My Arduino based Grow controller

Update!

Update!

Hardware

Old Arduino Duemilanove got updated to Arduino Mega 2560. Same power, more space for software (250kB vs. 30kB) and more RAM. But more importantly, whole lot more of I/O pins, meaning, more devices to control, and talk with.

Down are the 8 relays for device control, each rated 250V / 10A. Tested using old CRT monitor and worked nice. Waiting to test on the actual patient. Sadly can't do it yet. Tried connecting wires to relays and it got so HEAVY, some came off. Not good when using 230 Volts.



Piece of Software

Snip of software. Precisely configuration for devices.



Now and Next

So the controller is off the cabinet. Didn't really feel like driving it as messy as it was. And got the new hardware, so had to do some testing and coding.

Now waiting two-three weeks for new parts and then hopefully able to mount it all to action. Should be beautiful.

Most development since last update done in Software department. Old "protocol" was just ugly lines of data, whereas now I get XML. In clean format all the sensory information, all logic results (eg. temperature high), device statuses, device timers etc. Also able to configure most of these. Doesn't save them into memory yet.

I don't know what's wrong with me, but I just want to make something so perfect it can't be bettered any further And for some reason it feels really twisted to have cabinet in which I grow Cannabis, and which is controlled by 16MHz processor, running some C code and outputing data in modern XML format. And me thinking how to best implement fuzzy logic into the equation It just doesn't add up!

That's an interesting topic, btw. Fuzzy logic.

As earlier shown, humidity reversily correlates with temperature. Therefore, more humid, "lower" the temperature. In fuzzy logic this is taken into account when making decision if temperature is high or not. I can run higher temperatures in high humidity environment, and if I had CO2, I could run even higher. Programming this kind of logic is if not too challenging, at least very interesting. Then there are something called neural networks..

But my thoughts are flying again. Well, hopefully somebody enjoyed At least some ideas for possible fellow hardware slash software engineers slash growers.

Ps. Oh, and got my moisture sensor! At the moment giving me a reading of 249! Which means.. absolutely nothing. 0 should be soaking wet, and 1023 bone dry. So, when leaves wilt, I take a reading for too-dry calibration.

I'm gonna go for it and get me some Arduino!
If you where a n00b and got started, what would you get??

Make: Ultimate Controller Pack.

Should include all you need to get started making projects. Plus get the book Getting Started with Arduino if you want to have printed directions and basic arduino info. The kit doesn't include any. They do point you to where you can find them online, but if you want knowledge right there in front of you.... get the book.

That'll get you going in no time!

audiohi said:

Make: Ultimate Controller Pack.

Should include all you need to get started making projects. Plus get the book Getting Started with Arduino if you want to have printed directions and basic arduino info. The kit doesn't include any. They do point you to where you can find them online, but if you want knowledge right there in front of you.... get the book.

That'll get you going in no time!

Click to expand...

Is this it?
I'm in Europe, thats why .co.uk
EDIT: Found it as a torrent...

I could go a other way and just get the book and get a load of junk of ebay, like push buttons, reed sensors, pt100 or the lm35(easier to use?) and the likes...
And of course a Arduino Uno or should I go MEGA? Not a lot of price difference but I think the book is for Uno
EDIT: My Mega has been dispatched, cant wait for it to arrive!

Bumped in to this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Soil-Sens...279?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f22b87baf
Some reversed engineering anyone?

That doesn't look like the "official' Make magazine kit, but I'm sure it'll work. It doesn't come with a proto shield, which you may want. There are plenty of kits by different people, I just suggested the one I got by a company I trust for accurate arduino info, Make Magazine. That is the book though.

Here is a link to the kit at radio shack (also available many other places)
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12353398#

Arduino Uno or Mega? The differences basically are the number of inputs and outputs, and space for your program. So, do you just want to control a few things and experiment, or do you want to control a whole grow with this controller? Buy a Mega if you need to control alot of things and don't feel like buying another controller down the line. It's all up to you.

Here are a few great sites to learn from
http://arduino.cc
http://learn.adafruit.com/category/learn-arduino

samba said:

Is this it?
I'm in Europe, thats why .co.uk
EDIT: Found it as a torrent...

I could go a other way and just get the book and get a load of junk of ebay, like push buttons, reed sensors, pt100 or the lm35(easier to use?) and the likes...
And of course a Arduino Uno or should I go MEGA? Not a lot of price difference but I think the book is for Uno
EDIT: My Mega has been dispatched, cant wait for it to arrive!

Bumped in to this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Soil-Sens...279?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f22b87baf
Some reversed engineering anyone?

Click to expand...

I would go the eBay way if I was starting now. Back in the day I simply didn't know I can get stuff from eBay, and so much cheaper.

Go for mega. Arduino Die/Due/Uno are cool to begin with, but if and when you start to actually build something, you quickly run out of pins.

I would love to have that moisture sensor. The idea of getting temps from different depths.. Too intriguing.

And a tip for eBaying: buy it now + free shipping, and order by lowest, but the first couple of pages usually are actually the most expensive ones, because there's only 2 or 3 pieces of given component; page 10 might have 50pcs for a dollar more.

I would also advice you get bunch of those 2.54mm hook-up wires. They come male-male, female-female, female-male etc.

New display, more code

New display, more code



New 84x48 pixel LCD, same as the one found in Nokia 3310 and 5110 phones. Old but simple.

Nerve wracking to draw anything, as there is no easy-to-use library, other than pre defined set of characters and symbols.

In first row I got status of all 8 relays. Number blinks if the relay is on.

Down I got bars showing temperatures, humidity and soil moisture. Bar length is in relation to set limit, and the numeric value right to bar will blink ALERT! if it goes over.

If something I would like to have multiple "desktops" between which I could transition, but haven't really figured out how to do such.



On the code side there are some clever tricks to deal with delay issues with temperature sensors, but I don't think nobody actually cares that much of a detail.

This is starting to feel like never ending project, never getting into production. But I hope when it finally does, it will do everything that much better. At least it sounds really pro with all the relays going on and off as I boot the device. Click click click click. Click.

minttu said:

Hardware

Down are the 8 relays for device control, each rated 250V / 10A. Tested using old CRT monitor and worked nice. Waiting to test on the actual patient. Tried connecting wires to relays and it got so HEAVY, some came off. Not good when using 230 Volts.

View Image

Click to expand...

I use almost the same ssr board except it's a 250v/1 amp.But only for switching relay core,i.m.h.o. those board are way to smal for switching high power!I also use same ssr than your's but with heatsink.

overbudjet said:

I use almost the same ssr board except it's a 250v/1 amp.But only for switching relay core,i.m.h.o. those board are way to smal for switching high power!I also use same ssr than your's but with heatsink.

[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=42986&pictureid=1043988&thumb=1]View Image[/url] [URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=42986&pictureid=1043989&thumb=1]View Image[/url] [URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=42986&pictureid=1043998&thumb=1]View Image[/url][URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=42986&pictureid=1012577&thumb=1]View Image[/url]

Click to expand...

You might be right

Nice project so far!

On the Raspberry Pi side another way to switch not so powerfull 220V outlets is with RF controlled wireless relay sockets, commonly found in stores.

http://www.hoagieshouse.com/RaspberryPi/RCSockets/RCPlug.html

Pretty neat

Is this tread dead?
Common OP and all, lets keep it alive!

samba said:

Is this tread dead?
Common OP and all, lets keep it alive!

Click to expand...

I support the idea of keeping this thread growing. Although I don't currently have this type of setup, I'm a techie type and can absolutely picture myself designing something like this in the future. My two choices would be either arduino or Raspberry Pi. I also think that if we had a couple of people that picked this up as a pet project we could really produce something great and specialized for this type of application, maybe even open source it.

bump

minds_I said:

bump

Click to expand...

^^^

Sensuino.net

Sensuino.net

Hello guys,
I've collected some information about this topic and made a little wiki pages.

Check Sensuino.net

I am not native English speaker, so there will be few mistakes in text. So, please, be patient. And I'll be glad if you improve it somehow.

JointarGanjar said:

Check Sensuino.net

Click to expand...

Right link:
Sensuino.net

I need some help with setting up/reading time from my RT1302 real time clock.
I finally managed to set it up and it kept well for some hours then it got bad again, with hour values over 24 coming up at random.
If you got any tips, links or sample code please reply or contact me.

I'm using an arduino UNO r3.

glad people are still into this and this thread is alive

has anybody tried setting up an arduino security system for their grow op?

I've arduinoized my space. I got 13 thermometers, 8 hydrometers, 10 relays, 11 led's, a speaker and a servo. The arduino sends the sensor data to a mysql server to store the data. It also updates the status of the relays. This php page reads the data.



The relays are the muscle of the system. The relays control fans, pumps and lights. If the heat gets too high, one of the two hps lights turns off. If the temperature drops enough and there has been a 15 minute delay, the light comes back on. If the intake area gets hotter than the main area, the intake fan goes off. If humidity gets too high an extra recirculating fan turns on. I got a big stack of timers I no longer need. It uses an ntp server via ethernet for timekeeping, no rtc.