Growroom Computer - temp/fan/humidity control

Greetings


Not sure this is the best place to post this one - mods feel free to move this where it belongs...


I play with computers for a living so it only seems natural to extend this into my hobby space..


I am thinking about building a small GP computer based on the Rasberry Pi to provide the following controls and sensors for my grow rooms


1) temperature input (ambient, flower tent, veg tent)


2) humidity input (ambient, flower tent, veg tent)


3) fan speed control (either AC or digital servo) 2 channels needed


4) wifi connectivity


The plan is to use the real-time capabilities to set temperature ranges based on time of day for each grow tent. The program will adjust the fan speed to keep the temperature of that tent within the range specified for the time of day. The unit will be capable of sending event notifications (temp changes, alarms, etc) via email or SMS and will be remotely accessable via SSH and possibly via web interface.


Just wondering if anyone out there has played around with this type of idea.


The programming should be pretty easy as the Pi runs Linux (and other OS's) and most of the sensors and controllers have easy programming interfaces that work in common languages like PERL or Python.


I believe I can build this for less then 100$


Any thoughts??

 

Ha - I found a PH sensor for the Rasberry Pi - you can chain up to 16 of them.

 

Check this out


http://www.yieldbuddy.com/

 

Great idea for a thread DXE.

 

Yield Buddy is a read/only type tool - makes nice charts and graphs and will generate alerts for extremes


What I am looking to do is more control - with alarming capabilities (lights didnt come on, temp too high, etc)


I am working on the shoppiing list - looks like all is readily available. Will be ordering hardware prolly later today.


First order of buisness is build the thing and get it booted up and running and on the network. Then I can start writing some code to see what the temp/humidity/ph sensors look like in code.


For fan control, there are two ways to do this. One is an AC speed controller - more expensive and would require relays or high voltage handling on the computer. The other way would be to use a servo from an rc car or airplane, put a linkage on it and connect it to my manual speed controller knob. Doing a little programming I should be able to calibrate this setup so I can issue simple commands to move the servo a predetermined distance to increase/decrease fan speed


I will put some pictures of the hardware once it gets here.


for those of you interested - this is the guts of the operation:


http://www.amazon.com/CanaKit-Raspberry-Complete-Original-Preloaded/dp/B008XVAVAW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1381334996&sr=8-2&keywords=raspberry+pi

 

yeah was looking at one too at the hydro store... Kind of pricey and it didnt do ranges by time - something important to me.


I run my fans 24x7 and it would be nice to decrease the fan speed at night to a minimum setting then back up to normal when the lights come on.


Will keep everyone posted on this project - always wanted to do something with the Rasberry Pi - and this is way more useful than a toy that launches a ball for the dog to chase

 

ok...I'm retarded. I don't see how what why Rasberry Pi is. Someone explain it to me in dumbfucks terms.


Is it nothing more than a controller? Cause I was wondering how it would run more than one application at a time.


Also, why don't we take bitcoins at the store?

 

The Rasberry Pi is a complete general purpose ARM based computer. It runs varients of the Linux operating system giving it multi-tasking (more than one program) capabilities. Also it has plug-in's for many different sensors and modules making it very flexible as to the application at hand


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry_Pi


Basically for around $50, you get a credit card sized computer that can easily be programmed using just about any programming language to do just about anything a computer can do using tons of add-ons created by the hobby market that developed around it.


It has no hard disk, limited memory and relies on flash cards for its bootable filesystem - much like your home router

 

The "cleanest" method would be an AC programmable speed controller which I can easily do with the Pi. Just not sure I want to make the prototype that complex - digital servos are much simpler as there is no AC wireing needed.


As for ranges, percents, cut-offs, floating windows, time of day day of week, etc, etc - that is just simple programming - Thats what I do!!!!!


Also - the unit you sent the link for is a UNI-TASKER - one tent - one room one fan. Using the Pi as a computer - any number or type of inputs are no big deal and the programming can be adjusted for multi-inputs, etc

 

Here is a cool example of what someone did with a Rasberry Pi for Greenhouse automation


http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=51574

 

That's pretty neat. Seems like a cheap option compared to some of the control systems they have out.


If/when you do it, would you care taking pictures and explaining shit so we can learn?

 

well - the bits and pieces will be here Friday - wont be able to get to it till the weekend


I will take pictures and document everything.


The basics here is a small Linux based computer called the Rasberry Pi. There are a few different controller units out there that can control motors, solonoids, servos and can read various sensors out there commercially available. The rest is just some simple programming.


As for FF and his laziness about tending to his hydro . The controller I picked up (12$) will control up to 16 servos - these could be connected to valves or a manifold to open/close feed lines or air lines based on input from sensors (you can have 256 sensors on the same controller)


My approach will be to use off the shelf stuff - stuff we all have laying around like fan speed controllers - think about it - just adding a $10 servo to a perfectly good speed controller is all you need to do - I am not planning on creating a digital speed controller - too complex and would require AC circuitry which I want to avoid. I know some will say that sounds RUBE GOLDBERGish but you put your speed controllers inside a case with all the electronics and servo linkages and youre done!!!


FF - ask Duc to send you a picture of how nice and neat the inside of one of his airplanes look - lots of servos and linkages - certainly NOT rube goldberg.


I will share everything about this project - not looking to build something to sell but to build something to make my grow better. Any code I write I can post up here for you guys to play with as well.