GRoPi #0
Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2018 1:41 am
Greetings to everyone! I would like to make a post about my consideration of a "not total autonomous" gardening project, with remote controlling to be a preferable pick.
My experience with Pi's is starting right now while i was studying to make a smart network of Arduino's connected to the Pi who will be the "final decision maker" by my hands.
Well i've received my RasPi 3 Model B, with its case and the power chord usb, a fresh 16gb sd card and i have already installed Rasbian. I was searching all around about my first moves and i found out that is better if i wait till i found exact what i want before i start buyin sensors like crazy. So now i got only the "head"...
I got the whole engineer plan on my wall panel which gave me the map to start working
The GRoPi #0
at first, my challenge will be to read
-relative humidity of the grow room (found out that many humidity sensors also including a temperature sensor. As this sensor will be on the grow room ±0.2 / ±4% loss is acceptable)
-pot humidity (soil humidity sensors seem cheap and i read many reviews talking about oxidised parts, well some are made for hardcore use some not, there are some models which im going to post later which working great for that installation, also im not just going to dig them on the pot, im going to make a small slice horizontally to the pot to insert the sensor around the middle of the pot to receive the exact humidity close to the roots)
-pot drainage (there is a raindrop sensor which gave me the idea to put it between the pot and the tray. in that way i will know if the soil is fully watered and i prevent the water loss. to achieve this i have to command the specific solenoid valve to let the water feed the plant for a very small amount of time and then wait for some seconds until it repeats. that goes on till the raindrop sensor receive even the smallest amount of data)
-room temperature
-height of the plants/distance from the lights (in that way, i will get data about the plant's growth and the specific distance from the lights*which giving me a stream of ideas*)
By doing some search about sensors i found more than i wanted, but there is one thing to keep in mind. As i read the RasPi doesn't have any analog inputs, that means for some sensors i need to use an Arduino which can then send the reading to the RasPi
*NOTE*
After the first step of getting these basic variables and "hopefully" making a nice GUI to read them i would like to move on the water control system.
My main target is to build an automation, which will inform me about any changes on every plant i want to monitor (not just a general metric of the room) and also letting me control the watering (following rules to prevent water loss or nutrient consumption).
Till now i got no views about autonomous watering as the project will be tested indoors and that can cause serious destructions/flooding etc.
Many sensors=different prices*trusted shops?
There's a list with the things i will need to buy and assembly
-humidity/temp sensor
-soil humidity sensor
-raindrop sensor
-solenoid valves
-Arduino (about choosing a model, this may need more advice of which one works best for which installation)
-wiring
-some shields to work with some of the sensors
My experience with Pi's is starting right now while i was studying to make a smart network of Arduino's connected to the Pi who will be the "final decision maker" by my hands.
Well i've received my RasPi 3 Model B, with its case and the power chord usb, a fresh 16gb sd card and i have already installed Rasbian. I was searching all around about my first moves and i found out that is better if i wait till i found exact what i want before i start buyin sensors like crazy. So now i got only the "head"...
I got the whole engineer plan on my wall panel which gave me the map to start working
The GRoPi #0
at first, my challenge will be to read
-relative humidity of the grow room (found out that many humidity sensors also including a temperature sensor. As this sensor will be on the grow room ±0.2 / ±4% loss is acceptable)
-pot humidity (soil humidity sensors seem cheap and i read many reviews talking about oxidised parts, well some are made for hardcore use some not, there are some models which im going to post later which working great for that installation, also im not just going to dig them on the pot, im going to make a small slice horizontally to the pot to insert the sensor around the middle of the pot to receive the exact humidity close to the roots)
-pot drainage (there is a raindrop sensor which gave me the idea to put it between the pot and the tray. in that way i will know if the soil is fully watered and i prevent the water loss. to achieve this i have to command the specific solenoid valve to let the water feed the plant for a very small amount of time and then wait for some seconds until it repeats. that goes on till the raindrop sensor receive even the smallest amount of data)
-room temperature
-height of the plants/distance from the lights (in that way, i will get data about the plant's growth and the specific distance from the lights*which giving me a stream of ideas*)
By doing some search about sensors i found more than i wanted, but there is one thing to keep in mind. As i read the RasPi doesn't have any analog inputs, that means for some sensors i need to use an Arduino which can then send the reading to the RasPi
*NOTE*
After the first step of getting these basic variables and "hopefully" making a nice GUI to read them i would like to move on the water control system.
My main target is to build an automation, which will inform me about any changes on every plant i want to monitor (not just a general metric of the room) and also letting me control the watering (following rules to prevent water loss or nutrient consumption).
Till now i got no views about autonomous watering as the project will be tested indoors and that can cause serious destructions/flooding etc.
Many sensors=different prices*trusted shops?
There's a list with the things i will need to buy and assembly
-humidity/temp sensor
-soil humidity sensor
-raindrop sensor
-solenoid valves
-Arduino (about choosing a model, this may need more advice of which one works best for which installation)
-wiring
-some shields to work with some of the sensors