Internet of things: Grow Room Edition

[Chimera]

As many of you know, there are now a whole host of sensors and devices that can be monitored and triggered by your smart phone, tablet, laptop or home computer. This thread is to serve an an informal place for growers and gardeners to share their experiences with WiFi-enabled devices and their use in the grow room!

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Air
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For example, consider Elgato Eve : (https://www.amazon.com/Elgato-Weath..._UL160_SR156,160_&refRID=0WT79E850H2T8Q6WJDSE)

Eve is a product that allows 24 hour- temperature, humidity and air quality or barometric pressure monitoring via your Apple smart phone- operated via the Apple Home Kit. Unfortunately Android platform products are not supported by this device, but similar sensors and triggers are available for Android smartphone users (let us know what you use or have seen!)

Eve costs about $50-$75, depending on whether you choose the indoor or outdoor model (indoor senses VOC's, outdoor monitors air pressure). Other similar devices/ brands come with cameras, CO2 sensors, etc. I like that Eve and others will log your environmental conditions over months, so after harvest you can look back at your data and see how/if swings in environmental conditions affected your end result. Or, you can monitor in real time.

Eve also offers "smart outlets" which allow you to control a device either on or off, by your Apple phone. These aren't great for large electrical consumption devices, but if you wire them to trigger a simple relay switch, you can turn devices on or off remotely via your smartphone.

Each of these devices could be used in imaginative ways, so I am asking you all to share your thoughts and ideas. For example, if you have an ebb and flow setup run with a pond pump, the pond pump could be plugged into a smart outlet, and the outlet can be triggered remotely, allowing you to turn the pump on to water the garden without actually being present onsite.

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Water
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Irrigation controllers like Skydrop, Rainmaker or Rachio Iro are all simple wifi irrigation controllers that replace standard Rainbird or Orbit controllers in an irrigation system. Some of these devices monitor your local weather in your area, and adjust watering schedules accordingly (you can turn this feature on or off with most devices, and simply use the scheduled watering or phone activated watering components). Great if you have a dripper system you want to monitor and activate remotely- a life saver for days when you are running late, or can't make it in to water the garden in person.

Check out these reviews:
http://postscapes.com/smart-irrigation-controllers

I really like the theory of being able to monitor the grow environment digitally when I'm away; I also really like that some of these devices will send you email or text/SMS alerts when, for example, the temperature or humidity exceeds or falls below your preset allowable temperature range.

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Security
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Other monitors can be placed on doors, which send alerts to let you know when someone enters a particular room/space. There are also motion monitors/sensors, water sensors that detect floods or spills on floors, and of course cameras that function both in daylight and under night conditions.

As you can see, with a little thought and planning during design - even after the grow room / system is built - for a few hundred bucks you can monitor or even adjust your grow room environment remotely by using these switches.

Please share your experience with Wifi enabled "smart-devices" that allow us as growers to have more control over our systems, and peace of mind in knowing that technology can monitor and alert us to changes in grow environmental conditions that can lead to crop loss, and therefor financial loss.

If any of you have implemented WiFi technology in your space, let us know how or if it has simplified your life or daily routine, or provided peace of mind when you are offsite. Let us all know what's good, what's crap, what works as promised or what is trash to stay away from.

Keep in mind, this site is global, so while many US folks are dominated by the Apple Iphone ecosystem, remember that other growers use Android, so please let us know of any technology is limited to one ecosystem or another, as is the Elgato Eve. I really like the Eve interface and data logging, but the fact that few of our team uses the Iphone makes it all but useless. I'd rather not have to have everybody switch to a particular platform to be able to monitor environment, water, or adjust settings remotely.

Thanks for your contribution and sharing your experiences!

 

[lotus710]

thanks for the great info chimera

 

[mojave green]

I'm digging my new sensor push.

 

[Chimera]

Thanks mojave green!

I had not seen that one, I will check it out. http://www.sensorpush.com/

Give us some feedback on how it works, what you like or don't like, etc. Is it only bluetooth, or can it be accessed via wifi?

 

[mojave green]

Bluetooth only. Phone app gives you a graph for daily, weekly, monthly, yearly temps. Records temp/humidity every minute. Can export .csv file. Pretty much does everything I want it to. I hook up via Bluetooth when I go into room and it downloads data.

 

[RustyShcklfrd]

If anybody has any security/camera/access/cabling/networking specific questions, I can definitely offer an experienced (10+yrs) perspective. Many secuirty/water/climate monitoring systems work just fine on there own, especially in smaller settings, the hard part, and what usually has me lean towards certain products over others (among other factors), is there ability to integrate with your other systems and function cohesively.

Security- Commercial intrusion systems are a funny thing, basically you have Honeywell (which also covers adt panels, and most systems you see with a local guys name stickered on it), Napco, and Bosch running the show. All are great systems, but if your planning on doing the install yourself, one of the Honeywell Vista series panels is what you want, programming can be clunky, but its definitely the easiest for a d.i.y. proper system. They are easily integrated with other monitoring systems, have a wide range of singnaling devices, and are based off the old Ademco panels that many people are familiar with.

Access control- we are talking about card/badge readers, electric locks, biometric access, door openers etc. By far the best access control system average folks can get there hands on is S2. Browser based programming, tons of versatility, extremely expandable, multi-site integration. You can control access of anywere, from anywere. This system is about as wide open as it gets, so as long as what you want to control can be triggers by an open or short, you can control it with this.

Cameras- In my opinion, everybody should be making the switch to IP cameras from analog if you havent already. That said, like most electronics, there is a huuggee range of prices and qualities you can chose from, but I will absolutely suggest that you do not buy one of those package deals you see at the big box stores. Look up....seriously...look up in the store...thats not what they are using, is it? There are many great brands now, but heres a few great options right now.

If your in more of a budget price range, take a look at HIKvision cameras and NVRs (the recording device).

If your serious and in a commercial setting I really like to only recommend Axis cameras, they are by and far the easiest to install, program, focus, and integrate than any other brand. They were one of the first, and are the standard.

IP cameras can range in price from less than 100 dollars to 5000+ and beyond, and its really a "get what you pay for for" market, so just shop wisely.

Great topic Chimera, big time fan here, thanks a heap!

 

[The Meadows]

Bluetooth only. Phone app gives you a graph for daily, weekly, monthly, yearly temps. Records temp/humidity every minute. Can export .csv file. Pretty much does everything I want it to. I hook up via Bluetooth when I go into room and it downloads data.

A case of good minds thinking alike?
I changed from 1 record a minute to 1 every three minutes. The 1 record is an average of the 3. It helps cut down on the error oscillations and saves storage space. I'm recording up to 13 thermometers and 7 hydrometers.

 

[Chimera]

Right on guys, thanks for the contributions. Excellent post Rusty, ty.

I like the data logging of the sensorpush, and the ability to handle both Android and iOS platforms. I don't like the bluetooth interface though - it doesn't provide for real-time remote monitoring like Elgato Eve or similar, and for my uses that's a bummer. The .csv export file is nice though, at least you can harvest your raw data and paste it to an Excel file for analysis.. The price is definitely right, and the customization the Meadows shows is great. Something to consider for sure.

I've been checking these out:

http://wirelesstag.net/

Wifi enabled motion sensors, water (flood) sensor, temperature / humidity, door sensors... all pretty cool looking but I haven't checked into the price.

http://www.filesthrutheair.com/wifi-devices - wifi sensors through the cloud. Various air quality sensors can be monitored and logged by a computer on the WiFi network, or managed b through the cloud for email alerts, SMS messages etc. These are mainly temperature and humidity, and a little on the pricier side of things. The monthly cloud fee is definitely a drawback from a consumer perspective. Again, Eve prevails, other than the lack of Android interface.

Dlink also makes a host of sensors from water detection (flood), to wifi cameras, motion detectors, to smart outlets. http://us.dlink.com/products/connected-home/wi-fi-water-sensor.

These are cool, their system couples smart sensors with smart relays in a simple if/then system. http://smart4house.net/en/products/temperature-sensor

From their website:

"Example: A Wi-Fi water sensor in your basement monitors water leaks. A Wi-Fi relay is connected to a pump used to drain the water. Add these two devices to the list in the Smart4House portal and create a condition: "If the Water Detection Probe sensor is under water, i.e. the state changes to "Flooded", switch the Wi-Fi relay ON.""
http://smart4house.net/en/products/cloud-application#content-products-menu

If you are more of a DIY'er, you might be interested in these WiFi relays: http://www.ebay.com/bhp/wifi-relay

Also very cool, but more expensive in the $150-$200 range. These have various options for monitoring intervals and ability to send you alerts via email (free) or SMS (paid). I really like the PDF incident reports and data logs for compliance and auditing. This one is probably not for most home users, but still has its applications for a more commercial setup with more stringent requirements and controls.

 

[dekabum]

Great 3d!!! Thx Chimera for sharing...

I have see this

https://myflowerpower.parrot.com/#plantdb/6538

http://www.parrot.com/it/prodotti/flower-power/

But i dont know is well or not....

I like weed And computer monitor & grow... I make with friend a PLC program for growing... and run very well from 2007....



Good grow and good vibes to all from Italy!!! Ciao amico Chimera!!!

 

[RustyShcklfrd]

Lots of cool stuff, that Eve thing is pretty cool. So im having a hard time articulating this, but I think we should make the distinction between environmental devices that are designed to "monitor" your space, and those designed to "protect" your space. Most of the products posted so far, are designed for monitoring, which is cool. You get can get a ton of data in real time, all over a wireless connection, access logs of event history to track patterns and so on. Thats all wicked important in a grow room, and these devices make that really easy to do.

When I say devices that are designed to protect your space, what I mean is that as the industry pushes forward into legal markets, grows will/are having to deal with things like, landlords, lease agreements, municipal government (building/fire/electrical inspectors), and insurance companies. That means dealing with devices that are designed and UL listed for doing what they do in commercial and agricultural spaces. This is also where youll see the price go up as well, but for good reason. When your protecting hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars worth of property, equipment and product, you need to know its safe, and there needs to be a layer of accountability if something fails. These types of devices will usually require hardwiring and interconnection with a listed control/signaling panels. Most of these are capable of sending "alarms" via multiple forms of communication, and can usually switch from one to another if there is a failure (i.e. if the Internet is down, then it can signal with a land line phone, radio, or cellular signal). Just to add, a properly installed, tested, and inspected system can save you thousands of dollars a year on property insurance.

I am a fan of Winland Enviroalert stations. I am able to connect multiple temperature, humidity, and water (flood) sensors to a single station, then use the onboard outputs to input signals to either an access or security panel. All hardwired. These devices are protecting vaults, data centers, labs, and aircraft equiptment. Im not saying these are the best, theres multitudes of devices like these, but I can vouch for Winland.

One thing that hasnt really been mentioned is fire protection. This is a serious can of worms, and can be very situationally dependent. There are two main types of fire protection systems, those designed for inventory/product protection (sprinklers and other suppression systems), and those designed for life safety, like smoke/heat detectors. If theres one thing to stress about fire protection is that life safety is no joke, and gets pretty heavy when you start to think of the potentiality of a fire to ruin lives, its definitely not a place to cut corners.

 

[RustyShcklfrd]

Temperature and Humidity-

For monitoring and adjusting/programming your temps and humidities via web browser or cell phone, it doesn't get much easier than the Honeywell Visionpro 8000 wifi thermostats. 7 day programable, remote probes, control multiple rooms or facilities from one screen on your android, computer, or ios device. Alerts can be sent to your phone or email when a set limit has been met. If you've got a bit of networking knowledge, setup on these is a breeze. They are being used in very respected grows in California and Colorado, and interface with existing thermostat cabling. Available for a great price for a reliable, industry tested thermostat with these features.

 

[giroldo]

Check out thingworx IoT platform by PTC. They've acquired thingworx and axeda which were the two leading IoT related platforms on the market. With a subscription to thingworx you can create your own cloud based mashups and dynamically connect all sorts of sensors and monitors and disparate systems through the cloud.

 

[RustyShcklfrd]

Giroldo, good call dude!

 

[RustyShcklfrd]

These are the coolest IoT sensors for greenhouse/agriculture that Ive found. The Waspmote Plug and Sense by Libelium. You can monitor and log, temp. (Medium and ambient), humidity ( grow medium and ambient), solar radiation, luminosity, pH, macro/micro nutrients (water ions) depending on config. And model. Solar versions available. Its definitely geared twrds large scale grows/agricultural, and is priced that way, but man do you get features.

 

[Trich_Tyson]

great info here.. bookmarking the shit outta this stuff as I'm gearing up to build

 

[Chimera]

http://idealsciences.com/?gclid=Cj0...m-QK8SN_6i5r6lsWuH7adeUpaOC3P5XYIIaAgQA8P8HAQ

https://www.acurite.com/aculink-iphone-app

These two might prove useful... I definitely dig that the first unit is wifi enabled to deli ver alerts when conditions exceed your preset limits... pretty cool.


I've installed a couple of Rachio units at a grow at which I consult... they're pretty cool little units! Although when the internet goes down you have to open the valves manually to water... a flaw of cloud-based monitoring for sure. I understand the 2nd generation Rachio units have solved the problem, but I have not seen them in action. Triggering the watering cycle from afar though is really a great feature to have on your dripper lines!

 

[Limeygreen]

Why not just buy Argus? Generally, compared to other climate control systems, it is rather cheap, then you can use log me in to control things. You get constant monitoring, depending how much memory on the computer you want to use up you can store frequently the data. You can make custom programs to control many different things, boilers, fans, vents, lights, irrigation, day storage tanks, injectors, wells etc as long as you have the outputs.

 

[The Meadows]

We're on a site that promotes growing your own. Why? To save money, get the exact product you desire, as a hobby, and/or provide a sense of accomplishment. Its never been easier or cheaper to create your own control system. Roll your own!

 

[heady blunts]

great thread chi!