GHpi - Raspberry pi Automated Green House System

[ghpi]

Hi All, I've been reading the forums for a while, this is my first post and first thread.

With the release of the Raspberry pi Zero ($5USD); the raspberry pi is an increasingly appealing option for those wishing to automate their growing space while keeping costs low. I have looked at other projects for automation of this nature on the pi and other platforms, however I found that none of them quite fit what I had in mind for an ideal system.

I am not an amazing programmer, I am extremely inexperienced in the field of growing; I do however, have a great background in electronics, computing, and random tinkering.

The pi consumes a very small amount of power, and doesn't output a significant amount of heat. It is highly configurable, and extremely stable when the OS isn't messed with. With proper wiring, the pi can handle upwards of 256 sensors and relays; even more with some extra wiring. This allows for massive expansion if needed. When the system is not being taxed by heavy code and large bulky programs, the pi should have no problem keeping up with all of the sensor data and logic we can feed to it.
GHpi is being written entirely in bash, it is not CPU architecture dependent and thus should run without issue on any other platforms that are running Linux. The limitation being input output for relays and sensors. (More on this when a public release happens)

So today, I would like to present a preview and preliminary description of the first revision of my latest project, GHpi.

Features both existing and planned:
Alarms, Smoke, Flood, and Climate (entry/motion sensors planned)
Scheduling Groups, full control of Lighting, Nutrients, Water, Climate, and more.
Automatic Cycle Change, schedule your move from veg to fruit
CSV Data Export, easy graphing and analysis of your grows.
Fully configurable, use what you want, not forced to use what you don't want.



The main focus of this project is stability with the secondary objective being ease of use. I am still investigating which input method will be most the intuitive and easy.
The user interface is reminiscent of a terminal window from long ago. There are no current plans to significantly change the interface. It is totally up to the end user if they want to connect it to the internet or not - SSH works great to view the interface and is relatively secure when using 2048-bit RSA keys.

In an effort for better performance and thus higher stability, SQL is not being used.(I'm not saying SQL isn't stable, but the pi has limited computing power) Instead, data logged is exported into CSV files for later viewing. CSV makes it very easy to generate graphs and other reports. You can even view sweet ASC-II art graphs from within the interface, however, I'm still working on scrolling in the graphs.

Compatibility with a wide range of relays has already been achieved; I also have multiple popular sensors from different vendors on the way. Sadly there is a very wide range of sensors so I will not be able to support compatibility for each and every one. This may change over time as newer and less expensive sensor options become available or as I begin to realize that all of the sensors use the same bare metal parts lol.

Once a public version is released, I will include along with it a list of budget-oriented confirmed working, hardware, relays, sensors, and wiring diagrams. My goal is to have the least expensive, fully automated system while maintaining stability, reliability and usability.


Questions/Comments/Suggestions/Features are greatly appreciated.

 

[iTarzan]

My mistake. I am very sorry!

 

[ghpi]

This isn't for ipad/iphone or anything apple. Although I suppose you could ssh from an apple device should a user choose to put their system on the internet or wifi. This is being designed with a lack of internet in mind but still allowing the option should one want to connect to the net.

Thanks for your comment that didn't link or describe anything apart from something mysterious 'apt' on ebay though!

 

[iTarzan]

Error on my part!

 

[Weird]

I was looking at the $5 pi to do the same for myself.

 

[Mikell]

I just like pie.

Huckleberry preferably. But I don't discriminate, apple is also delicious.

 

[ghpi]

iTarzan, you don't appear to have anything constructive to add to this thread, I would appreciate it if you didn't post in my thread any more. I don't understand how you could think that my post is spam, you must not have read it.


Also, just want to clarify, the screen shot of the program is not just simple concept art, it is actively running. While I'm waiting for my last sensors to show up, I figured I would post here and get more input on the project.

As far as apple goes, the program is written in bash, it should run on anything linux/unix, again the limitation here is how we can address the inputs and outputs for sensor data and relays.

 

[b8man]

I've been setting up a RPi2 to monitor air/humidity (DHT22), lumens, nutrient tank temps, maybe camera, with it all outputting to a webpage and emailing me if anything goes too far off track. All from Python code borrowed from here and there. It's a nice little computer - very reliable.

The new Pi should be able to handle all the monitoring stuff, I just wouldn't trust it too much with switching things on and off. Still waiting for other ppl to test what it's capable of.

Everyone should have a pi.

 

[shishkaboy]

Interesting. I started an Arduino based project but I think the Pi might be the right tool for the job.

 

[Weird]

they can interconnect seen some projects using them both

 

[iTarzan]

So I edited ghpi. I mistakenly thought you were trying to sell the program or system.

 

[ghpi]

It's all good iTarzan; I re-read only the first little bit of my first post - I can see how the paragraph that states the rpi zero just came out for $5 could look a bit like an advertisement if you don't read the rest of the post. Sadly, I don't think I can edit my posts until I have a higher post count. (could a moderator remove this restriction from my account, I promise I'm not a spam bot, thank you)

To further clarify, once GHpi is more refined and ready for a public release, I will release this on github as open-source. The goal of this project is to allow people to have an automated grow space for as little expense as possible.

Releasing on github will also hopefully have the side effect of people adding in compatibility and support for sensors, relays, and platforms that I do not own. Ideally, on anywhere but here, it won't even really mention anything about weed, as I may post a similar thread on the rpi forums for green house automation as this system could also be used to automate the growing of awesome flowers, food, and what not.

Another thing of important note is being in bash, and being open source, will allow GHpi to be easily peer reviewed. I don't really consider myself to be paranoid, but I am calculated; One of the main reasons I didn't mention on why I won't go with a 3rd party control app is with all the hacking stuff going on now days, it's not far fetched to think that a 3rd party control app could possibly be sending your data to a hacker, the dea, china, aliens, ect. (I'm fully aware that one could run a packet sniffer on a switch but that's too much hassle for most people) Really the only sure fire way to not be hacked is to not be on the internet. GHpi can operate with or without the internet, and (it's still in testing, but I may attach 5 or 6 buttons to my pi to control GHpi locally) I've also been investigating other local control methods but none are as iron clad secure as the button approach.