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automation units - price points

G

green_tea

Member
Looking for some market data from all of you, any help would be awesome.

Currently in design:

Base unit with:
- on board logging / USB drive for more storage.
- Ph / Water temp.
- ambient temp / humidity
- light sensor
- 2 plugs that are relay controlled
- 1 doser unit + equipment for the liquid

Software to monitor / track / diary / program / graph / etc.

estimated selling price: $1500

Additional parts in development are:

Co2 sensor ($400)
3 unit doser add on ($700)
1 unit doser add on ($300)
Sub base station with LCD screen that can be setup to show detailed real time info (350)
water TDS meter ($300)
water o2 sensor (02 sensors are expensive, could be as high as $1000)
flip board that the unit can control (depends on if i make it or outsource it; as it just has to be a normal flipper unit with a add on that allows the unit to control the relays)

Right now these are my estimated price points, and am looking for feedback on them, too expensive? too cheap? any other things you would want it to have included?


Note that I am targetting larger growers and possibly universities that have botanical gardens (not just pot growers!)


Prototype should be built in the next few months with software shortly after (hopefully!)

The hardware system is the easy part, the software is going to be the time consuming. If I had a few grand lying around, the hardware would already be built, but alas it's based on my salary and OT I do :/


Again, any suggestions / comments are welcome!
 
Cutty

Cutty

Member
Yeah, $3350 for the real get-er-dun unit (3 pump option).

Harvest-master?

Intellidose/climate?

$3350...Fo-real?
 
C

cyberwax

But still 1500 is quite the ammount for parts only costing max 200. However integrating it into a sweet design can somewhat give reason to the high price. Im guessing pointers will lead icmaggers to some sort of discount? :p

Additional addons:
-> Flip flop system for using two lights on one ballast.
-> X ammount of attachable relays(bluetooth, ethernet, wireless, serial, whatever) where you can control pumps etc. Inductive(a condenser connected to remove backfiring voltages) timers or relays.
-> Webbased interface with motion detection on camera sends sms, email, whatever. Like the growtronix.
-> Wireless or atleast a very long cable for connection to a computer in another room. (almost a must)

How are your programming skills btw? Im sure i could help out, however considering the security issues im not sure anyone nor me would risk it. Try out getafreelancer.com tho where i am sure you'll find someone who can hook you up with a kickass code for a couple of dollars.

And why not make it open source(the software part), im sure you'll get alot more people buying it and a shitload of people making plugins, atleast me :p

Good luck! Love this kind of initiative!

And btw the growtronix.com website contains a trojan in : http://growtronix.com/store/includes/modules/pages/product_info/jscript_textarea_counter.js
Trojandownloader.agent.NRL trojan
Im guessing its just a counter as the java script says in its filename but i find it curious that it needs to place itself on the computer to count, a cookie is ok but not this.
 
Y

YouGrowBoy

Member
green_tea said:
It is initially going to compete against:

www.growtronix.com

http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/items.asp?Cc=AC&iTpStatus=0&Tp=&Bc=
Click to expand...

As with all technology, the price should be going down and not up. Take a look at Growtronix prices. He's dropped them another 25% to about 1/2 the price of your set up. His base system is down to $733.

I'm very interested in what you're doing but there are others trying to do the same thing so competition will also help drive the prices down.

Take a look at:
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=2950519

There are active conversations at all the major grow sites with people of various tech levels trying to do the same thing. As a marketing guy at some of the largest advertising agencies in the world, I've done my research. :) This topic really interests me.

I really like what Growtronix offers on paper, but read too many horror stories about their customer service and reliability - not of the product but of the company. If you can build a clone of that and combine it with solid support (no waiting 4 to 6 weeks for delivery if delivered at all) and have it work with digital ballast interference, you may have something.

Good luck, I'll be watching through hopeful eyes.

YGB
 
P

pimpjuice

Member
you can get an intellidose with 3 solenoids for $1,552.95 at bettergrow hydro. They've been on the market for years now & the software is reliable and the unit works standalone & recovers from power outages.
 
G

green_tea

Member
just been coding...


this unit will be able to recover from power outages as well.

the intellidose is a rip-off FYI.

those pumps cost roughly 100 bucks a pop from any random vendor. toss in some good tygon tubing (depending on the stuff you are going to be dosing) and the parts itself only cost 400 bucks.

As a semi update:

I've been working on the data collection side of coding.
Depending on polling frequency, the database per main controller unit can be anywhere from 30MB - 100MB per grow per unit.

Once I have a firm grasp at the collection side, I can begin working on the actual GUI design coding.

The unit itself will run the data collection, and will also store all configuration settings such as time of day to turn on / off pumps / dosers etc.

I will be working on the XML spec in a few weeks as well, but i thought getting the collection code working would be the best thing to work on first so that I could have it running for a bit to see storage requirements and stability.
(it is currently running on my 2k8 server monitoring temp and humidity in the closet the actual server box is in :) )

UI visio designs will be released shortly as well as the official website.
(I am hoping to have a silverlight & stand alone version of the UI up and running for testing purposes in the near future with fake data of course)

any suggestions on what people would like in the UI?

(may be better to wait until I post the actual layout of the UI tabs and such first!)

EDIT: actual hardware testing is out a ways just so everyone knows. Waiting for funds to clear up as my real job is currently going through a merger and who knows where my job stands once that goes through. Of course if I get canned, it frees up 60+hrs a week that could be spent coding!
 
Y

YouGrowBoy

Member
Nice progress. You sound way more organized than anyone else that's been discussing automation. As a former interactive project manager I know how these things can go.

You're probably right about waiting for a wire frame or other vizio doc before doing the UI. It helps to take this in steps. However, looking at what others have done (growtronix and Auto Grow) may help to shape your UI.

Look forward to the next update.

YGB
 
T

tokinafaty420

Hypothetically speaking, if I was a commercial grower and it meant being able to run a large garden without hiring help I would be more than willing to spend more than the price you are asking to do so. Most hired help charges a percentage of the harvest and that can easily exceed your price by a long shot.
 
G

grow nerd

NutriDose inline fertigation system. About $6k for a base multi-site configuration.
 
watercooled@

watercooled@

Member
I've tried both the growtronix and the agrowtek. I like them both for different reasons and uses. The growtronix is really flexible and I've had good luck from support over there.
 
resin_lung

resin_lung

I cough up honey oil
Veteran
The growtronix unit is pretty cool except that its been a year and they still haven't shipped my tds/ph monitor!!!! customer service sucks over there!
 
resin_lung

resin_lung

I cough up honey oil
Veteran
Is DJ still runnin that place. Sent him another email today. We'll see. Really like the system but.....
 
ahhhavalanche!

ahhhavalanche!

Member
take a look at the Digital Aquatics HerpKeeper Environmental Controller that I just found: http://www.digitalaquatics.com/herpetology/systems

the base system is $100, $270 if you want internet connectivity

It seems to be a system that can control almost anything that a grower would need, read their blurb: "The HerpKeeper is also equipped with advanced integrated features such as Night Mode, service Standby, powerful alarms and timers. This new level of integration gives you the ability to adjust your lighting if it gets too hot and turn on cooling devices all based on temperature. In the same way, its easy to run misters/foggers via a timer or based off the current relative humidity in the tank. This ensures you’ll have the proper humidity levels all of time and no mater the temperature. Automated feedings, seasonal variations, and email alerts are just the beginning of what this control system can do for you!"

I dont use this (it is only per-order right now, release late spring), but does it look interesting enough to warrant its own thread???
 
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