certain things that
need to be set before starting with drops.
Connecting to the dropController device has already been covered. In
addition to making a connection you can dis-connect and test the connection.
Clicking the Test Connection
button checks to see if the
dropController is still connected.
This is a debugging function
which I left active because it can
be useful.
Clicking Dis-Connect breaks the
connection to the dropController.
After dis-connecting, the yellow
LED on the dropController device
returns to blinking.

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The Settings on the Settings tab.
Mirror Lockup OFF/ON
Trigger Pulse times.
Times are in milliseconds.
Leonardo NO/YES
Sound OFF/ON
Mirror Lockup
Mirror Lockup is the action of flipping the mirror inside a camera up out of
the way. Mirror Lockup may or may not be available on your camera, check
the user manual. If you have a mirrorless camera you probably don’t have
mirror lock up ;-)
On a regular DSLR/SLR there is a small mirror between the lens and the
sensor/film that directs the image to the view finder. When the shutter
button is pressed the mirror flips up out of the way, the shutter is opened,
the photo is taken, and then the mirror drops back down. The mirror moving
up can cause minor vibrations. Mirror lock up allows the mirror to be moved
and the vibrations to stop before the shutter is opened.
Most cameras require 2 shutter button presses for mirror lock up; the first to
activate mirror lock up, the second to take the photo.
When Mirror Lockup is ON, a pre-shutter release
signal is sent to the camera. This is the signal to
move the mirror. The delay is the time in
milliseconds to wait until the shutter trigger signal is
sent. 1000ms (1 second) is a good time to wait.

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Mirror Lockup must be activated on your camera. If it is not the camera will
take the Mirror Lockup signal as a shutter release signal and take a photo.
Trigger Pulse Times
The trigger Pulse Times are the times the trigger signal is active. It is not the
time the trigger is performed.
These are not the times the signals are
triggered but how long the trigger signal is on.
Times are in milliseconds and 50ms is a good
default time. Leave them at 50ms unless you
have issues.
Leonardo
The Leonardo OFF/ON settings is for DIY dropControllers that use non
ATMega 328P Arduinos.
I recommend using an ATMEGA328P based Arduino such as the Nano but
other types of Arduino can be used. Some though, require slightly different
controls. For example, the Arduino Leonardo requires additional commands
for serial communication to work. This control turns on the additional
commands.
Sounds
Turn annoying sounds on and off
Device Version
The dropController App can be used with version 2 and version 3 of the
dropController device.
Select the device version you have.
When using the app with a version 2
dropController certain functions and controls are
not available.

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The dropController V2 device is no longer being developed. Bugs are still
being fixed when required.
Valve Drain
The Valve Drain controls allow you to open and close any of the solenoid
valves. This is handy when you want to enpty the resovoirs/bottles and for
cleaning.
Loop Mode
Loop Mode is explained in the Drops Tab section later.
Reset All
Reset All resets the settings and drop data. It’s like a return to factory
default setting.
Click a button to open the valve. Click
again to close it.

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Drops Tab
Here is where all the action takes place, where the times for the drops are
entered, where the camera trigger time is set, and where the flash triggers
are controlled.
There are three sections; the drop data settings + number of drops, the
START button, and the trigger settings.

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Drop Data Settings
Each drop has several properties:
SOL The solenoid valve (from 1 to 6). The number relates to the
valve connection port on the dropController.
START The drop start time in milliseconds.
INC/DEC Increase or decrease the start time (used in Loop Mode
only).
When using Loop Mode you can increase or decrease the
drop start time on each iteration of the loop.
INC/DEC
Time How much time (in milliseconds) to either increase to decrease the drop start time.
000 if off.
SIZE This is the amount of time (in milliseconds) the valve is
open.
INC/DEC Increase or decrease the size. Loop Mode only
INC/DEC
Time The amount of time (in milliseconds) to increase or decrease the drop size on each iteration of the loop. Loop Mode only.
000 is off

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Number of Drops
You can select from 1 to 9 drops.
After selecting the number of drops the controls for those drops become
active.
After changing the Number of Drops to 2, the first 2 rows become active.

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Triggers
Camera trigger
Flash 1 trigger
Flash 2 trigger
Flash 3 trigger
Camera Trigger
Two different modes can be used; shutter or bulb.
The camera trigger can be turned ON and OFF.
When OFF the controls are inactive and the
camera shutter trigger signal is not used.
When using Bulb Mode, the camera trigger
controls are inactive.
Bulb Mode opens the camera shutter at the start
of the drop sequence and closes after the last
activity (either a drop or a flash trigger).
To use Bulb Mode your camera must support bulb
mode and be in bulb mode.

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When Bulb Mode is OFF the camera trigger
controls are active. Enter the time (in
milliseconds) you wish to active the camera
shutter.
In Loop Mode a delta valve can be used to
change the camera trigger time on every
iteration of the loop.
Flash Triggers
There are 3 Flash triggers and each trigger works in the same way.
Each flash trigger can be turned ON or OFF.
When OFF no trigger signal is sent to the flash.
When the flash trigger is ON the flash trigger
time (in milliseconds) can be entered.
In Loop Mode a delta valve can be used to alter
the trigger time on every iteration of the loop.
The camera should be in manual mode or bulb mode when used with the
dropController.

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The START Button
When the app is not connected to the dropController the large START button
is a dull green and doesn’t do anything. When the app is connected the
START button turns bright green and becomes active.
When active, clicking the START button tells the app to send the drop data to
the dropController device. Depending on which mode you are using, Single
Sequence Mode or Loop Mode, different things happen.
In Single Sequence Mode the data is sent to the dropController and the drops
are created straight away.
In Loop Mode the Loop Page opens and sits and waits.

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Single Sequence Mode
The app is in Single Sequence Mode whenever it is not in Loop Mode.
Whenever Loop Mode is OFF the app is in Single
Sequence Mode.
In Single Sequence Mode, a single drop sequence is started. On clicking the
START button the drop data is sent to the dropController and the START
button changes to ACTIVE
On the dropController device, the yellow LED turns off
and the green LED turns on.
The green LED shows that a drop sequence is active on
the controller.
When the sequence is finished the green LED goes out
and the yellow one comes on again
In the app the large button returns to green “START”.
You can then make changes to the drop times or redo
the same sequence.

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On clicking the START button, the drop data is sent to the dropController and
the drops are created. While the drops are being made the app remains on
the drop data page with the START button disabled. After the drops are
finished the START button becomes active again.
In Single Sequence Mode delta values are ignored

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Loop Mode and Delta Values.
In Loop Mode, the Loop Page opens when the main START button is clicked.
Loop Mode is the heart of the dropController and it is Loop Mode that makes
getting collisions so easy.
To activate Loop Mode, on the Settings Tab set the Loop Mode OFF/ON
button to ON. The Loop Mode controls become active.
In Loop Mode there are 2 methods used to start the next sequence, either a
timer or a button click.
Clicking the Timer/Button button toggles between the 2.
When TIMER is selected a timer is used to delay the next drop sequence.
When BUTTON is selected, the next sequence is held until the user clicks a
button is the app.

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The Timer/Button button sets the delay method.
When using TIMER, a count down delay is used.
The Wait Time is how long the app waits before
starting the next sequence.
The time is in milliseconds and there are 1000
milliseconds in a second. So 6000ms is 6 seconds.
You will need to experiment to see what wait time
suits you. I generally use 8 or 10 seconds (9.999
seconds). This allows time for the water in the tray
to settle and also allows time to move any bubbles
out of the way.
When using BUTTON, the app waits for the user to
click the Loop Page START button
When using a timer, a countdown is displayed on the Loop Page. On the first
sequence the timer is not used and the sequence starts as soon as you click
the START button.
After the first sequence is completed the timer will start a countdown, and
when it reaches zero the next sequence will start automatically.
While the timer is counting down, clicking the STOP button pauses the app at
the current sequence number. Click START to continue. To reset the
sequence number back to 1 click the RESET button.