Greetings everyone,
I’m embarking on my very first Arduino project, focusing on plant healthcare. The core idea is to use an Arduino to automate plant care with these features:
Measure soil moisture using a sensor and automatically water the plant via a relay-controlled water pump.
Integrate a fertilizer pump to supply fertilizer monthly or at a set interval.
Monitor sunlight intensity and notify the user if it’s too high or too low for the plant via a mobile app.
Build a mobile application using Wi-Fi for real-time updates and control.
I’d love your advice on the best possible combination of hardware components to use for:
light intensity sensing, reliable pumps (for water and fertilizer) compatible with the system., a Wi-Fi module that’s efficient and easy to integrate and the Arduino development kit for this specific project. I have the Arduino uno R3 development kit in mind for now.
Any other recommendations or tips for enhancing the project are greatly appreciated!
You might be better off with an arduino with built in wifi...
And maybe get started with item 1.
Put two nails in some pot with earth and see if you can make a sketch that measures soil conductivity...
Many hobby components require some soldering.
Do you have a soldering iron and do you know how to solder?
Sometimes you may need to splice wires.
Do you have wire cutters/strippers?
Someone here may give you a schematic to show you how to connect things.
Do you know how to read a schematic?
You don't need to answer but these are thing you need to consider.
I am real curious how you are going to make that WiFi radio transmit more than a few dozen meters.
I am also curious how you will build a mobile app. Must only be Android as getting Apple approval takes years. If you meant browser based, that is easy. Looking forward to see your plans.
Thank you for your suggestions! I’m still deciding on the best microcontroller for the project. I initially thought about using the Arduino Uno, but I’ll definitely look into using an ESP32 or Arduino Uno R4 Wi-fi as well, since they have built-in Wi-Fi and could simplify the setup and also about the soil moisture content I am planning to use the capacitive soil moisture sensor for better reliability hoping that it will help me understand more about how moisture affects conductivity and how to set up the watering system.
Thanks again for the advice and if you have any more suggestion please do let me know!
Thanks for the suggestions! For now, I’m planning to use a breadboard and jumper wires for the project. Since this is my first project and I don’t have much experience with soldering or the equipment, I am thinking that maybe using the breadboard would be easy.
I’ll keep your advice in mind if I decide to make a more permanent version later on.
Thanks again for the help!
Thanks a lot for the input! Right now, I’m planning to keep the Wi-Fi coverage short-range, so I’m not too worried about extending it just yet. For the mobile app, I’m thinking about using Blynk since it’s pretty straightforward, or maybe just go with an Android app for simplicity at first.
Be aware that arduino r4 is 3v3, not 5v.
Be dure all sensors and actuators are compatible.
Otherwise you need level shifters and maybe an extra power supply...
I am using the Arduino nano ESP32 for a project right now, and it is a tiny but powerful board with Wi-Fi. So you get the best of both worlds, the quality and safety of Arduino and the Wi-Fi and calculation power of ESP. But I was thinking that this would be a tough project as a first introduction to Arduino. I would start with something that isn't connected through Wi-Fi. That way, you learn how to work the offline IDE, as I find it much easier to debug with the offline IDE than the online.
The R4 is programmed in the exact same way as R3. Not via wifi...
It is just an arduino with a wifi module built in. So you do not have to connect a wifi module yourself... so nothing can go wrong in that process.
The esp32 can be programmed with setup() and loop() just like R3. If you want, you can use RTOS, but there is no need to do so...
We all know that desktop apps on a computer are the best. Web based online apps are not as good as desktop apps. Web based online apps on phones are not so good as on desktops or laptops. And phone apps are the worst. So if you want to make an app for your phone, make a phone friendly web page. Works both on Android and iPhone.
Compatibility with existing shields and accessories remains intact, and there's no need to make any changes to the standard form factor or 5 V operating voltage.
Your selection of modules will be restricted if you can only use modules that don't require any soldering.
Consider this module for switching the pumps on/off
