DIY CHEAP DIY microcontroller (arduino) grow room environment controller

[fatcalvin]

Well i got a cheap rubbermaid box set up to hold all my stuff. Here's a little look at it . I will be getting a lockable steel electric box soon once i get all my code written for everything that i want to do. But this was better than having it sit all over my desk. LOL. Got a little sloppy with the knife and broke the box. Oh well its not permanent.

 

[KsjAuto]

#fatcalvin

Awsome

-//-

A little update on my automatic (ph down) project
As usually im waiting on parts...
But the ph is up and running. no atc only tc with a fixed value on 19c
So aint gonna be that long for it to be finished :smoke:

:dance2:
Peace

 

[jackmc]

It just occurred to me that I've got LED dimmers all over my house. They're $20 at the building supply store. I'm going to build a LED dimmer for my grow ligt with a job box, some cord and a couple of plug ends. Peace

 

[Bigolnoob]

Nice Thread.
I was thinking about a thread like this Growrelated arduino stuff
Im all new to arduino. I thought many times on a full automated grow, tjecking ppm ph e.t.c on a website tweeking thinks from the computer at home (IT can be done) im just not there yet.

I have build a couple of thing just to learn the basic, (there is a bounch of code on the net just keep searching)

1.Min max temp/humidity with a lcd display. cost price about 25$ (enclosure cost was 10$ so could be cheaper).
I have fitted a mason jar lid, with a sensor. So i can keep an eye on my curing proces.

2.On / O timer can handle millisec / seconds / hours / days / weeks e.t.c... cost price about 20$ (enclosure cost was 10$ so could be cheaper).

3. Ph meter with lcd display cost price about 45$

4. ph controller for my hydro res..(only with ph down) cost price about 55$.. (waiting for a new phshield "Dormant Labs PH Module V2"..

5. NEXT project. Automatic watering system for soil(1-10 plant setup - gravity feed). All buckets is watered individuallyWhen dry.
cost price about 100$ (heavy duty solenoid valve 10$ a piece. so could be cheaper)(it´s a custom build for a friend... I don`t do soil).

Theese little arduino things rocks. you can get one for as little as 3.68$.
:Sharing One:

Please correct me if I am wrong, but you are something of the king of DYI LED lighting and cooling. I don't think you mentioned this. Also, Budseye, like you say has a great idea here. In other words, if temp = +29c fan at 90%. Or, soil temp this then that. Or, smoke detector alarms then cut power.. Whatever.. You know what I'm saying.. You two could be a proper team if you ask me.

 

[fatcalvin]

With the Arduino if it has a voltage it can be controlled. The hardware part of it is probably the easiest part. They make so many different parts for micro controllers for so many applications its crazy. I went through about 1000 different auctions on ebay from 1 seller with almost every part that you could think of that you would want/need. The possibilities are ENDLESS. Im just really surprised someone hasn't created a fully automated system from one and sold it commercially. I know there are automatic systems being sold but i would be that someone could just "resell" the hardware in "bundles" with instructions and "give" the code away "free" and make a nice business. Just a thought

 

[KsjAuto]

I think the programming scares people away,,, and one silly mistake can kill a hole grow room in a matter of hours ( hydroponic ) tried and tested...

But yes endless possibilities,, with the right knowledge and time anything is possible..

:Sharing One:

 

[captain budseye]

Hey all, long time and looking good... I'm truly jealous. Haven't been around since I've been very busy, but I've just about started getting a few bits together, just a couple more months and i'll be free to get started on my own one properly... . Just remembered about this thread recently and had to poke my head in and have a look, it's really impressive dude.

I've grabbed a cheap pond pump for irrigation and have found a really nice way of setting up the system so it all clips nicely into an airpot using plastic T connectors and one of those micro irrigation kits. Managed to get nice even flow, which can be easily controlled to water close to the plants roots or further away depending on the stage of growth.

fatcalvin and any one else planning on using those little soil moisture sensors, I'd be a bit careful. I've heard they're not great and have just been studying a course on sensors and I'm under the impression that they're not all that, unless you use larger probes with a properly designed signal conditioning circuit (amplifier). The data will probably never be accurate but it's about making it useful without requiring accuracy. Maybe start off by running some kind of data logging with it for a couple of grows before trying to use it to automate anything. That way you can work out how the soil moisture fluctuates for each particular strain and your particular growing method, since this will probably different each time you change anything. There might also be other factors which could screw with it, who knows! I'd love to see how it goes.

I found some soil probes with soil temp monitoring which look promising on ebay if anyone's interested, they're a bit more expensive than the little ones but probably much better. Here's the link:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Soil-Sens...928?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f480f8b68

Also if you are growing auto's, one of the big things that makes growers like tang so successful is not just giving them the right amount of water but also where you water them during the earlier stages of growth. From what I understand if you start off by watering close to the roots, the plant doesn't get lazy coz it shits it's pants to find water and sends the tap root down super fast. After that watering out wide every now and then gets it to develop the top root system which is good at absorbing the nutes. I'm no expert by any means but I read some stuff about this when I was researching my last grow. Getting the placing of the water throughout the early stages seems to really help getting them to break past the slow start before veg ends, so you end up with much bigger plants and yields.

 

[fatcalvin]

Thanks Captain! I was planning on using them soil/watering system on either 1 plant to see comparable results or use it on my veggie garden.

HELP!!!!!!!

OK so im trying to program a thermostat controlled outlet via a relay with my arduino. Currently the code works as it should BUT i need to set a variable to have the relay stay on down to a certain temperature. I've been racking my brain and searching everywhere for how to do this. Basically i want the out to turn on @+78*F and stay active unit it gets to 75*F. Im not sure if i should be using an IF statement or like a WHILE LOOP. Heres what i got . Thanks

EDIT: I figured out the AC coding. I had to use two if statements instead of if/else statements. So basically on at 78 stays on unless less than 75. And at 75 stays off until 78.

Thanks for any help guys!

 

[KsjAuto]

#captain budseye
Congrats on the progress :smoke:
Those soil sensors comes with a circuit board (voltage divider ???!!!) with analog and digital output
Had one running on of cycles with a solenoid valve for about 3 weeks so no prob with these..
But water and metal = oxidation and corrosion ...
I have tried other homemade probes with the circuit board. no problems there either.. wire / metal screws / rods. Long / short e.t.c. same signal thereabouts

A longer probe might be better. but not necessary..

Just a thought ( i do not grow in soil )
About accuracy and soil grows. What is accuracy when checking if a plant needs water ?? Moistercontent ? / bucket weight ? / sticking a finger in the soil to check if it´s dry ??...
:dunno:



#fatcalvin
its possible with a if / else

#include <Wire.h>


int Mintemp = 75;
int Maxtemp = 78;
void setup()
{
Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop()

{
int SensorTemp = 74;

// <= (less than or equal to) // >= (greater than or equal to) || = ore
if(SensorTemp >= Mintemp && SensorTemp <= Maxtemp || SensorTemp > Maxtemp )
{
Serial.print("on");
// do your thing
}
else
{
Serial.print("off");
// do your thing
}
delay(2000);
}




:thumbs:

 

[captain budseye]

#captain budseye
Congrats on the progress :smoke:

Cheers dude.

#captain budseye
Just a thought ( i do not grow in soil )
About accuracy and soil grows. What is accuracy when checking if a plant needs water ?? Moistercontent ? / bucket weight ? / sticking a finger in the soil to check if it´s dry ??...
:dunno:

It'd be the capacitance measured as a result of the change in relative moisture. %RH is relative to the amount of water the air can hold at a given temperature before it saturates. What that means is you have to set it up to work how you want it to, its not an absolute measurement, probably with a lot of tweekery, or it won't do what you expect. It's good point about accuracy I think it'd be the rate of change of moisture decay that matters more than the accuracy of the read, just as long as that's accurate!

Of course the sensor will work to automate the process, but what does work mean? If just keeps chucking water on the plants whenever it gets to a certain level of dryness, you won't necessarily get the best results. I guess you could just a tiny bit, often. That might work well.

I am being incredibly anally retentive about the sensor, because I have seen the difference in autoflowering soil grows that have been watered just enough and ones that have been watered too much and it's huge. I don't think it's that tricky to get right and should be based on human judgement, rather than trying to fully automate it, that's what I'm saying. I'd just get rid of it unless I was just using it to log data for more advanced analysis.

#captain budseye
Those soil sensors comes with a circuit board (voltage divider ???!!!) with analog and digital output
Had one running on of cycles with a solenoid valve for about 3 weeks so no prob with these..
But water and metal = oxidation and corrosion ...
I have tried other homemade probes with the circuit board. no problems there either.. wire / metal screws / rods. Long / short e.t.c. same signal thereabouts

A longer probe might be better. but not necessary..

The circuit should be an op-amp based signal conditioning circuit, possibly with an AD converter or purpose built IC with it all built in. The question is whether it's the best choice for automation? You could use it to log the rate of change in moisture and then adjust the amount of water you give them and have the system set to water, say 2-4 times a day, rather than full automation.

A couple of issues that could arise beyond corrosion which is a very good point, (but the sensing area should be made of gold to limit that):

1. Water logging in the bottom of your pot if you're sensor's not long enough, root rot etc.

2. Temperature compensation, which will affect the output of the sensor because the capacitance will have a temperature coefficient.

3. Moisture in the roots of the plant will screw everything up and is not going to be constant based on the 'state' of the plant.

If you're trying to implement derivative control, which would be the case, the two latter of these could really fuck it up, since the derivative is very sensitive to inconsistency in measurement accuracy.