I've been toying with so many ideas of things to automate, but with the long days and an approaching 2-week trip and two young plants at home, I started working in earnest on a garden control project last night. "Growduino" seemed like the obvious name... ;D
This is the simplest possible version-- just an automated watering system, with the nutrient solution pumped up from a reservoir in the tub with a submersible pump.
from the description:
The "growduino" smart garden project will, um, grow to include more sensors and controls, but watering on a schedule seems like a good starting point since I'll be leaving the rig alone for 17 days starting Friday.
The program's main parameters are pump period (time between pumps) and pump duration.
Still need to transplant the subjects (heirloom tomato and Artemisia pontica) and add medium, mount the pump, rewire the pump power with ground and a fuse (ahem), install drip lines, mount the electronic bits, and figure out nutriuent and timing parameters for tasty, healthy results.
Sensing plans: soil/medium moisture, interior and exterior temperature and humidity, nutrient level, nutrient pH, sunlight intensity, sunlight direction, solar panel output, battery charge, CO2 level, what else?
Control plans: shade raising & lowering, vent fan, camera, data logging to web site, battery charging, garden and/or reflector and/or solar panel aiming (sun-dependent), CO2 scrubbing (greenhouse gases for greenhouses!), what else?
Note: the "plans" are in (roughly) increasing level of complexity/desirability-- not sure about aiming or CO2 scrubbing (?!), but moisture, temperature, humidity, and light sensing are definites, as are controlling a vent and logging data to a web page.