User Interface Basics
OpenValve has a very minimalistic User Interface (UI). It uses only one button for user input and two LEDs for output.
The button is used for different actions depending on the current UI state and the type of button press:
- short press
- long press
- very long press
The LEDs show the current UI state and display information such as
- valve state (opened/closed)
- battery level
- current soil moisture
- current settings
LED pattern to show numbers
Current soil moisture, Opening Threshold, Additional Time, and errors are represented by single-digit whole numbers. Because OpenValve only has LEDs and no display, these numbers are shown with a specific blinking pattern on the upper LED (either green, orange, or red).
The pattern works like this:
OpenValve blinks a certain number of times, then makes a clear pause, then repeats the same pattern. To read the value, count the blinks between two pauses.
For example, if the current soil moisture value is 4, the LED pattern looks like this:
blink, blink, blink, blink, pause
blink, blink, blink, blink, pause
blink, blink, blink, blink, pause
This means the value is 4.
In practice, you simply count the blinks in your head:
1, 2, 3, 4 .....
1, 2, 3, 4 .....
1, 2, 3, 4 .....
Learn all about the UI
To get familiar with the UI, there are two options:
- Interactive Manual: A virtual OpenValve that lives in your browser and behaves just like the real device.
- Classic Manual: It provides detailed information about every available UI state, how to access them, how to interpret the LEDs, and which settings can be changed.