I'm rounding the bend on "finishing" this project I've been working on for over a year now. I haven't spent an entire year building and programming, more or less building, tearing down, re-writing and building again.
I'm happier with this step than I've ever been so I wanted to share my results so far. I hope to expand this concept into a larger greenhouse as space becomes available.
Right now I'm running a mega(master) and an uno(slave) attached to a $20 'toy' greenhouse I bought at ikea.
The mega monitors indoor/outdoor humidity, temperature, soil moisture and light. I have targets set for humidity and temperature which i will be able to optimize after analyzing conditions vs growth. I hacked into a small humidifier from the local drug store to provide a source of moisture when it gets too dry. The fans both recycle air to keep the soil from staying too wet, and evacuate air to control temperature.
The data is visualized on the tft screen, and controls such as temperature, humidity, fan run times and various intervals can be set and saved to eeprom from the monitor.
The uno(slave) receives the sensor data and sends it to an instance of mysql running on amazons web service. This was the most recent development. Previously I was using plot.ly and was not pleased with the options/reliability. The thorough coverage by Charles Bell made this a breeze (Chuck's Blog: Announcing MySQL Connector/Arduino 1.0.1 Beta). I was able to establish an instance of mysql and within 4 days I was able to insert sensor data from the arduino. I think that's unbelievable! I can't imagine what resources that would have taken 10 years ago.
My plan is to now build out a web interface where I can view trending sensor information as well as things of critical importance (needs watered, humidifier is out of water, etc). I'm able to pull from mysql into tableau to do ad hoc analysis, so this will serve the purpose while I'm building the interface.
At this point things are relatively dynamic which makes me feel good, things are running pretty well in sync. I'm going to start by cleaning up some of the final wiring and now planting a few seeds and letting it run!
I noticed your project a few weeks back and thought, 'you've done a nice job of it all'.
Do you have plans to make it bigger say for more plants or as the plants you have now grow bigger?
The dashboard looks like it shows you what you need at a glance.
Keep the thread alive with updates as you do them.
Well done.
Here's the images I meant to post the other day. I do plan on continuing to scale it. Im going to plant the first "garden" this weekend in the hopes of proving the concept. I'm in New York City now, with no space for an actual greenhouse. So I think my next move will be to a larger indoor greenhouse of the like.
I was hoping the free version of Tableau would support live mySQL connections, but it doesn't. That makes integrating data messy because I have to go to exporting/loading into tableau. Once I get the first plants in, I'm going to focus on the front end web interface so I can track out of mySQL.
Very happy with the most recent addition of the grow lights - they're extremely bright. Hoping all I've read will pay off in them actually producing usable plants. The heatsinks are more than adequate - the inside temperature is barely a degree warmer inside. The humidifier doesn't put out enough vapor to effect them. I was very nervous about venturing into the LED world on my own, as I'm far from an expert. I'm fine with making pins go high and low, but I found some really great information on this guys (Julian IIett Youtube account. I watched them all 3/4 times and tested my setup multiple times. Seems to be good to go.
In all honesty, I should at least provide another backlink for this fellow as well. The resources he has available on mySQL/arduino are critical for the integration of the two. Anyone looking for information on the topic should default there:
I just got started with a similar project for a larger scale hydroponics greenhouse.
The greenhouse is standing (29m x 9m, 3.5m high) but nothing is planted.
I have the crazy idea to do the monitoring + controlling with 3 main components:
Arduino for sensors and relays
Measurements: temperature, humidity, PH and EC level of the water
Controlling: AC, adjusting PH and nutrition
(poor thing has to do all the hard work)
Raspberry PI for
hosting the sql database for the measurements from the Arduino
monitoring the Arduino and fail-safe switching to a standby one
-openWRT Rooter 3G
hosting the Apache Server
uploading data to my homeserver
making data accessible over web
controlling the system over web
I just got started with a similar project for a larger scale hydroponics greenhouse.
The greenhouse is standing (29m x 9m, 3.5m high) but nothing is planted.
I have the crazy idea to do the monitoring + controlling with 3 main components:
Arduino for sensors and relays
Measurements: temperature, humidity, PH and EC level of the water
Controlling: AC, adjusting PH and nutrition
(poor thing has to do all the hard work)
Raspberry PI for
hosting the sql database for the measurements from the Arduino
monitoring the Arduino and fail-safe switching to a standby one
-openWRT Rooter 3G
hosting the Apache Server
uploading data to my homeserver
making data accessible over web
controlling the system over web
Still not more than a dream that feels real.
Wondering if you continued this project.
I have continued the project - ours seem very similar! If you ever have any questions or need help brainstorming definitely reach out. I'm currently growing an Oncidium orchid in the greenhouse. It's quickly outgrowing the small novelty greenhouse. I'm working on a version two design at the moment to fit larger plants. It's also an opportunity to clean up my design. I see many places to optimize having been thru the process once already.