New to Arduino and looking for advice on my project.

[virtualriotboy]

A little background about myself, Im currently finishing up my 442A (Maintenance and Controls Electrician) ticket and getting ready to write, got talking to a few people in my class about controls and arduinos came out and it spiked my curiosity about "a starter PLC I can teach my kids with". I've got decent knowledge of control systems and PLC programming but I've never heard of these and have no clue on their real capabilities.

Project is multi staged but figure its a good starting point to show my kids small amounts of automation and how things work, things like soldering, ladder logic etc.

First part of the project is to get it to communicate with my android phone and if possible create an app so I can monitor the system, parameters, engage things manually if needed, etc.

Second part is automating the process, I've had a green thumb for a while and started aeroponics and want to create a system that i can monitor remotely as working without soil can be detrimental if the system fails for any lengthy period of time. I've got a atomizing air system I'm trying to set up, where essentially a compressor fills a Pre Pressurized accumulator tank to 120psi, then activates a HPA booster pump for 15 seconds every 5 minutes to spray mist onto the roots systems.

Based on the system. I know Ill need at least 1 arduino uno board for controlling it all, guessing a BTShield board? for communication. A multi relay board, A inline pressure switch to shut off the compressor once psi has been reached, a safety pressure switch hooked up to an automated relief valve so in the event of a malfunction the accumulator tank doesnt become a bomb in my basement, a solenoid to activate the pump. Programmable timers? or is the board itself able to program the ladder logic of the timers? two humidity readers, one for inside the root chamber and one for monitoring room humidity, two temperature readers, one for room temp and one for water temp and possibly any thing else that could be recommended

Thanks in Advance

[hammy]

This is ambitious for a newbie .
I would start by getting individual parts working separately , then start to combine.
I take it you’ve played with IDE examples to get some coding knowledge - there is no ladder logic !
The phone part is possibly over of the harder bits , start with getting signals from some sensors

[wildbill]

This is a project that many other folks have executed. Sometimes the term Garduino is used. There's a couple of active threads here on an irrigation project that is a work in progress. You can find lots of others away from this forum too.

But as Hammy said, you don't use ladder logic on an Arduino, it's C++. There are other micro controllers that use different languages and I expect someone has written a ladder simulator for one somewhere. You'll need to think about what suits your preferences.

[gilshultz]

Have you considered watching many of the tutorials on the Arduino, they will help. There are also tutorials on the arduino language "C++". Purchase a simple Arduino UNO, download the IDE and try some of the included examples, and as you do work with them trying to understand what and how they do it. You can also do this with a EXP which will communicate with your Android.