add giessomat text and videos

input/projects/giessomat.md

 position: 6
 github: https://git.xythobuz.de/thomas/giess-o-mat
 date: 2021-03-29
-update: 2021-10-24
+update: 2021-11-17
 ---
 
 This project [was featured on Hackaday](https://hackaday.com/2021/05/14/automated-watering-machine-has-what-plants-crave-fertilizer/)!
 %-->
 
 These are the circuit diagrams for the controller and user interface.
-Everything is powered by a 12V power supply.
+Everything is powered by a <del>12V</del> 13.5V power supply.
 I am using two 5V regulators, one for powering the ESP32 and one for powering the relais coils.
 This was my quick-and-dirty way of getting the power rails clean enough that the ESP is not resetting when toggling a relais.
-The valves are directly fed 12V and another regulator produces 6V for the peristaltic pumps.
+The valves are directly fed <del>12V</del> 13.5V and another regulator produces 6V for the peristaltic pumps.
 
 <div class="textwrap"><pre class="ascii">
 Giess-o-mat Controller Schematic
 
              -------|USB|-------                        -----------
-            |       |___|       |             +12V <---|x IN  OUT x|---> +5V_ESP
+            |       |___|       |           +13.5V <---|x IN  OUT x|---> +5V_ESP
             |  P06         +5V x|---> +5V_ESP          |  5V Buck  |
             |  P07         CMD  |              GND <---|x GND GND x|
             |  P08         P10  |                       -----------
      R5 <---|x P15         P09  |
      R6 <---|x P02         P13 x|                       -----------
-     R7 <---|x P00         GND x|---> GND     +12V <---|x IN  OUT x|---> +5V_R
+     R7 <---|x P00         GND x|---> GND   +13.5V <---|x IN  OUT x|---> +5V_R
      R8 <---|x P04    E    P12 x|                      |  5V Buck  |
             |  P16    S    P14 x|---> R2       GND <---|x GND GND x|
             |  P17    P    P27 x|---> R1                -----------
      R3 <---|x P05    -    P26 x|---> SW_B
      R4 <---|x P18    3    P25 x|---> SW_T              -----------
-            |x P19    2    P33 x|             +12V <---|x IN  OUT x|---> +6V
+            |x P19    2    P33 x|           +13.5V <---|x IN  OUT x|---> +6V
     GND <---|x GND         P32 x|                      |  6V Buck  |
 ESP_SDA <---|x P21         P35  |              GND <---|x GND GND x|
             |  P03         P34  |                       -----------
             |  P01          SN  |
 ESP_SCL <---|x P22          SP  |                        -------
-            |x P23          EN  |              +12V <---|x +12V |
+            |x P23          EN  |            +13.5V <---|x +12V |
     GND <---|x GND        +3V3 x|---> +3V3  ESP_SDA <---|x SDA  | UI
             |                   |           ESP_SCL <---|x SCL  | Conn.
              -------------------                GND <---|x GND  |
            ---------------------                       ---------------------
           |        Relais       |                     |        Relais       |
   GND <---|x GND    ----   NC1 x|             GND <---|x GND    ----   NC1 x|
-   R1 <---|x R1    |    | COM1 x|---> +12V     R5 <---|x R1    |    | COM1 x|---> +12V
+   R1 <---|x R1    |    | COM1 x|---> +13.5V   R5 <---|x R1    |    | COM1 x|---> +13.5V
    R2 <---|x R2     ----   NO1 x|---> V1       R6 <---|x R2     ----   NO1 x|---> V5
    R3 <---|x R3     ----   NC2 x|              R7 <---|x R3     ----   NC2 x|
-   R4 <---|x R4    |    | COM2 x|---> +12V     R8 <---|x R4    |    | COM2 x|---> +6V
+   R4 <---|x R4    |    | COM2 x|---> +13.5V   R8 <---|x R4    |    | COM2 x|---> +6V
  +3V3 <---|x VCC    ----   NO2 x|---> V2     +3V3 <---|x VCC    ----   NO2 x|---> P1
           |         ----   NC3 x|                     |         ----   NC3 x|
-          |        |    | COM3 x|---> +12V            |        |    | COM3 x|---> +6V
+          |        |    | COM3 x|---> +13.5V          |        |    | COM3 x|---> +6V
           |         ----   NO3 x|---> V3              |         ----   NO3 x|---> P2
           |         ----   NC4 x|                     |         ----   NC4 x|
-          |        |    | COM4 x|---> +12V            |        |    | COM4 x|---> +6V
+          |        |    | COM4 x|---> +13.5V          |        |    | COM4 x|---> +6V
           |         ----   NO4 x|---> V4              |         ----   NO4 x|---> P3
           |x VCC                |                     |x VCC                |
 +5V_R <---|x JC-VCC             |           +5V_R <---|x JC-VCC             |
 SDA_UI <---|x A4     O     D5 x|---> KP_R1
 SCL_UI <---|x A5           D4 x|---> KP_C3               Connector
            |x A6           D3 x|---> KP_C2                -------
-           |x A7     N     D2 x|---> KP_C1      +12V <---|x +12V |
+           |x A7     N     D2 x|---> KP_C1    +13.5V <---|x +12V |
 +5V_UI <---|x 5V     A    GND x|---> GND     ESP_SDA <---|x SDA  |
            |x RST    N    RST x|             ESP_SCL <---|x SCL  |
    GND <---|x GND    O     RX x|                 GND <---|x GND  |
-  +12V <---|x VIN          TX x|                          -------
++13.5V <---|x VIN          TX x|                          -------
            |                   |
             -------------------                  ----------
                                     ESP_SDA <---|   2.2k   |---
 With this the exact water amounts required each watering period can be calculated, as well as the corresponding time to fill the tank.
 More to come in the future.
 
+## Moisture Sensor Update (November 2021)
+
+After taking a closer look to my soil moisture sensors, with the help of [the investigation by Stewart Cash](https://so-now.com/electronics/capsense.php), I found some issues with the cheap chinese sensors I used.
+
+The 1M resistor is actually properly connected to GND on my boards.
+However, mine have an NE555 IC fitted, which requires 5V.
+On some of the boards I have, the 3V regulator is still fitted, on some others it has been replaced with a 0 Ohm link.
+However, I was trying to power them using the 3.3V rail of my ESP32.
+With 5V they now output a nice signal when placing them directly in or out of a glass of water.
+
+Placing them back in the soil, they no longer seem to output much of a signal at all, anymore, only giving a relatively straight line.
+I'm not sure what's going on this time.
+Further experiments to come (maybe).
+
+## Chinese Magnetic Valve Update (November 2021)
+
+After a bit more then half a year of daily use, one of the four outlet valves has started to act up.
+It no longer opened up completely, letting only a small dribble of water out.
+I opened the valve, saw a bit of limestone, and cleaned the plunger.
+This helped for a short while, but the problems returned only a short while later.
+
+With a bit more investigation I found the cause: the supply voltage was too low.
+I was initially using a 12V power supply to drive the whole device and the vales.
+But because of cable losses, and high current use of the valves, only about 11.4V arrived at the valve.
+It turns out this is just low enough that, together with the increased friction of the scale buildup, the valve no longer opens properly.
+
+See the two videos below.
+
+<!--%
+lightgallery([
+    [ "img/valve_low_voltage.mp4", "video/mp4", "img/valve_low_voltage_thumb.png", "img/valve_low_voltage_poster.png", "Running the valve with 11.4V" ],
+    [ "img/valve_high_voltage.mp4", "video/mp4", "img/valve_high_voltage_thumb.png", "img/valve_high_voltage_poster.png", "Running the valve with 12.0V" ]
+])
+%-->
+
+For a work-around, I simply replaced the power supply, now driving everything with 13.5V instead of 12V.
+This seems to solve the issue for now.
+
 ## Links
 
 You can find [all the source code for the device itself](https://git.xythobuz.de/thomas/giess-o-mat) (both the UI and the Controller) as well as the OpenSCAD [design files for the 3D printed parts](https://git.xythobuz.de/thomas/3d-print-designs/src/branch/master/giessomat) on my [Gitea instance](https://git.xythobuz.de).

macros.py

 
 def lightgallery(links):
     videos = [l for l in links if len(l) == 5]
-    v_i = 0
+    v_i = -1
     for v in videos:
         link, mime, thumb, poster, alt = v
         v_i += 1
         print '</div>'
         
     print '<div class="lightgallery">'
-    v_i = 0
+    v_i = -1
     for l in links:
         if (len(l) == 3) or (len(l) == 2):
             link = img = alt = ""
             print '<div class="border" data-src="' + link + '"><a href="' + link + '"><img class="pic" src="' + img + '" alt="' + alt + '"></a></div>'
         elif len(l) == 5:
             v_i += 1
-            link, mime, thumb, poster, alt = v
+            link, mime, thumb, poster, alt = videos[v_i]
             print '<div class="border" data-poster="' + poster + '" data-sub-html="' + alt + '" data-html="#video' + str(v_i) + '"><a href="' + link + '"><img class="pic" src="' + thumb + '"></a></div>'
         else:
             raise NameError('Invalid number of arguments for lightgallery')
     fp.close()
 
 def hook_postconvert_size():
-    file_ext = '|'.join(['pdf', 'zip', 'rar', 'ods', 'odt', 'odp', 'doc', 'xls', 'ppt', 'docx', 'xlsx', 'pptx', 'exe', 'brd', 'mp3', 'mp4', 'plist'])
+    file_ext = '|'.join(['pdf', 'zip', 'rar', 'ods', 'odt', 'odp', 'doc', 'xls', 'ppt', 'docx', 'xlsx', 'pptx', 'exe', 'brd', 'plist'])
     def matched_link(matchobj):
         try:
             path = matchobj.group(1)