Get your Geek on and control your grow room with Arduino!

Timezone

Well-Known Member
Fourteen months ago, I got a Raspberry Pi (3 b+) and I started on a quest to automate my grow.

It was an idea that began as a discussion with a small group of friends at the now defunct Cannabis Culture forum. Topics ranged from the usual temperature and humidity blah blah, to a robotic hand that could roll a joint and "deliver it lit to your lips". When CC went away, I had some time on my hands so I began by myself. I'd had some experience with an Arduino Uno, so my first attempt began there.

P3160171.JPG
I had to wait for the parts to arrive, but it didn't take long to cobble together the above controller capable (in theory) of handling a heater, air conditioner, a humidifier, a dehumidifier, an exhaust fan, CO2 (sensor not shown), a water chiller and a water heater.

P3160172.JPG
Then I add the Pi,

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and figured out how to store and display data, collected over time.

When I arrived here in January of '19, I looked up an old friend from CC, @OldMedUser , and we've continued discussing this project for control. He's just picked up a Pi 4 and has an Arduino Mega, the Uno's bigger brother, on order. I thought it was time to move the conversation here.

As this is my first thread here, I hope to ask questions, answer questions, discuss different microcontrollers, you know, the kind of thing you want to discuss stoned, and learn a few things together.

This topic will definitely discuss the Arduino controllers, Uno and Mega, the ESP8266, and any others that come up.

This will be for educational purposes only, not a guide or how to. If you try any instruction here, you do so at your own peril. Some of the discussion concerns mains power which can be fatal. Be Ye Forewarned!
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Like TimeZone said above I just got a Pi kit a few days ago and got it working and surfing the web so far. Comes with Chromium for a browser but basically a dumbed down version of Chrome which I hate on the PC platform. Yesterday I got FireFox installed and it's just like the version on my Desktop PC.

The kit I got was $150, Amazon of course, and came with everything you need to get it up and running except a monitor, mouse and keyboard. Shipped from Canakits in Vancouver and I could have got it there from real people for the same price and not from some soulless entity like Amazon.


On Thursday I ordered an Arduino kit that has all sorts of little projects to do to get up to speed on how this stuff works. Gonna have to learn some programming too. Not good with languages other than English myself. After a bit I'll figure out a decent challenging project to work on and have at it. A big drone would be cool.


Next thing I'm getting is one of those work trays like TZs in the OP. Only $10 which means I only need to spend $25 more to get free shipping! Hmmm . . . :)

Between the holidays and new hobbies the old VISA card is taking quite the beating. lol

Oh yeah. Got a new 8" inline fan for the grow room too.

:peace:
 

Timezone

Well-Known Member
First relays... no mains power (120Vac 15A in my zone) was ever applied to the relay module shown on the Arduino setup above nor will it ever be. While the relays are rated for 10 amps at both 125Vac and 250Vac, and 30Vdc, the electrical connection between the board and mains are rated at less than 5 amps. I will have a 12Vdc project in the future that does put one of these relays to work. For now, I will rely...

P5020230.JPG
on the relay module shown on the left. The label on the relay reads:

30A 250VAC 30VDC
1HP 120VAC
1-1/2 HP 240 VAC

It has a well protected mains power area with 25A screw terminals, has its own 5Vdc power supply (pulls nothing from the Arduino), easy to mount etc. I use the 2 gang mainly, which should be good for the mains power in my zone. In better weather, I will test several of these with a 1500W heater, outdoors. ;) Maybe have an Uno switch the load off and on over a period of time. Sorry to say, I don't recognize any of the certifications on the label. I was looking fo UL, but no such luck. Anyone recognize the certifications?

Beware of using relay modules that have relays that are rated 30A on boards with connectors that won't carry the load, such as the board on the right.

P5020233.JPG
When working with mains power I heavily insulate the traces that carry the higher voltages, on the boards with a glue gun. Just do not desolder anything with the tip of the glue gun. :) Questions?

This will be for educational purposes only, not a guide or how to. If you try any instruction here, you do so at your own peril. Some of the discussion concerns mains power which can be fatal. Be Ye Forewarned!
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I shoulda done that! I didn't know wether to insert the full photo or the thumbnail. What do you think? Too big?
Nah. It's only 1.4meg. Would fit on a 1.44meg floppy. Now that I upgraded my wifi to twice the speed and 3X the data I don't care about picture size except for guys that have to upload a bunch all maxed out close to 10meg each. I just close the page. Much smaller and you wouldn't be able to read the printing. Cropping closer would allow a smaller file size without losing detail too.
 

Timezone

Well-Known Member
Comes with Chromium for a browser but basically a dumbed down version of Chrome
I meant to tell you, I believe it's the other way around, Chrome is a commercialized version of open-source Chromium.


not from some soulless entity like Amazon.
I'm a firm believer in supporting the local economy but all of the Radio Shacks are gone from my zone. Try to find a PZEM-004T-100A-R3 in your zone. Amazone comes in real handy sometimes. Besides, they have a large local presence in my zone, providing many jobs. I get an idea and need parts to start fast. Amazone gives me that. After that, if a project goes well, I might order parts from Banggood or AliExpress in quantities for manufacture.
 
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Timezone

Well-Known Member
Next thing I'm getting is one of those work trays
That tray helps me keep things together when the kitty comes around.

Zsa_Zsa_on_pi_close.jpg
Here, she uses my Pi as a heated pillow... until the new dual fan case gets here. She'll learn quick. :)

I built a lot of Arduino stuff just on the calendar on the desktop. The tray comes with the screws to mount either an Arduino Uno or Mega and/or a Raspberry PI 3, don't know about the Pi 4, and a 830 point solderless breadboard. I'll provide more information if requested.
 
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OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
I meant to tell you, I believe it's the other way around, Chrome is a commercialized version of open-source Chromium.

I'm a firm believer in supporting the local economy but all of the Radio Shacks are gone from my zone. Try to find a PZEM-004T-100A-R3 in your zone. Amazone comes in real handy sometimes. Besides, they have a large local presence in my zone, providing many jobs. I get an idea and need parts to start fast. Amazone gives me that. After that, if a project goes well, I might order parts from Banggood or AliExpress in quantities for manufacture.
If you wanted lots of them then where else can you get them cheap but from China. Same ones they sell off of Amazon anyway.
 
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Timezone

Well-Known Member
There are a lot of sources of information out there and one of my favorites is Random Nerd Tutorials.

From Google:
"Random Nerd Tutorials is a blog where we share electronics projects, tutorials and reviews. We help makers, hobbyists and engineers build electronics projects. We make projects with: ESP32, ESP8266, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Home Automation and Internet of Things."

I'll probably be referring you there often... like now, take a look at Nine Arduino Compatible Temperature Sensors for Your Electronics Projects, and then Comparing Temperature Sensors: DHT11 vs DMT22 vs LM35 vs DS18B20 vs BME280 vs BMP180. Pay close attention to the communication protocol, voltages, range and such.

I know that @OldMedUser has a DHT11 in his immediate future and he might have questions. I'm using the DHT22 sensor and the waterproof version of the DS18B20 sensor, on the Uno layout above, and am looking into the BME280 for it's barometric sensor as well as temperature/humidity sensors.


If you want to measure temperature and humidity, I suggest this 3 output pin DHT22 board with DHT22 mounted to a board with resistor and 3 pins out. Note the surface mount black resistor and brown capacitor at the end of the 4 DHT22 pins.


Don't be fooled, these have no on board resistor and capacitor, and you will have to add at least the resistor at some point in the circuit.
 

Mak'er Grow

Well-Known Member
There are a lot of sources of information out there and one of my favorites is Random Nerd Tutorials.

From Google:
"Random Nerd Tutorials is a blog where we share electronics projects, tutorials and reviews. We help makers, hobbyists and engineers build electronics projects. We make projects with: ESP32, ESP8266, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Home Automation and Internet of Things."

I'll probably be referring you there often... like now, take a look at Nine Arduino Compatible Temperature Sensors for Your Electronics Projects, and then Comparing Temperature Sensors: DHT11 vs DMT22 vs LM35 vs DS18B20 vs BME280 vs BMP180. Pay close attention to the communication protocol, voltages, range and such.

I know that @OldMedUser has a DHT11 in his immediate future and he might have questions. I'm using the DHT22 sensor and the waterproof version of the DS18B20 sensor, on the Uno layout above, and am looking into the BME280 for it's barometric sensor as well as temperature/humidity sensors.


If you want to measure temperature and humidity, I suggest this 3 output pin DHT22 board with DHT22 mounted to a board with resistor and 3 pins out. Note the surface mount black resistor and brown capacitor at the end of the 4 DHT22 pins.


Don't be fooled, these have no on board resistor and capacitor, and you will have to add at least the resistor at some point in the circuit.
I have tried the DS18B20 and found the readings jump up and down a lot and just didn't seem to stay at a proper reading.
I have purchased the BMP280 4 pin boards and a I2C multi chip so I can connect 8 I2C devices into the 1 I2C port on the Mega2560 board. From what I read the 4 pin boards are 5v and the 6 pin boards are 3.3v, but not sure...is there anyway to figure out what is what?
Also I read the BMP280 are 5v and BME280 are 3.3v
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
I used to shun geeks and nerds in high school and now I'm becoming one! More like getting deeper into my geekhood as I've been nerding out on computers for the last 30+ years while still engaged in manly pursuits like pounding down ice roads in Super-B tankers and water trucks.

Good to know the differences between the quality and usefulness of the different sensors and parts like relays TimeZone. I was looking at a set of 37 sensors for only $25 or so and I bet they are the lowest quality at that price. Good enough to learn with maybe but not the kind of things you want for regular or accurate use.

I gave up my email addy at RNT and downloaded the freebies for later perusal. Want to get my hands on that Arduino so I can start geeking out on that now. Almost lost interest in the Pi atm but still have lots to learn there too. ;)

I just learned from looking at the 5 min tutorials at Robot Shop that the software to program the Arduino IDE with Sketch runs on my PC so downloaded that and next week will have the Arduino and the actual book, ( Programming Arduino: Getting Started with Sketches, Second Edition ), and be up and running pretty quick. WooHoo!

:peace:
 

Mak'er Grow

Well-Known Member
I used to shun geeks and nerds in high school and now I'm becoming one! More like getting deeper into my geekhood as I've been nerding out on computers for the last 30+ years while still engaged in manly pursuits like pounding down ice roads in Super-B tankers and water trucks.

Good to know the differences between the quality and usefulness of the different sensors and parts like relays TimeZone. I was looking at a set of 37 sensors for only $25 or so and I bet they are the lowest quality at that price. Good enough to learn with maybe but not the kind of things you want for regular or accurate use.

I gave up my email addy at RNT and downloaded the freebies for later perusal. Want to get my hands on that Arduino so I can start geeking out on that now. Almost lost interest in the Pi atm but still have lots to learn there too. ;)

I just learned from looking at the 5 min tutorials at Robot Shop that the software to program the Arduino IDE with Sketch runs on my PC so downloaded that and next week will have the Arduino and the actual book, ( Programming Arduino: Getting Started with Sketches, Second Edition ), and be up and running pretty quick. WooHoo!

:peace:
You shouldn't have a problem at all...the Arduino IDE is so simple to use...about as hard as making a website page...lol
What Arduino are you getting ?
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
You shouldn't have a problem at all...the Arduino IDE is so simple to use...about as hard as making a website page...lol
What Arduino are you getting ?
The Mega 2560 R3 Project Super Starter Kit

I'm just checking out the Arduino.cc site. Really good stuff there and their products page in the link shows all the different types of boards and add-ons. Click on them to get a decent description of the uses of each. For some projects you could buy an earlier cheaper board to set it up rather than a more advanced one that would be overkill for what you need. Good list of distributors all over the world, tutorials etc etc.

After getting my diploma in chemistry I went to school for a diploma as a webmaster but that was all almost 30 years ago and times have changed while most of it has been forgotten. Once learned it comes back quickly once I sink what's left of my teeth into it. ;)

These days you don't need to get a formal education in many things to become good at it. So much free stuff on the interweb now and when I went back to school in '87 there was just USENET and Bulletin Board Sevices. I was active on a lot of BBSs in the Vancouver area dealing with environmental and other subjects. Still have my flip-up phone directory with all my usernames and passwords from back then. Still wander around the news groups using NewsHosting but it's really got to pot with not a lot of new content and a lot more spam. Plenty of porn tho!

:peace:
 

Mak'er Grow

Well-Known Member
Ohhhh the days of BLAZING speeds of the, what was it, 9600 modems...lol
Thats a very nice kit you'll have there...loads of projects can be made.
I was going to buy a kit, but figured most of it would end up in the drawer eventually and went basic UNO R3 and a bread board shield...also got a RTC with SD slot, but have upgraded a bit since then to the Mega2560 mostly due to I ran out of space for my code with the UNO before I even got to adding in the temp sensors...lol
Formal education...blahh...lol. I dont even have a grade 12 diploma, but have college credits and my pc tech cert so never bothered to finish. :)
I use the net for most things I can't figure out on my own...my favorite saying when someone asks me something..."Did you google that yet?"...then I tell them "If you want me to do it it will be $20/hr and I'll get back to ya in a couple days"...lol
 
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