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Grow controller? (DIY)

Hephaestus

Hephaestus

Member
G'day all,

I was sitting here working on two projects at once, my cabinet, and a arduino controller for one of my reef tanks...

Suddenly dawned on me... Grow controller!!! No timers (we all know how reliable they are), set it up to turn on/off lights/fans to help with temperature control, pH control/monitoring... Fairly easy to set it up to watch for light infiltration into the cabinet too!

http://reefprojects.com/wiki/Build-phases <- this is basically what I'm building for the tank; what do you guys think - most of the same variables, basically just need to modify programming to handle hydro/growing instead of an aquarium...

Or am i just :joint: too much?
 
C

cashmunny

Member
Sounds cool, I love diy projects.

I always thought it would be cool to get a data acquisition card for my computer and use it to trigger relays and record data like temperature and humidity. One plug in card could control your whole grow.

You could even have it trip a latch that releases a bowling ball that rolls down a track, hits the first domino in a line of dominos which circles around you bed, and the last domino turns on the radio and your coffee maker to wake you up in the morning.
 
B

bybliz

omg, i had no clue something like this controller existed...and soo cheap, this just opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me to play with.....thanks for posting this heph!!
 
Hephaestus

Hephaestus

Member
Your welcome; yeah nice part of arduino's is they are cheap... The first version of the reef controller I built ran me about 200$ including PH, EC/TDS, 4 temp sensors and 3 light sensors (verify lights were on / not burnt out) - along with LCD display and keypad...

Makes for easy ways to turn pumps on/off on a easily adjusted schedule; or on an as needed basis (ie toss in extra fans and only turn them on if temps require it)

Thinking I'll have to go get another arduino kit and build one for the cabinet now...
 
Hephaestus

Hephaestus

Member
Well picked up a few bits n pieces yesterday to start playing with this more... another freeduino SB, an AXE033 2x16 LCD Display, and a funky membrane 4x4 keypad... Got lots of the DS18B20 temp sensors - some relays... Time to start playing around...

Now I really gotta get a seed to pop so I can really test this out...
 
H

Helis

Member
I like where this is going... Hephaestus I read this in a magazine but you might be interested in the code and use of Arduino in the Gardiuno (also Google Garduino, there's more). Though it sounds like you're off to a good start, having half the work done does not hurt. Good luck!

Helis
 
Hephaestus

Hephaestus

Member
Yep I was looking at that one... Auto watering is nice :) but I'm thinking of going a wee bit more high tech; basically setup the cabinet to be completely self sufficient (needing only to stick my head in there to monitor growth & refill resevoir for topoff & nutrients)

My short list:
Control lights & monitor for light infiltration at night
Control water level, pH and possibly nutrient levels (got a few tom's aqua-lifter pumps kicking around - will work nicely for this)
Control fans, heater (cabinet is in a colder area), and adjust to keep humidity and temps in range
 
Q

qbert

Member
I saw the PLC thread and the bulb went on (like, duh). Then I was like, what about PIC's and Motorola HC's etc. - there must be some great new hobbyist controllers that can interface with PC's and AC relays etc. with a reasonable selection of not-too-damned-hard-to-find compatible sensors. And here we are. sweet.
 
disfunktional

disfunktional

Member
subscribed!! this thing looks pretty damn awsum. i was looking at this for my build but now you have me rethinking that. do you have a pic of the led screen? if you dont mind check out the apex controller in the link and give me your opinion as far as a comparison.
 
Hephaestus

Hephaestus

Member
Yeah the apex is nice - problem is it's designed for saltwater reef tank application... With the arduino being open sourced - means the programming is easily modified and adjusted to our needs... I'm currently messing around with the version 2.2 program from reefprojects and starting the tweaks needed.

This is the LCD I blew up... http://www.hvwtech.com/products_view.asp?ProductID=893 But I'm leaning towards http://www.hvwtech.com/products_view.asp?ProductID=154 to replace it... But there's also a few hundred 2x16 choices on ebay for much cheaper :) 99% of them are hd44780 compatible - which makes for easy tie in to the arduino - you can pick the one that looks best to you...
 
disfunktional

disfunktional

Member
would you say tht someone with no programing experience can set one of these up? and forgive my question if it seems stupid but what is hd44780? sorry if im full of questions but this thing has peaked my interest.
 
Hephaestus

Hephaestus

Member
Yup; once I get through editing; I'll post up the program - as long as you're not doing something radically different - could just be as simple as a copy/paste. I'm hoping there's a good programmer in here who decides they want to help personally, but I'm muddling my way through the existing one - it's not too hard to figure out...

HD44780 is ... a generic term for lcd's, just identifies that it's compatible to a hitachi LCD protocol (kinda like pc vs mac) - plug it into ebay - see how many pop up... You'll have all the LCD choices you could want in all price ranges - might require some fine tuning but overall they all connect/talk/work in the same way...
 
T

tjc1088

I have been looking for somthing like this, Ill keep my eye on this.
I would love to get out the sodering iron and give this one a shot, good winter project...tagged
 
disfunktional

disfunktional

Member
sweet i have hope then, lol. if i were to figure up what i wanted the controller to control would you be able to point me in the right direction to find what i need?
 
Hephaestus

Hephaestus

Member
I can try :) take a look at http://reefprojects.com/wiki/Code_Version_2.3 - pay attention to the notes in the code; it's fairly easy to understand where changes need to be made, and shows where some of the changes can be made... After that it's a matter of those little changes - then reconfiguring to get rid of some of the useless stuff like moonlights (though I do wonder if that might not be useable to increase flowering timeframe?)
 
foaf

foaf

Well-known member
Veteran
Its a totally unnecessary blast playing with such things. Have a great time. I still use some aspects of mine. I have an RCS automation controller that has inputs and relay outputs sorta what you plan. The programming seems simpler on my setup, its made for home hobbiest. It also does x10 things but all my stuff is hardwired. Ive had the peristaltic pumps and the digital ppm and ph meters, the temp probes, fans, and res chillers onit. and the thing it helped most is putting the controller and the programming between the co2 monitor and the co2 valve, I was able to use it more efficiently I think.

mostly just funnecessary.

hannah ppm meter/controller and not shown a ph meter/controller and peristaltic pumps for nutes and ph adjustments; relay box and outlets connected to them; example of the code used in the RCS controller and the older "stargate" controllers. You only have to be hooked to a pc when you download the program.

 
disfunktional

disfunktional

Member
wow i think i should be able to pick up on it, may take a while. im persistant tho,lol. where would i find the pieces needed for all of this?i.e. ph/ec probe, sensors, and the like. sorry if im asking too many questions leet me know if i get annoying.
 
Hephaestus

Hephaestus

Member
Digital to AC power control is easy :) Solid state relays are easy to find these days... The 5vdc to 3A 230vac rated relays I grabbed for testing were a whopping 3$ each... It's the programming I have real trouble with...

Except - think i had a stoner moment... Pretty sure I blew the LCD mucking around yesterday... Don't think it liked having it's power reversed...
 
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