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Vapor's Hypothetical Automated Robotic Growing (ARG) Journal
Project Goals:
- To automate some physical aspects of the growing process.
- Give remote access capabilities to growers.
- To create a more streamlined growing process with greater control.
Project Motivation:
The idea behind this project is to take a microcontroller board; in this case; an Arduino microcontroller, and program in specific functions to automate tasks that would normally have to be done by hand. The project will implement a variety of environmental sensors, solenoids, relays, and wireless technologies.
This journal may not be for everyone; in fact it might not be for anyone!
But if you like tinkering, puttering, programming, or anything of the kind, read on, feel free to offer suggestions, and maybe some of this will come to fruition!
Arduino is a microcontroller board that you program with instructions on your computer. It then carries out the programmed instructions and make electronic devices turn on/off, move, basically do whatever you want.
The purpose of this project is to not make a case against automation versus hands on work; but a proof of concept that some tasks may possibly be done just as well if not better by a machine in a controlled environment.
Task List for Automation:
- Watering plants/Watering schedule
- pH Control
- Temperature and Humidity Control
- Relay Control
- Optical Access
- Remote Access
- Smell Detection/Control
Watering Plants/Watering Schedule
A soil moisture sensor will be calibrated to detect the prescense of moisture in a growing substrate using attached probes. A variable will be defined as level of "dryness"; when the variable number is reached, a 1/4" solenoid valve will open on a water storage holding tank with a plumbing system leading down to the growing container. As the water comes out the solenoid, it will pass through a flow rate analyzer. The flow rate analyzer has a wheel inside of it that counts the number of revolutions as water passes through it. This can be programmed to close the solenoid after X amount of revolutions, allowing you to control the exact amount of water passing through.
Multiple soil moisture probes could be set at various depths of the growing substrate, giving readouts at the base of the container all the way up to the top.
If properly programmed and calibrated, this would remove much of the need to self water the growing plants. The largest amount of work involved with watering would be filling the water reservoir (which would be best if it could gravity fed to the plants.) This step could also be eliminated, a digital float gauge could be put inside the water reservoir and programmed to open a solenoid valve on an inside/outside water source. The water reservoir would auto-fill itself depending on the level of the float.
pH Control
A pH probe would be calibrated and programmed to give readouts of the water reservoir pH levels. A system of aeration should probably be in place to help keep the water properly mixed to give a more accurate readout (most like an aquarium pump with air stones or something of the like.) If the pH is within a predefined acceptable level, nothing happens. If the pH goes over or below the range you specify, a program would start. Depending on the pH, two small containers each holding pH up and down (respectively) solutions could dispense into the reservoir, either using solenoids, servos squeezing a pipette attached to the bottles, etc. Have the program wait X amount of time before doing a pH check to make sure it's been mixed thoroughly and run it again. Your water intake pH would be auto balance itself out.
As for the water outtake, or the runoff from the plant, another pH sensor/probe would be placed in a collection jar coming off from the bottom of the growing container. The pH sensor would again detect the levels and compare it to the predefine pH range and another program would run. If you needed to raise the pH, a series of small tanks could be rigged up with neutral pH water and a system to segregate higher or lower balanced mixtures for treating. If you needed to flush, you could have a smaller, separate water reservoir that would only be used if the pH levels required it.
Temperature and Humidity Control
Temperature and humidity probes can be set throughout the grow space to give locational readouts. You could monitor the floor levels and ceiling levels of both and set variables to act as triggers. If the temperature readout gets too hot; fans wired into relays would turn on until the temperature readout lowered. This would allow you to run a set of fans designated for cooling only when they are required. This is similar to how some fans auto adjust their speed based on temperatures on desktop PC's and laptops.
The same goes for humidity; if it's turning into a rain forest; a set of intake/exhaust fans could be turned on to help your preexisting ventilation.
Relay Control
Many electrical components in a grow room can be wired into relays and controlled by the microcontroller board. This allows you to turn on and off the electrical state of devices wired into the relay. Using wireless technologies, such as RF transmitter/recievers or Xbee wireless chips, you could create a board with toggles or switches that wireless turns on and off devices in your room. If you were REALLY inclined, there is an Android development kit that allows you to control Arduino devices with your phone or Android device. So in theory, you could turn on your lights, scrubbers, and fans using your cell phone. This is a more advanced task on the list; once you start messing with 110/120V you're playing with power that can kill you; I'm going to approach this gingerly and with supervision.
Optical Access
If you were so inclined, a web cam could setup within the tent to give visual access to your growing tent. The web cam could be setup to run on a Raspberry Pi, a tiny little $45 computer that runs Linux as its operating system. Set it up as a wireless cam server and it could display out on the internet (you would take the necessary security measures, OF COURSE.) You could set the web cam up on a servo with pan and tilt, so you could see multiple views of the tent. It may even be possible to use a zoom function with it to get a close up of your plants. A filter of some sort may be needed to remove/reduce the lines that some lights give to optics (like cameras.)
Remote Access
All of the programs and automated processes could be accessed via computer or cell phone. There are specific wireless chips that work on a 802.15.4 wireless networks (like Xbee modules for Arduino), or you can get more expensive wireless modules that run on the popular 802.11 b/g/n network (what you're probably networking with your computers at home/work.) This means you could interface with your grow room from virtually any PC/MAC, or VNC into your computer from any computer to check on the status of things. There is an Android developer kit for Arduino that allows you to write programs that let you interface with the Arduino programs; this is what would let you turn on/off and control servos and such with your phone.
Smell Detection/Control
This one is seriously just hypothetical, but there are supposedly some law enforcement agencies that have olfactory detection instruments that use gas detectors to detect Caryophyllene oxide, a sesquiterpene (type of terpenoid, the things that make your weed smell like weed) in marijuana. If there was a way to find the data for that; in theory you could create your own "sniffers" that detect for the Caryophyllene oxide in the air; alerting you of potential smell leaks. If the threshold level was reached, an audible alarm, a blinking light, message to your phone, etc etc.
So there you have it. I've got some diagrams and blueprints I've scribbled out on some knapkins. I have a majority of the parts already for testing; so it's just about in prototyping phase. Will update as I make discoveries and look forward to feedback and suggestions. Thanks for the read :smoke:
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