How to make a grow box controller

021

While my existing system was working I decided to make an upgrade to the electronics on my old grow box controller specifically to have a much more industrial strength version that will run without problems for decades to come.  This version also is much safer…still probably not quite to a building code but much less worries to burning my garage down in the middle of the night.  Finally it is modular if there are problems in the future I can easily switch out electronics or sensors.

Well now I have attempted to justify my reasons this is what I used to put the whole thing together:

Parts List

If we had lawyers, they probably would want us to say this:
WARNING: I am not an electrician and do not pretend to be one.  I do not know the specific building electrical codes of your area, so please be sure your wiring is completed under the proper safety code for your area. As always, using high voltage electricity can result in self-electrocution or burn down your house if not done safely so if you are not comfortable doing this wiring please contact a qualified professional.

Putting it all together

On the electronics side overall the circuits are actually pretty simple and if using a breadboard definitely something that could be tackled by a beginner.  Though on the other side since this project is dealing with AC current I definitely would recommend caution (no hands unless power is unplugged) or have someone a little more comfortable with 120/220V help you out.

The Brains


I will be the first to admit that using an Arduino for this application is complete overkill for this application but it gives plenty of room for additions in the future.  For all intents and purpose you could have your grow box completely controlled from the Arduino own processing power though on my case the software and UI is more interesting part to me.  For this reason the Arduino code is actually very “dumb” basically just taking commands via the build in serial through USB and setting digital outputs to HIGH/LOW or reading analog inputs.

Here is the code for your grow box controller:

   1: /*

 

   2:  * GrowBox Arduino Interface

 

   3:  *

 

   4:  * Descriptions: Simple interface to digital and analog controls by passing serial inputs

 

   5:  *               For example: 

 

   6:  *                  "A1" to read analog value on pin 1

 

   7:  *                  "D1H" to set digital pin 1 to HIGH

 

   8:  */

 

   9: #include <OneWire.h>

 

  10:

 

  11: //1-wire

 

  12: OneWire  ds(8);  // on pin 8

 

  13: #define BADTEMP -1000

 

  14:

 

  15: //define unique sensor serial code

 

  16: byte temperature[8];

 

  17:

 

  19: #define PIN_VALUE 1          // numeric pin value (0 through 9) for digital output or analog input

 

  18: #define ACTION_TYPE 0        // 'D' for digtal write, 'A' for analog read

 

  20: #define DIGITAL_SET_VALUE 2  // Value to write (only used for digital, ignored for analog)

 

  21:

 

  22: int NUM_OF_ANALOG_READS = 2;

 

  23: char commandString[20];

 

  24:

 

  25: void setup()

 

  26: {

 

  27:   Serial.begin(9600);

 

  28:

 

  29:   setOneWireHex();

 

  30:

 

  31:   // Power control

 

  32:   for(int i=0; i<=7; i++)

 

  33:   {

 

  34:     pinMode(i, OUTPUT);        // sets the digital pins as output

 

  35:     digitalWrite(i, LOW);      // turn everything off

 

  36:   }

 

  37: }

 

  38:

 

  39: void loop()

 

  40: {

 

  41:   readStringFromSerial();

 

  42:

 

  43:   if (commandString[ACTION_TYPE] != 0)   {

 

  44:     int pinValue = commandString[PIN_VALUE] - '0';  // Convert char to int

 

  45:

 

  46:     if(commandString[ACTION_TYPE] == 'A')

 

  47:       Serial.println(analogRead(pinValue));

 

  48:     else if(commandString[ACTION_TYPE] == 'D') {

 

  49:       if(commandString[DIGITAL_SET_VALUE] == 'H')

 

  50:         digitalWrite(pinValue, HIGH);

 

  51:       else if(commandString[DIGITAL_SET_VALUE] == 'L')

 

  52:         digitalWrite(pinValue, LOW);

 

  53:

 

  54:       Serial.println("OK");

 

  55:     }

 

  56:     else if(commandString[ACTION_TYPE] == 'T') {

 

  57:       float temp = get_temp(temperature);

 

  58:

 

  59:       Serial.print(temp);

 

  60:       Serial.println("C");

 

  61:     }

 

  62:     else if(commandString[ACTION_TYPE] == '1') {

 

  63:       printOneWireHex();

 

  64:     }

 

  65:     else if(commandString[ACTION_TYPE] == 'V')   {

 

  66:       Serial.println("VERSION_1_0_0_0");

 

  67:     }

 

  68:     else if(commandString[ACTION_TYPE] == 'P') {

 

  69:       Serial.println("PONG");

 

  70:     }

 

  71:

 

  72:     // Clean Array

 

  73:     for (int i=0; i <= 20; i++)

 

  74:       commandString[i]=0;

 

  75:   }

 

  76:

 

  77:   delay(100);  // wait a little time

 

  78: }

 

  79:

 

  80:

 

  81: void readStringFromSerial() {

 

  82:   int i = 0;

 

  83:   if(Serial.available()) {

 

  84:     while (Serial.available()) {

 

  85:       commandString[i] = Serial.read();

 

  86:       i++;

 

  87:     }

 

  88:   }

 

  89: }

 

  90:

 

  91: void setOneWireHex() {

 

  92:     ds.reset_search();

 

  93:     ds.search(temperature);

 

  94: }

 

  95:

 

  96: void printOneWireHex() {

 

  97:   ds.reset_search();

 

  98:   if ( !ds.search(temperature)) {

 

  99:     Serial.print("NONE\n");

 

 100:   }

 

 101:   else {

 

 102:     ds.reset_search();

 

 103:

 

 104:     int sensor = 0;

 

 105:     while(ds.search(temperature))

 

 106:     {

 

 107:       Serial.print("S");

 

 108:       Serial.print(sensor);

 

 109:       Serial.print("=");

 

 110:       for(int i = 0; i < 8; i++) {

 

 111:         Serial.print(temperature[i], HEX);

 

 112:         Serial.print(".");

 

 113:       }

 

 114:       Serial.println();

 

 115:     }

 

 116:   }

 

 117:

 

 118:   ds.reset_search();

 

 119: }

 

 120:

 

 121: float get_temp(byte* addr)

 

 122: {

 

 123:   byte present = 0;

 

 124:   byte i;

 

 125:   byte data[12];

 

 126:

 

 127:   ds.reset();

 

 128:   ds.select(addr);

 

 129:   ds.write(0x44,1);         // start conversion, with parasite power on at the end

 

 130:

 

 131:   delay(1000);     // maybe 750ms is enough, maybe not

 

 132:   // we might do a ds.depower() here, but the reset will take care of it.

 

 133:

 

 134:   present = ds.reset();

 

 135:   ds.select(addr);

 

 136:   ds.write(0xBE);         // Read Scratchpad

 

 137:

 

 138:   for ( i = 0; i < 9; i++) { // we need 9 bytes

 

 139:     data[i] = ds.read();

 

 140:   }

 

 141:

 

 142:   int temp;

 

 143:   float ftemp;

 

 144:   temp = data[0];      // load all 8 bits of the LSB

 

 145:

 

 146:   if (data[1] > 0x80){  // sign bit set, temp is negative

 

 147:     temp = !temp + 1; //two's complement adjustment

 

 148:     temp = temp * -1; //flip value negative.

 

 149:   }

 

 150:

 

 151:   //get hi-rez data

 

 152:   int cpc;

 

 153:   int cr = data[6];

 

 154:   cpc = data[7];

 

 155:

 

 156:   if (cpc == 0)

 

 157:     return BADTEMP;

 

 158:

 

 159:   temp = temp >> 1;  // Truncate by dropping bit zero for hi-rez forumua

 

 160:   ftemp = temp - (float)0.25 + (cpc - cr)/(float)cpc;

 

 161:   //end hi-rez data

 

 162: //  ftemp = ((ftemp * 9) / 5.0) + 32; //C -> F

 

 163:

 

 164:   return ftemp;

 

 165: }

Copy and paste the above code into your Arduino software.   For the code above I used the OneHire.h library which is free to use and can be downloaded from here. To be able to use this library simply copy the contents to C:\arduino\hardware\libraries\OneWire. Now you should be able to Compile (CTRL+R) and upload the code to the board (CTRL+U)

Now with the software uploaded you can send some simple serial commands via its built in USB to serial adapter to interact with it.  The interface is are broken up into 1 to 4 character commands, which I will detail below

Command Description
T Returns temperature from One Wire component
D4H Sets digital pin 4 to HIGH (ON) (replace 4 for alternate pin)
D4L Sets digital pin 4 to LOW (OFF) (replace 4 for alternate pin)
A1 Reads analog value from pin 1 (replace 1 for alternate pin)
PING Returns PONG which is used to confirmed controller is online
V Returns version which is some forethought into the PC application being able to support different versions of controller software

Using the build in serial monitor tool in Arduino.exe, my application, or you should be able to control your Arduino with this very simple command based interface

Now you can hook up some LEDs and watch them blink which is fun for a little while but if you want to add some grow box components read on….

Temperature Sensor

As you can see I have fully embraced the circuit schema on the back of a napkin idea.  These are the actual diagrams I crumpled up and stuffed in my pocket with several trips to the garage for some final soldering of various joints until everything was solid.

Below is the simple circuit required to get your 1Wire temperature sensor working.  I would recommend checking your documentation (if not labels on the chip) for the orientation to have 1 and 3 correct, if you have it wrong you should get some complete unrealistic number.  Hook ground up to pin1 on the DS18S20 and pin 2 hooked up to the digital input pin 8 on the Arduino with 5V with a 4.7K resister in between to step down the voltage.

If everything is hooked up correctly you should get the current room temperature in Celsius by sending command “T” to your Arduino.  If you prefer Fahrenheit uncomment line 162 and recompile and upload your changes, though if using my software I support both degree types and do the conversion in the the software.  To make sure everything working (or just to play with your new toy) put your fingers on the chip for a couple seconds and take another measurement unless you keep your house very warm the temperature should go up a couple of degrees

1WireSensorDiagram

Turning things on and off (Relays)

If you were smart enough to check the current requirements of your Solid State Relays (SSR) before you bought them you may be able to skip this whole circuit and simply hook the digital outputs to the 5V positive side and ground to the negative side of the SSR.

Unfortunately if you are like me and bought some SSRs that require more current draw than the Arduino (or any other IC chip) of 40mA then you will need to create the simple circuit below.

image

Basic idea is pretty simple, you are using the output from the digital pins to switch of the transistor which then allows the ground to complete the circuit with the thus turning on the relay.  As you can see there is a 1K resistor between the base (middle pin) of the transistor.  If you are not using a SSR relay (though recommend you do) you should add a 1N4004 diode between the positive/negative which protects the transistor from being damaged in case of a high voltage spike which can occur for a fraction of a second when the transistor switched off, this is also known as a back-EMF diode or fly back diode.

Now here you have a couple options.  If you are confident of our wiring skills you can do like I did and take a couple of sockets and hook up the neutral and ground in parallel.  Two save space and since I really didn’t need two separate plug-ins (nor its own plug) for each relay I removed the little metal bar between the two sockets so they could be switched on independently.  Now simply hook up hot to the left side of all your relays in parallel and then connect a wire from the right side of the relay to its own plug on the two sockets.

Now a less wiring intensive method is to simply take a 6 foot (small if you can find them) and cut the hot wire (usually the one with non-smooth wire) and attach each end of the wire to both sides of the relay.

Moisture Sensor

When it comes to a moisture sensor there are a few options.  First is the classic two galvanized nails, second is the cheap gypsum soil moisture sensor which I have written up in the provided link.

If you are using the other options you will need the simple circuit below.  Technically it is a voltage divider, but that doesn’t really matter.  Just hook up one end of your sensor to 5V and other sensor to ground with 10K resistor and also connected to analog pin 0.

SoilSensorDiagram

My custom PCB solution

378

I actually started the work to create my own PCB at least a few years back.  Played with if it off and on and finally pulled the trigger to get some boards printed up which I must say was very rewarding and pretty fun experience for just $20-30 of out of pocket cost.  This provides all the circuits I mention above with a bonus circuit to let me know when my water reservoir is running low.  I also installed a Ethernet socket not

I designed this to be an Ardunio which plugs directly on top of the Arduino.  In theory I could stack more functionality on top of if but haven’t though of anything cool to do here yet.

Don’t want to spend 10-20 hours creating your own PCB and then wait 2-3 weeks for it to arrive from Hong Kong?  Well you can do the same thing with a bread board which I show below.

Virtual breadboard layout

VirtualBreadboard

If you are new to soldering or have no interest in learning I would definitely recommend this option.  Simply place the components in the holes and make connections with 18 gauge solid copper wire.  You should be able to pick a small breadboard for less than $7.

Various applications

Of course for my application, I am using this to integrate with my custom software solution to control my grow box.  Specifically soil sensor, temperature measurement, heater, lights, exhaust fan, and water pump.  So using the circuit mentioned above I ran the hot wire through each SSR with the remaining wires connected to the plug and eventually gets plugged into the wall.  Then simply hooked up the wire from the Ethernet cables to the low voltage side to turn the switches on/off.  So I would say this is a bit of an improvement over my last attempt…

Before

IMG_3777

After

019

Last I hooked the arduino up to my PC and used my custom software to control the temperature, water, and provide cool graphs as you can see below.

GrowBoxView

Sometimes life can get busy and you have limited time to keep an eye on your plants, for these times I also integrated with a custom Windows Phone 8 application which allows me to check the current state of the grow box using life tiles, water remotely (turn on/off lights/heater/fan as well), or even check out a current feed inside the grow box.

007 008

009011  010

Looks at the actual actual grow box…

003

008

Indoor gardening with 2 liter bottle and USB LED light

LiterLightBanner

I came across this pretty cool Kickstarter from Vegetronix where they are putting together a neat little kit that includes an adjustable 1 watt that can plug into any USB port on your computer.  All you need to supply is an old 2 liter bottle and you have a nicely contained growing environment.

image

Personally, I think this could make an awesome addition to my windowless office and bring a little plant life to my personal space.

image

If the Vegetronix name sounds familiar, I use their moisture sensors in my grow box which I wrote here.

Computer grow box gets 120 watts of LEDs

012

Always running out of room in my grow box I needed to expand it some.  Though the CFL lights I was using worked great for my 3 square foot space, though by nearly tripling the square footage CFLs wouldn’t scale out anymore.  Looking at my other options such as HPS (High Pressure Sodium) or Metal Halide I really didn’t want to deal with ballasts and cooling I decided on going with LEDs.  After doing some research I came upon the 120w Extreme Flower LED grow light and after talking to the great people at Advanced LED Lights they were gracious enough send me with one of their lights to try out.

Now as soon as I opened the box I noticed the sticker that said "Do not look directly at light.”  Being a moron I just had to plug it in and test out this warning, now it was not like staring at the sun but it was definitely much brighter than my Christmas grow light and I would not recommend others to do this.

014

The light offers a unique blend of 11+ wavelengths of color ranging from 380nm to 760nm and if you read my post of the importance of wavelength to plant growth this is critical for vegetative and flowing plant growth.  The great thing about growing with LEDs if you can pick the specific wavelength produced for maximum yields, though other lights also provide this spectrum they also produce much in the range that is appealing to our eyes (yellow and green) which the plants could live without.  This is the reason why this 120 watt grow light can produce the results of a comparable 250w High Pressure Sodium light.

018

I still have some work to do on my new bigger grow box before I can move this years plants in, but I am excited to see the results this new light will bring.  Stay tuned for more updates.

First seeds started: onions, leeks, purple cone flower

Cheap Vegetable Gardener 014

My youngest daughter has been patiently waiting all winter to plant some seeds (as have I)  Finally it was time in my area to start planting the “start 8-10 weeks before first frost” seeds.  Which for me included onions and leeks, though as I was picking up the leek seeds my daughter talked me into getting some purple coneflower seeds as well.

After carefully mixing my special blend of 3 parts normal potting mix with 1 part perlite we filled some trays, sprinkled on the seeds, applied some light pressure to ensure good contact, and placed them in my small Christmas light grow box

Cheap Vegetable Gardener 019

This provides me a small of convenient location to care for these seedlings until they are big enough to move into the computer grow box which if all goes well should be getting a slight makeover this weekend, which I should post about soon.

Top gardening posts of 2010

2010 has been a pretty exciting year for CheapVegetableGardener.com.  Bringing on a significant number of more readers and many great mentions by some large publications, I thought I would mention the top 5 posts of 2010 which helped this happen in case you missed them.

image Being kicked off by an awesome mention in a New York Times article and subsequent interview on Science Friday on NPR, this article on making your own tomato planter held the #1 spot.  By taking a two liter bottle, a little spray paint, and a chopstick (or small stick) you can make your own upside down tomato planter.
image This article has received some decent traffic from numerous sites but the mention on lifehacker.com is what put this one on the #2 spot.  Now if you are trying to make a little profit from your extra harvest or just trying to save a little extra money at the grocery store this post lists the top vegetables for your gardening square foot.
IMG_1516 Want to start some seedlings indoors without spending a fortune on lighting?  Check out this Christmas light LED grow box post which has held the #3 spot.  All it takes is a couple of strings of LEDs (purchased during after Christmas sales of course), a Rubbermaid container, a drill, and a little patience you can have your own indoor growing apparatus.
IMG_4590 Sometimes I got busy in the early spring and forgot to water my neglected seedlings in the grow box in my garage.  To solve this problem I made these great little soil sensors using galvanized nails and Plaster of Paris.  Check out this post which help the #4 spot for the full build instructions.
Raised Vegetable Garden Finally after some personal trial and error the #5 post of this year goes into detail on how to create a new garden bed.  This covers the basics of picking the proper location and also some cost benefit analysis for using various materials (cinder blocks, wood, chiseled wall blocks, bricks) to build a new bed.

How to make a grow box controller (Original)

IMG_3777
While my existing system was working I decided to make an upgrade to the electronics on my old system for several reasons:

  • I needed to add more automated external controls (heater, fans, water pump) with my existing design this was entirely possible though was starting to get a little clunky.
  • The existing controller (PS2 Controller, parallel port with various wires to control relays) worked but was not exactly compact.
  • Wanted a modular design so if I needed to debug some issue I could simply unplug the USB and power and bring it out of the box in the garage for needed work
  • Ability for others to create so I can share my software without forcing people to hack PS2 controllers to get to work
  • Ability to use components like 1Wire temperature sensors (others to come) and Arduino
  • Just for the fun of it

Well now I have attempted to justify my reasons this is what I used to put the whole thing together:

Parts List

If we had lawyers, they probably would want us to say this:
WARNING: I am not an electrician and do not pretend to be one.  I do not know the specific building electrical codes of your area, so please be sure your wiring is completed under the proper safety code for your area. As always, using high voltage electricity can result in self-electrocution or burn down your house if not done safely so if you are not comfortable doing this wiring please contact a qualified professional.

Putting it all together

On the electronics side overall the circuits are actually pretty simple and if using a breadboard definitely something that could be tackled by a beginner.  Though on the other side since this project is dealing with AC current I definitely would recommend caution (no hands unless power is unplugged) or have someone a little more comfortable with 120/220V help you out.

The Brains


I will be the first to admit that using an Arduino for this application is complete overkill for this application but it gives plenty of room for additions in the future.  For all intensive purposes you could have your grow box completely controlled from the Arduino own processing power though on my case the software and UI is more interesting part to me.  For this reason the Arduino code is actually very “dumb” basically just taking commands via the build in serial through USB and setting digital outputs to HIGH/LOW or reading analog inputs.
Here is the code for your grow box controller:

   1: /*

 

   2:  * GrowBox Arduino Interface

 

   3:  *

 

   4:  * Descriptions: Simple interface to digital and analog controls by passing serial inputs

 

   5:  *               For example: 

 

   6:  *                  "A1" to read analog value on pin 1

 

   7:  *                  "D1H" to set digital pin 1 to HIGH

 

   8:  */

 

   9: #include <OneWire.h>

 

  10:

 

  11: //1-wire

 

  12: OneWire  ds(8);  // on pin 8

 

  13: #define BADTEMP -1000

 

  14:

 

  15: //define unique sensor serial code

 

  16: byte temperature[8];

 

  17:

 

  19: #define PIN_VALUE 1          // numeric pin value (0 through 9) for digital output or analog input

 

  18: #define ACTION_TYPE 0        // 'D' for digtal write, 'A' for analog read

 

  20: #define DIGITAL_SET_VALUE 2  // Value to write (only used for digital, ignored for analog)

 

  21:

 

  22: int NUM_OF_ANALOG_READS = 2;

 

  23: char commandString[20];

 

  24:

 

  25: void setup()

 

  26: {

 

  27:   Serial.begin(9600);

 

  28:

 

  29:   setOneWireHex();

 

  30:

 

  31:   // Power control

 

  32:   for(int i=0; i<=7; i++)

 

  33:   {

 

  34:     pinMode(i, OUTPUT);        // sets the digital pins as output

 

  35:     digitalWrite(i, LOW);      // turn everything off

 

  36:   }

 

  37: }

 

  38:

 

  39: void loop()

 

  40: {

 

  41:   readStringFromSerial();

 

  42:

 

  43:   if (commandString[ACTION_TYPE] != 0)   {

 

  44:     int pinValue = commandString[PIN_VALUE] - '0';  // Convert char to int

 

  45:

 

  46:     if(commandString[ACTION_TYPE] == 'A')

 

  47:       Serial.println(analogRead(pinValue));

 

  48:     else if(commandString[ACTION_TYPE] == 'D') {

 

  49:       if(commandString[DIGITAL_SET_VALUE] == 'H')

 

  50:         digitalWrite(pinValue, HIGH);

 

  51:       else if(commandString[DIGITAL_SET_VALUE] == 'L')

 

  52:         digitalWrite(pinValue, LOW);

 

  53:

 

  54:       Serial.println("OK");

 

  55:     }

 

  56:     else if(commandString[ACTION_TYPE] == 'T') {

 

  57:       float temp = get_temp(temperature);

 

  58:

 

  59:       Serial.print(temp);

 

  60:       Serial.println("C");

 

  61:     }

 

  62:     else if(commandString[ACTION_TYPE] == '1') {

 

  63:       printOneWireHex();

 

  64:     }

 

  65:     else if(commandString[ACTION_TYPE] == 'V')   {

 

  66:       Serial.println("VERSION_1_0_0_0");

 

  67:     }

 

  68:     else if(commandString[ACTION_TYPE] == 'P') {

 

  69:       Serial.println("PONG");

 

  70:     }

 

  71:

 

  72:     // Clean Array

 

  73:     for (int i=0; i <= 20; i++)

 

  74:       commandString[i]=0;

 

  75:   }

 

  76:

 

  77:   delay(100);  // wait a little time

 

  78: }

 

  79:

 

  80:

 

  81: void readStringFromSerial() {

 

  82:   int i = 0;

 

  83:   if(Serial.available()) {

 

  84:     while (Serial.available()) {

 

  85:       commandString[i] = Serial.read();

 

  86:       i++;

 

  87:     }

 

  88:   }

 

  89: }

 

  90:

 

  91: void setOneWireHex() {

 

  92:     ds.reset_search();

 

  93:     ds.search(temperature);

 

  94: }

 

  95:

 

  96: void printOneWireHex() {

 

  97:   ds.reset_search();

 

  98:   if ( !ds.search(temperature)) {

 

  99:     Serial.print("NONE\n");

 

 100:   }

 

 101:   else {

 

 102:     ds.reset_search();

 

 103:

 

 104:     int sensor = 0;

 

 105:     while(ds.search(temperature))

 

 106:     {

 

 107:       Serial.print("S");

 

 108:       Serial.print(sensor);

 

 109:       Serial.print("=");

 

 110:       for(int i = 0; i < 8; i++) {

 

 111:         Serial.print(temperature[i], HEX);

 

 112:         Serial.print(".");

 

 113:       }

 

 114:       Serial.println();

 

 115:     }

 

 116:   }

 

 117:

 

 118:   ds.reset_search();

 

 119: }

 

 120:

 

 121: float get_temp(byte* addr)

 

 122: {

 

 123:   byte present = 0;

 

 124:   byte i;

 

 125:   byte data[12];

 

 126:

 

 127:   ds.reset();

 

 128:   ds.select(addr);

 

 129:   ds.write(0x44,1);         // start conversion, with parasite power on at the end

 

 130:

 

 131:   delay(1000);     // maybe 750ms is enough, maybe not

 

 132:   // we might do a ds.depower() here, but the reset will take care of it.

 

 133:

 

 134:   present = ds.reset();

 

 135:   ds.select(addr);

 

 136:   ds.write(0xBE);         // Read Scratchpad

 

 137:

 

 138:   for ( i = 0; i < 9; i++) { // we need 9 bytes

 

 139:     data[i] = ds.read();

 

 140:   }

 

 141:

 

 142:   int temp;

 

 143:   float ftemp;

 

 144:   temp = data[0];      // load all 8 bits of the LSB

 

 145:

 

 146:   if (data[1] > 0x80){  // sign bit set, temp is negative

 

 147:     temp = !temp + 1; //two's complement adjustment

 

 148:     temp = temp * -1; //flip value negative.

 

 149:   }

 

 150:

 

 151:   //get hi-rez data

 

 152:   int cpc;

 

 153:   int cr = data[6];

 

 154:   cpc = data[7];

 

 155:

 

 156:   if (cpc == 0)

 

 157:     return BADTEMP;

 

 158:

 

 159:   temp = temp >> 1;  // Truncate by dropping bit zero for hi-rez forumua

 

 160:   ftemp = temp - (float)0.25 + (cpc - cr)/(float)cpc;

 

 161:   //end hi-rez data

 

 162: //  ftemp = ((ftemp * 9) / 5.0) + 32; //C -> F

 

 163:

 

 164:   return ftemp;

 

 165: }

Copy and paste the above code into your Arduino software.   For the code above I used the OneHire.h library which is free to use and can be downloaded from here. To be able to use this library simply copy the contents to C:\arduino\hardware\libraries\OneWire. Now you should be able to Compile (CTRL+R) and upload the code to the board (CTRL+U)

Now with the software uploaded you can send some simple serial commands via its built in USB to serial adapter to interact with it.  The interface is are broken up into 1 to 4 character commands, which I will detail below

Command Description
T Returns temperature from One Wire component
D4H Sets digital pin 4 to HIGH (ON) (replace 4 for alternate pin)
D4L Sets digital pin 4 to LOW (OFF) (replace 4 for alternate pin)
A1 Reads analog value from pin 1 (replace 1 for alternate pin)
PING Returns PONG which is used to confirmed controller is online
V Returns version which is some forethought into the PC application being able to support different versions of controller software

Using the build in serial monitor tool in Arduino.exe, my application, or you should be able to control your Arduino with this very simple command based interface

Now you can hook up some LEDs and watch them blink which is fun for a little while but if you want to add some grow box components read on….

Temperature Sensor

As you can see I have fully embraced the circuit schema on the back of a napkin idea.  These are the actual diagrams I crumpled up and stuffed in my pocket with several trips to the garage for some final soldering of various joints until everything was solid.

Below is the simple circuit required to get your 1Wire temperature sensor working.  I would recommend checking your documentation (if not labels on the chip) for the orientation to have 1 and 3 correct, if you have it wrong you should get some complete unrealistic number.  Hook ground up to pin1 on the DS18S20 and pin 2 hooked up to the digital input pin 8 on the Arduino with 5V with a 4.7K resister in between to step down the voltage.

If everything is hooked up correctly you should get the current room temperature in Celsius by sending command “T” to your Arduino.  If you prefer Fahrenheit uncomment line 162 and recompile and upload your changes, though if using my software I support both degree types and do the conversion in the the software.  To make sure everything working (or just to play with your new toy) put your fingers on the chip for a couple seconds and take another measurement unless you keep your house very warm the temperature should go up a couple of degrees

1WireSensorDiagram

Turning things on and off (Relays)

If you were smart enough to check the current requirements of your Solid State Relays (SSR) before you bought them you may be able to skip this whole circuit and simply hook the digital outputs to the 5V positive side and ground to the negative side of the SSR.

Unfortunately if you are like me and bought some SSRs that require more current draw than the Arduino (or any other IC chip) of 40mA then you will need to create the simple circuit below.

image

Basic idea is pretty simple, you are using the output from the digital pins to switch of the transistor which then allows the ground to complete the circuit with the thus turning on the relay.  As you can see there is a 1K resistor between the base (middle pin) of the transistor.  If you are not using a SSR relay (though recommend you do) you should add a 1N4004 diode between the positive/negative which protects the transistor from being damaged in case of a high voltage spike which can occur for a fraction of a second when the transistor switched off, this is also known as a back-EMF diode or fly back diode.

Now here you have a couple options.  If you are confident of our wiring skills you can do like I did and take a couple of sockets and hook up the neutral and ground in parallel.  Two save space and since I really didn’t need two separate plug-ins (nor its own plug) for each relay I removed the little metal bar between the two sockets so they could be switched on independently.  Now simply hook up hot to the left side of all your relays in parallel and then connect a wire from the right side of the relay to its own plug on the two sockets.

Now a less wiring intensive method is to simply take a 6 foot (small if you can find them) and cut the hot wire (usually the one with non-smooth wire) and attach each end of the wire to both sides of the relay.

Moisture Sensor

When it comes to a moisture sensor there are a few options.  First is the classic two galvanized nails, second is the cheap gypsum soil moisture sensor which I have written up in the provided link.  Lastly if my personal favorite the Vegetronix soil sensor.

If you use the Vegetronix hookup is simple no circuit needed simply hook up the 5V to red, bare wire to ground, and black to analog pin 1.

If you are using the other options you will need the simple circuit below.  Technically it is a voltage divider, but that doesn’t really matter.  Just hook up one end of your sensor to 5V and other sensor to ground with 10K resistor and also connected to analog pin 0.

SoilSensorDiagram

Cheap soldered solution

IMG_3778

If I could do it over I probably should have just bought a small breadboard.  I did most of my prototyping with my larger breadboard but got cheap when I was at Radio Shack The Shack and just got this prototype board for half the price.

Virtual breadboard layout

VirtualBreadboard

If you are new to soldering or have no interest in learning I would definitely recommend this option.  Simply place the components in the holes and make connections with 18 gauge solid copper wire.  You should be able to pick a small breadboard for less than $7.

Various applications

Of course for my application, I am using this to integrate with my custom software solution to control my grow box (will be having private/public beta soon).  Specifically soil sensor, temperature measurement, heater, lights, exhaust fan, and water pump.

Controller

Though there is definitely no reason you can use this same setup for other application.

A couple of ideas:

  • Home automation (turn on/off lights, turn on coffee machine)
  • Attic fan
  • Hydroponic system

Going Forward

I would like to convert this into an Arduino shield.  For those new to Arduino I will go with Arduino’s description, “Shields are boards to be mounted on top of the Arduino board and that extend the functionality of Arduino to control different devices, acquire data, etc”
So basic idea is you just plug it into the top the Arduino and hook up a couple wires to some terminal blocks and you have a nice clean solution.  Creating these printed circuit boards get much cheaper the higher the quantity.  I am considering doing a run of these if I get enough interest so if you may be interested in one of these send me a mail in “Contact” in the header.

IKE