I am currently in the ideation phase of designing a photobioreactor which simulates real environmental conditions for research.
Some background on me:
This is my first time using arduino
I am familiar with Objective C
Chemistry/Biochemistry/Computer Science Background interested in microorganism cultivation
So I am looking for some guidance on what kind of Arduino Unit to buy and what other components I will need. I want to be able to adjust the pH, the flow rate, remove excess O2, add CO2, control the wavelength of light induced into the photobioreactor, be able to control the temperature/cooling, and be able to control the turbidity.
What kind of components do you guys recommend? This is really a passion project so really excited to get started
adjust the pH- What does that entail? Pumping in some vinegar or dropping in some baking soda from time to time?
the flow rate- Of what? Is there a fluid water circulating through something?
remove excess O2- how does one do that?
add CO2- does one actuate a periodically changed CO2 canister for this?
control the wavelength of light induced into the photobioreactor- how is this done?
be able to control the temperature/cooling- probably switch on/off a heating element and switch on/off a fan?
be able to control the turbidity- does one need to measure the turbidity to see if it needs to be controlled? How does one control it if it does? Does control mean make it more turbid with agitation?
I would start with a Arduino MEGA, then you got enough I/O or should have. it's always good to have some 2N3904 NPN General Propose Transistor for smaller loads and some TIP120 NPN General Propose Transistor.
Resistors from 1K ohm to 10K ohm is a good "multi purpose" range, some LED's in your favorite color (powerful enough, you can always dim them)
Some jumperwires and a good breadboard is a MUST HAVE!!!
An old PSU from your moms computer as power supply (if you have two, you can salvage a LOT of good parts from it, saving $$$)
Look at how aquarists build there own CO2 dispencer, and you got a list there, a fan and some heatsinks might come in handy. (also your moms computer)
and then some of the sensors you need. I don't know what they are called, but I have seen a PH sensor on the web somewhere, and the others must exist as well.
Here is a starting point, when I get an idea, I end up buying a lot I don't need anyway, but then I have it for later use
And a LCD display with buttens is always a cool feature to an application
Pady:
I would start with a Arduino MEGA, then you got enough I/O or should have. it's always good to have some 2N3904 NPN General Propose Transistor for smaller loads and some TIP120 NPN General Propose Transistor.
Resistors from 1K ohm to 10K ohm is a good "multi purpose" range, some LED's in your favorite color (powerful enough, you can always dim them)
Some jumperwires and a good breadboard is a MUST HAVE!!!
An old PSU from your moms computer as power supply (if you have two, you can salvage a LOT of good parts from it, saving $$$)
Look at how aquarists build there own CO2 dispencer, and you got a list there, a fan and some heatsinks might come in handy. (also your moms computer)
and then some of the sensors you need. I don't know what they are called, but I have seen a PH sensor on the web somewhere, and the others must exist as well.
Here is a starting point, when I get an idea, I end up buying a lot I don't need anyway, but then I have it for later use
And a LCD display with buttens is always a cool feature to an application
ChemistGuy:
I want to be able to adjust the pH, the flow rate, remove excess O2, add CO2, control the wavelength of light induced into the photobioreactor, be able to control the temperature/cooling, and be able to control the turbidity.
What kind of components do you guys recommend?
You need to know what sort of hardware is needed to achieve all of those things, and understand how to interface those devices to an Arduino, and work out what resources will be needed on the Arduino to support those interfaces (serial ports, digital pins, analog pins, hardware timers etc) and then choose an Arduino that provides enough resources. Picking the Arduino is the easy bit and I suspect you're a long way away from that.
On the bright side you can pick whichever sensor interests you the most and design a project around that in which case the choice of Arduino is probably wide open. So you could pick whatever you want to get started, if you don't mind replacing it later on.
Some of the components you're going to need to realize this project will likely be quite pricy. Enough so that the cost of an Uno should not be a significant concern. Get one to use as your test bed for controlling individual parts. If you discover that you need more pins later for the complete controller, well, you'll have a spare Uno for another project.
To control the wavelength of light, you would need a true white light source (such as a projector bulb, not sure any kind of LED would be suitable) and place a diffraction grating or prism in front of it. Then use a servo to alter the angle of the grating/prism to direct a particular wavelength onto the subject. The angle would need to be controlled very carefully, so the servo would have to be attached with a long lever of some kind, so a large movement of the servo caused only a tiny change in the angle of the grating/prism.
just put a laptop there instead, that's what I did and my mom did'ent complain