Automated control system - any experience or directions?

[majorana]

For a few months now I've been fantasizing about building a fully automated total control system for my indoor garden based around a Raspberry Pi and a series of sensors and relays.

In the lighting department rather than turn the lights on/off (as per a mechanical timer) I want to have them fade in/out in a more natural sun-like manner. Then also add the deep red to boot, as Growmau5 seems to like.

Then everything else too: a temperature sensor to kick in an extra fan or a heater if things get too hot or cold; a relative-humidity sensor to control dehumidifier/humidifier; a pH sensor in the water reservoir to activate a delicate peristaltic pump attached to acid/alkaline solutions; a conductivity sensor connected to another peristaltic pump (or solenoid valve) to correct the nutrient profile. (My plan is to have the dehumidifier in the basement fill up the reservoir, controlled with a toilet float valve so it doesn't overflow.) On a more particular level: a moisture sensor on the floor to send an email/notification if/when there's a flooding. And in general, get an email/notification whenever temp/RH/pH/PPM go out of predetermined range. While at it: also have a camera take a time-lapse of the grow.

There are commercially available tools to do all of this, but their pricing is obviously aimed at commercial-scale growers. What I'm fantasizing about, from what I could gather, should cost around $250-300 total in components (half of all that is the pH sensor).

Googling around I've seen some people address some of these things, but not as comprehensively as my fantasy goes. Here are a couple to get you tickled (there are many more): RasPiViv , Autoflower. Does anybody here have any experience with such a system? And while this might go against the DIY ethos, maybe somebody knows where I can find a programmer to help me with the Python code, MySQL database (or alternatively an online IoT service to handle the data), etc., also for pay?

[LEDG]

I would absolutely love to learn about this kind of stuff - if only I had time. I'm surprised these little projects aren't more popular in our niche. Which pH sensor are you looking at?

[majorana]

For the pH sensor I'm looking at either at Haoshi or the reference AtlasScientific. The AtlasScientific probes are also conveniently packaged by whitboxlabs.

One of the things that's holding me back is precisely not seeing more talk about it. Also the projects I find online are almost all abandoned. Maybe geeks aren't enough into growing, and growers aren't geeky enough? Am I missing out on something? Idk.

As it stands I'm slowly learning Python, but have little hope to do all the work myself. (I'd simply be happy to understand what's going on.) I'm thinking posting a "white paper" of sorts on RaspberryPi hubs and see if I can get paid work for a price I can afford.

[Jolly Green Giant]

One of the things that's holding me back is precisely not seeing more talk about it. Also the projects I find online are almost all abandoned. Maybe geeks aren't enough into growing, and growers aren't geeky enough? Am I missing out on something? Idk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42wKIU8L4Lw

Vitaly from chilLED has a awesome set up.. that video is the tank and automation controls... I would try questions to him or GM5. But both of them are very busy I'm sure.. might take awhile. also watch his full basement tour when ya got time if you have yet to see it.. It's amazing!!!!

and he is both geeky and a grower

[majorana]

Yes, I've seen his setup, and also caught glimpses of what Growmau5 uses. They all use commercially available devices doing everything that I fantasize of doing. I'm not trying to invent anything new, just make it affordable by making it DIY. The difference is that what they use costs in total a couple of thousands of dollars, whereas the thing I'd like to bring to life will cost around 300. I'm talking now with a high school-aged programmer, trying to convince him that my meager resources would be enough to compensate him for doing this as a summer project.

[LEDG]

Ha! Let me know how you make out... I'm very interested in this too. I'm out of town fairly often and would love to automate some of my grow stuff. I have a Pi sitting downstairs too.

[bvolt]

It's kinda strange that growmau5 is so big in the DIY community, but he uses a fair amount of commercial equipment - even lights.

[Ted]

Hi,

I've been using Samsung Smartthings to automate my pot grow for the last 6 months. It wont offer you all the functionality you desire, but with a little time and patience it will take over alot of the basic automation. I have a large patio box with four z wave outlets, and a 5 in one sensor that drives the automation.

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The best part of it all is that I can operate the whole system on my phone, and set up alerts for various thresholds. Also I setup smartthings to export data to a google sheet, so I can analyze days or weeks worth of data. Most things you connect to smartthings are plug and play, so there is no software language you need to learn.

The main limitation is the number of things smartthings can connect to. There are more and more things being added, but alot of the things you want to automate it can do. Depending on how far you want to go, you could put together a system for a couple hundred bucks.

[Iamgrowoot]

I have been working on something similar for about a month now . I went down the rasberry pi road for a bit but found more sensors for the arduino. Also everything on arduino seems to have a quicker learning curve as the coding for the IDE C++ variation arduino uses is much more intuitive than python . when I am done I can share my Code as I love open source. I do reccomend DiY as you learn what your code is doing so if you need to debug you can without calling up the programmer at 1am because your flowering room is blinking during dark time lol. Good luck man 2 minds are better than 1 so if you need any help ill be on here . also check out https://youtu.be/GlZHTMk3PBg dude has some solid plans and a full automated grow tent.As for Light controlled like the storm cont roller growmau5 uses that has been my hardest part but also it will be my last part as for me ph and temp hum are my main concern and all I need now to grow dank.

[LEDG]

I have been working on something similar for about a month now . I went down the rasberry pi road for a bit but found more sensors for the arduino. Also everything on arduino seems to have a quicker learning curve as the coding for the IDE C++ variation arduino uses is much more intuitive than python . when I am done I can share my Code as I love open source. I do reccomend DiY as you learn what your code is doing so if you need to debug you can without calling up the programmer at 1am because your flowering room is blinking during dark time lol. Good luck man 2 minds are better than 1 so if you need any help ill be on here . also check out https://youtu.be/GlZHTMk3PBg dude has some solid plans and a full automated grow tent.As for Light controlled like the storm cont roller growmau5 uses that has been my hardest part but also it will be my last part as for me ph and temp hum are my main concern and all I need now to grow dank.

Nice!
I just skipped through that video and it looks like it's full of great info. Definitely going to give this a watch when I can dedicate the time to see it through. Thanks for sharing and keep us posted on your own project.