Hydroponic - Aeroponic Growing System

Projects General Guidance
1

I am attempting to create an automated aeroponic garden. I have zero knowledge about Arduino, beyond the basics of want it is. If I ask a question and details are missing either I don't have that info or didn't realize it mattered. When possible work around it or assume a value you understand to be a reasonable guess. For right now I am assuming a 12V system.

If a question has multiple right answers please opt for simplicity or safety.

The garden will be WiFi connected and have:
1 Touch Screen
1 Water Reservoir
1 Nutrient Res.
1 Return Res.
Each will have 1 eTape (24") Fluid Level Sensor, the Return and the Nutrient Reservoirs will ea. have a temp probe.
1 Temp/ Humidity Sensor
1 CO2 Sensor
1 Fan (NOT 12V but on/off will be controlled by a 12V switch - this will be addressed last)
1 CO2 Regulator
1 Set of Grow Light (NOT 12V but on/off will be controlled by a 12V switch - this will be addressed last)
1 Mixing Valve
3 Water Pumps
17 Solenoid Valves
There will be 10 grow tubes each w/ 1 ea.; eTape (24") Fluid Level Sensor, Utrasonic Fogger, a temp probe, and a fan.
The nutrient solution distribution will be controlled by the Mixing Valve, Water Pumps, and Solenoid Valves.

My 1st question assumes all of these components cannot be connected directly to a single Arduino (R3), so different shields and/ or boards will be required. My understanding is using relay arrays is the best way to connect multiples of the same part (i.e. Solenoid Valves)

QUESTION 1a: How do I wire an R3 using an 8 Channel DC Relay Module (i.e. JBtek 8 Channel DC 5V Relay Module for Arduino Raspberry Pi DSP AVR PIC ARM or SainSmart 8-Channel Relay Module) and a bread board - w/ 400 tie-Points, 4 Power Rails?

1b Would a 16 Channel Module be wired differently?

1c Can an R3 handle this many components?
If not can 2 or 3 R3s be connected to work together? (How does not matter right now.)

2

As you want WiFi I'd use a single ESP8266 based board. Not an Arduino to begin with.

Add a few port extenders for all those solenoids and whatnot and all connects just fine.

But you're better off starting with one thing, make that work. Then add the next. Etc. The most complex I've built so far (and that was a long project!) has 9 water pumps, 3 nutrient/pH pumps, 8 tray presence sensors, 8 water flow senors (of the pulse type), pH sensor, EC sensor, temperature sensor, WiFi connectivity with web interface and remote logging (to SQL database), one extraction pump and two solenoid valves. All operated by a single ESP8266, components at 3.3V, 5V and 12V DC, no relays.

3

the first thing would be to spend some time with paper and a pencil
write down every input you can think of or hope for.

INPUTS
eTape main res analog-1 pin
eTape nutrient res analog-1 pin
eTape sump res analog 1-pin
temp main res DS18B20 1-wire
temp nutrient res DS18B20 1-wire
temp sump res DS18B20 1-wire
temp other DS18B20 1-wire
humidity general BME280 - I2C
CO2 general

OUTPUTS:
(start your list )

then look at the actual devices. there some that are simple switches. a float is like a switch and takes one input pin.
there are some that will use a network buss.

the DS18B20 temperature sensor uses a 1-Wire bus, so if you use 1 or 20, they all use only 1 pin.
for a general temperature and humidity a simple BME280 can do temperature, humidity and barometric pressure and uses a second buss called an I2C bus. this is for short distances.
CO2 might be one pin input.

as for the outputs, do the same
list everything you can think of today
Make a parts list you think you might want to use, then figure out how you can control them.
some may be easier to network than others.

There is an 8 Channel I2C Relay Board that connects with an I2C bus, so that same I2C bus (2 wires) that measures temperature and humidity, can be used to control 8 relays.
a RelayControlBoard could be used to control more common relay boards
and I believe there might be WiFi relay boards as well.

there are ways to cobble things together and use multiple boards,
the trade always seems to come down to money or time.
you might be able do this with one MEGA, and use an ESP8266 for the WiFi part.

In fact for a beginner, I would suggest the MEGA for the large number of pins and the simplicity of controlling pins with simple commands.

as your talent grows, you will see what path you want to take.
there are port extenders that will add 8 channels on that I2C bus, and there are Shift Registers that require a different buss called and SPI buss. the SPI buss is faster (that speed is not required for this project) but it takes a few more pins. as a note, The speed is something on the order if you want to control 50 relays 10 times a second or 100 times a second.

IMHO, this is a larger project, taken into smaller parts, especially the inputs and outputs, is beginner level.
I might be alone saying the MEGA is a better choice for a beginner. as it does not offer WiFi.
the ESP32 offers a lot of pins, does offer WiFi and would be a good candidate.

4

Hi, I made a mistake and deleted the acct, "Spede_Espada". This is the same person.

wvmarle:
As you want WiFi I'd use a single ESP8266 based board. Not an Arduino to begin with.

Thanks for the answer, but one I specifically want to use Arduino.

dave-in-nj:
the first thing would be to spend some time with paper and a pencil
write down every input you can think of or hope for.

Thanks for answering and the suggestion. I did that very thing. I can't add a pic w/ this reply but, will once I move on to the next stage of the process.
I have my reasons for choosing Arduino. There are trade offs w/ any system but, there are benefits to making those choices. Right now I just want the specific questions I asked answered.

5

Hi, I made a mistake and deleted the acct, "Spede_Espada". This is the same person.
I reposted this because the of the deletion

I am attempting to create an automated aeroponic garden. I have zero knowledge about Arduino, beyond the basics of want it is. If I ask a question and details are missing either I don't have that info or didn't realize it mattered. When possible work around it or assume a value you understand to be a reasonable guess. For right now I am assuming a 12V system.

If a question has multiple right answers please opt for simplicity or safety. Also I specifically want to use Arduino. I have my reasons for choosing Arduino. There are trade offs w/ any system but, there are benefits to making those choices. Right now I just want the specific questions I asked answered.

The garden will be WiFi connected and have:
1 Touch Screen
1 Water Reservoir
1 Nutrient Res.
1 Return Res.
Each will have 1 eTape (24") Fluid Level Sensor, the Return and the Nutrient Reservoirs will ea. have a temp probe.
1 Temp/ Humidity Sensor
1 CO2 Sensor
1 Fan (NOT 12V but on/off will be controlled by a 12V switch - this will be addressed last)
1 CO2 Regulator
1 Set of Grow Light (NOT 12V but on/off will be controlled by a 12V switch - this will be addressed last)
1 Mixing Valve
3 Water Pumps
17 Solenoid Valves
There will be 10 grow tubes each w/ 1 ea.; eTape (24") Fluid Level Sensor, Utrasonic Fogger, a temp probe, and a fan.
The nutrient solution distribution will be controlled by the Mixing Valve, Water Pumps, and Solenoid Valves.

My 1st question assumes all of these components cannot be connected directly to a single Arduino (R3), so different shields and/ or boards will be required. My understanding is using relay arrays is the best way to connect multiples of the same part (i.e. Solenoid Valves)

QUESTION 1a: How do I wire an R3 using an 8 Channel DC Relay Module (i.e. JBtek 8 Channel DC 5V Relay Module for Arduino Raspberry Pi DSP AVR PIC ARM or SainSmart 8-Channel Relay Module) and a bread board - w/ 400 tie-Points, 4 Power Rails?

1b Would a 16 Channel Module be wired differently?

1c Can an R3 handle this many components?
If not can 2 or 3 R3s be connected to work together? (How does not matter right now.)

PIC 1: This is a version of what I want to do... The newer version has some changes, these don't affect anything in terms of components.

Grow Shed - Interior Station 3 (2 - 5)b.JPG
Grow Shed - Interior Station 3 (2 - 5)b.JPG1342×635 188 KB

6

An uno doesn't have enough pins itself to do all the I/O you want, but you can always use port expanders. For example: MCP23017 - i2c 16 input/output port expander

7

At the very least you should link to your old thread.

8

Spade_Espada:
***Hi, I made a mistake and deleted the acct,

No, you didn't.

9

wildbill:
An uno doesn't have enough pins itself to do all the I/O you want, but you can always use port expanders. For example: MCP23017 - i2c 16 input/output port expander

Thank You! Perfect Answer.
From your answer I assume I can do this a number of times w/ multiple MCP23017. And I would have to watch;
1 labeling for correctly bundling the eTape, fogger, temp probe, and valves
2 not over loading the Uno w/ to many MCP23017
3 proper voltages

10

The word "Arduino" is a very broad word that generally means any microcontroller that has the Arduino bootloader installed, or that can be programmed with the Arduino IDE.

most common are :

UNO
NANO
MEGA
LEONARDO

but also included

Trinket
Teensy
ESP8266
ESP32
BluePill / Maple Mini

and a wide amount of others.

the ESP8266 is much faster and has more memory than an UNO, and it does WiFi
As wvmarle mentioned, if your skills allow, you can use a host of add-on devices and control a lot with the ESP8266.

As I mentioned in post #2 , the MEGA has an abundance of pins to make it easier for a beginner, but does not have WiFi as part of the chip, you would have to get a second chip for that.

the ESP32 offers both the WiFi and more pins than the UNO or ESP8266.

but, as a general topic, they are all "arduino's"

if you can explain your needs more... lowest possible cost... easiest possible board...
we can offer better advise.

11

dave-in-nj Thanks for the extra info, I wasn't aware of those things. From you answer it appears to me that there are simpler setups than an Uno. To me because of how little I know it looks like I will encounter a lot of little issues along the way w/ the Uno. That reminds me of learning how to ride a bike, you gotta fall and scrape your knee a few times. Thanks.