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 poke smot!
cognitive consonance
 
Registered: 01/08/03
Posts: 4,669
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 Automating a terrarium
#6587794 - 02/19/07 09:59 PM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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Well, this has been around for a bit and there are competitors like http://www.growtronix.com but I find they are too pricey for my purposes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHmEfdAOpWc
YouTube is poop, the embedded video might not work.
I estimate an ETA of less than a month until I'm finished to my satisfaction with the design. At that point I'm going to shoot for [semi]mass production. I'm considering making part of this project open-source, ie "make your own".
Let me know what you all think - comments, suggestions, criticisms of my ways, etc. are all welcome.
Edited by poke smot! (02/21/07 10:55 AM)
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 RogerRabbit
Bans for Pleasure
Registered: 03/26/03
Posts: 37,015
Loc: USA Mountain Northwest
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Re: Automating your terrarium [Re: poke smot!]
#6587922 - 02/19/07 10:24 PM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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yea, it would be nice to have your computer dial out to your cell phone, to say, "you dummy, come fill the humidifiers!" Mine always seem to run out just as I go to bed, especially if i've forgotten to check on them first. A phone call would be nice. I've always resisted the urge to complicate my greenhouse though. . .so far... 
RR
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www.mushroomvideos.com
semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat
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poke smot!
cognitive consonance
Registered: 01/08/03
Posts: 4,669
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Re: Automating your terrarium [Re: RogerRabbit]
#6588004 - 02/19/07 10:45 PM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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Yeah, bluetooth sure as hell adds complexity for me, but the actual device I want to sell will be usb, low-cost, and worthwhile.
I want it to be something where you plug it in, run the software wizard (custom tailored for these kinds of applications), and it be within the budget of small-time hobbyists.
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fastfred
Old Hand
Registered: 05/17/04
Posts: 6,242
Loc: Dark side of the moon
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Re: Automating your terrarium [Re: poke smot!]
#6588577 - 02/20/07 04:06 AM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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I think it's a viable idea. If you're going to have a microcontroller on board it would be just as easy to have it be a stand alone unit. You could shuttle the data to and from the microcontroller as needed. You really wouldn't need computer control to run it, any microprocessor these days has enough computing horsepower to handle temp, humidity, and some relays.
-FF
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Arp
roving mycophagist
Registered: 04/20/98
Posts: 2,191
Loc: in a van by the river
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Re: Automating your terrarium [Re: fastfred]
#6597361 - 02/22/07 12:40 PM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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http://www.velleman.be/ot/en/product/view/?id=351346
was thinkin of getting one of these and some sensors & relays and have
my friend who is a skilled eletrician to help me put things together.
i'll take care of the programming  . seems like a great project you're
up to. these things i need will make it cost quite a bit
you're doing it from scratch right? guess it will cut costs grealty.
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poke smot!
cognitive consonance
Registered: 01/08/03
Posts: 4,669
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Re: Automating your terrarium [Re: Arp]
#6597745 - 02/22/07 02:16 PM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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Yeah, for the most part starting from scratch. The unit has enough onchip ram/eeprom to run independent of a pc for extended periods.
It's still important to be able to adjust the programming on-the-fly. I was thinking of going to an sd card interface, where data is transferred to/from computer that way. For now, this version has wireless and is more a platform for which to develop a wireless/usb board.
There is another thread about this in the other forum and some agree that this is a novelty item. I don't remember monotubs being around when I started this "automation" project. Using martha's was/is an efficient way to provide the right, isolated environment needed for certain purposes.
I'd imagine if it is cheap enough and offers results, it'd be viable to make a few more of them. And, there's probably a few people out there that would automate their stuff just for the novelty factor.
This whole thing has more been just an exploration in microcontroller programming, for me. It is something I can be creative in, I'm pretty passionate about it - that's part of the motivating force behind working to finish it. I look at what I don't like in other things that are out there, and design something that will fulfill its purpose efficiently.
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Arp
roving mycophagist
Registered: 04/20/98
Posts: 2,191
Loc: in a van by the river
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Re: Automating your terrarium [Re: poke smot!]
#6598489 - 02/22/07 04:29 PM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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I reckon it will be a valuable product as there are many mushrooms selective in their preference of enviroment.
This would optimize and make enviromental variables much more accurate 
Perhaps you could make it possible to add on extra sensors for those who want to take it another step aswell.
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Helge
PsilocybinFlightSpecialist
Registered: 03/17/05
Posts: 1,177
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Re: Automating your terrarium [Re: Arp]
#6600176 - 02/22/07 10:29 PM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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I cant wait!!!:) Total Automation is only a couple weeks away:)
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I AM THE LIQUOR!!
Employed by Walmart, Fun Department.....
Edited by Helge (02/23/07 12:03 AM)
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Socrates
Ownsberry West
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Re: Automating your terrarium [Re: Helge]
#6602327 - 02/23/07 01:20 PM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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Ive been looking for a low cost automation. I'm sure the market is more then ample to put forth the effort in making a lot of these kits. My main set back has been the interface with the computer. I'm not vary skilled yet with programming. It being open source would allow someone to make a nice GUI interface and add some e-mail options or text message your phone and give you a temp/hum report. I know if it were reasonably priced I would buy one. And if its wireless that would be amazing.
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And I quote.
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poke smot!
cognitive consonance
Registered: 01/08/03
Posts: 4,669
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Re: Automating your terrarium [Re: Socrates]
#6605174 - 02/24/07 09:17 AM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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This has been quite an effort. I'd like to make an open-source project but I have a lot invested in this. Most of the information on how to do everything & what hardware is required, but that's the "easy" part. 
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shirley knott
not my real name
Registered: 11/11/02
Posts: 9,086
Loc: London
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 Re: Automating your terrarium [Re: poke smot!]
#6605567 - 02/24/07 11:55 AM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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nice going, smotty 
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meh
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Jorsher
Psychonaut
Registered: 08/28/06
Posts: 691
Loc: Earth
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Nice, what chip burner are you using?
I bought a willems burner to use for burning tuned maps for my turbocharged honduh. It seems to be quite versatile though and I thought about using it for microcontroller programming as well.
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5 shroom me!
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fastfred
Old Hand
Registered: 05/17/04
Posts: 6,242
Loc: Dark side of the moon
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Re: Automating your terrarium [Re: Jorsher]
#6613219 - 02/26/07 03:13 PM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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In circuit programming is the way to go. Using a chip burner ends up being a hassle, especially for development, IMO.
-FF
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illahee
Content Observer
Registered: 01/02/05
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Last seen: 5 years, 2 months
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Re: Automating your terrarium [Re: fastfred]
#6613261 - 02/26/07 03:23 PM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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I'd buy one
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poke smot!
cognitive consonance
Registered: 01/08/03
Posts: 4,669
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Re: Automating your terrarium [Re: illahee]
#6614612 - 02/26/07 08:45 PM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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Sure, I'm making a second bluetooth one that I won't be needing. I'd rather give details and a price once everything is done.
The board I'm using is called an arduino, uses an atmel avr microcontroller, usb, and has a bootloader. Basically, when the chip is reset it can be programmed over USB. This way there's no need for external programming software.
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shroomsynergy
Ediphile
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Re: Automating your terrarium [Re: poke smot!]
#6615305 - 02/27/07 12:00 AM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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i'd buy one, considering that the closest thing is for commercial hydroponics systems, and cost thousands of dollars.
how much are you thinking on selling those for??
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I want: Yellow Oyster, Enoki, Pioppino, Shaggy Mane, Beech, Luminescent Panellus, King Stropharia, Honey...
I have: Pearl, pink and blue Oyster, Lions Mane, Reishi, Shiitake, Chicken of the Woods
 Shroomsynergy's Edible Mushroom Cave
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poke smot!
cognitive consonance
Registered: 01/08/03
Posts: 4,669
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Price varies. Each humidity sensor costs $30, and more outlets require extra hardware.
Right now I'd estimate a total of $250 for basic (usb, 2 switched outlets and sensor) to $400 for something more advanced (bluetooth, 4 switched outlets, 2 humistors, extra temp. sensors, etc).
I would also imagine prices to go down were there enough interest in these and I were to get PCBs fabricated. In that case, it'd be possible to do wireless cheaply.
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magicfluff
the high wizard
Registered: 02/12/07
Posts: 37
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Re: Automating a terrarium [Re: poke smot!]
#6640451 - 03/06/07 04:28 AM (5 years, 2 months ago) |
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not much more to say than great work!
with a little extra work, you could probably have this scalable to greenhouse or small commercial grow levels. e.g. you could add inputs for reading dissolved components in feed solutions and make the interface look fancy with some graphics. or you could add photodiode feedback so larger growers could get some measured feedback on bulb output. could improve the photodiode accuracy by sticking bits of filter over the sensor to remove most of what wasn't on the spectral absorption peaks of the plants. just thinking aloud....
Olimex seem to have pretty good prices on small scale PCB production. They're in a bit of a weird location, but I've ordered from them before and had no problems.
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poke smot!
cognitive consonance
Registered: 01/08/03
Posts: 4,669
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Re: Automating a terrarium [Re: magicfluff]
#6640971 - 03/06/07 09:48 AM (5 years, 2 months ago) |
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I did find a PCB producer which meets my needs/budget, but with pcb's there would also be a bit more assembly required.
Lots of different types of sensors could theoretically be added, but at this point I'm focusing more on getting something finished that is for mycology-like purposes.
I'd like to make a version that runs independent of a PC. This would cut back costs for one thing.
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magicfluff
the high wizard
Registered: 02/12/07
Posts: 37
Last seen: 5 years, 2 months
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Re: Automating a terrarium [Re: poke smot!]
#6641205 - 03/06/07 11:10 AM (5 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
poke smot! said:
I did find a PCB producer which meets my needs/budget, but with pcb's there would also be a bit more assembly required.
Lots of different types of sensors could theoretically be added, but at this point I'm focusing more on getting something finished that is for mycology-like purposes.
I'd like to make a version that runs independent of a PC. This would cut back costs for one thing.
Yeah, in a lot of ways I'd prefer something that didn't involve a PC.
For a stand alone unit you'd need to think about what you want to be variable and monitored.
One thing you'd probably want automated is air exchange, so the terranium is aerated through the day. You could do that by adding some sort of CO2 / O2 sensor. I did a quick google and found a CO2 sensor for around $20. http://www.futurlec.com/Gas_Sensors.shtml
But I mean, to save money, just roughly guessing at the fanning frequency would be fine. Everyone does it that way at the moment and it works okay. So you'd want an option for the number of fan on times per 24 hour cycle maybe, and how long each should run for.
Then you'd obviously want temperature. It'd be nice to have two preset buttons maybe. Then humidity and that should be about it, apart from maybe lighting, which you could even do a quick LED kit for or use some cold cathode lights.
One thing that would be cool is if the unit could function outside as well, so outdoor grows could have their humidity and temperature recorded maybe in a datalogger / warning mode. A cool sensor for that would be a couple of those water content probes you can get for plant pots that could be stuck into the grow area to monitor the soil and watch out for it getting too dry. Maybe you could even add a few at layers as you add the grow so's that water content in a 3D patch could be monitored.
Perhaps these temp/RH sensors are little too expensive, $30 is quite a bit. Maybe the lower humidity accuracy version would be okay. 95% 100%, I doubt the shrooms would be all that bothered. You could always build a bias into the humidifier circuit such that it stays on slightly longer than it should after reaching 100% humidity on the sensor to bias it towards a positive error. The only negative of that would be a slight increase in the possibility of puddling and slightly more energy use.
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