Good evening all It's Friday I'm going for some supplies this weekend. I am starting an indoor grow, going to be using a 1000W hps. I've done outdoor a bunch of times, this is sort of a new one for me. I have worked with a bunch of automation hardware/software for greenhouses such as Priva(my favorite). I program custom automation for a lot of large scale industrial/commercial machinery. I have already written a partial code, most for temp, hum and co2 control. This is only operating with actuators on the inlet/outlet and relay for the fan. The light is easy for time based scheduling so I am not concerned with this at all. Mainly, I need some numbers to work with, my temp can be controlled to within 1deg C up or down, and hum is within 5%rh up or down. CO2 is set at 1000ppm right now. I know the calculated flow for exhaust on a negative pressure system, will be 568cfm- which I will round up to be safe. This, as of right now is programmed into a Johnson Controls UNT1190, which gives me a lot of inputs, and binary or analogue outputs if needed. As a side note, I can network the system to be available on VPN through my computer. So I can adjust setpoints as needed. Did I miss anything? This is my fall/winter project instead of being lethargic for no reason.
Damn dude, I eventually want to build something very similar just on a slightly smaller scale with my stealth cabs. Looks like you are thinking about pretty much everything. To add just a bit more, I would add one or two fans inside the grow space to turn on when co2 is off, if the negative pressure isn't like a hurricane already of course. I would also highly suggest hooking up some sort of device that would allow you to control the PPM and pH each couple plants receive if you want to grow hydroponically. I just think it would be badass, perhaps a little overkill, but a tool like that would be so invaluable in the grow room to dial it completely in, the Walter White of Marijuana perhaps. Also developing a smart phone app that could monitor/ control it could come in handy when you are away for prolonged periods Just food for thought. If you are going all put might as well go ALL OUT Keep us updated on how you set this up Sent from my Spaceship using the GrassCity App.
Hi there, Aside from nutrient changes, and cloning/moving plants, my grow is completely automated including air conditioning, heat, humidity, co2, auto feeding, lights, etc. Mine also recycles condensate from the AC/dehum. into my reservoirs. I'm using some commercial controllers which have been OKAY so far, but haven't quite been up to par with what I expect. Because of that, I've begun building my own controller system that I am considering building for commercial production (of the controller) which can be fully controlled and monitored via web/phone app. Right now, it consists of a Raspberry Pi and several microcontrollers (Arduino like devices) It's definitely a fun problem to solve! I'm not familiar with the controller you're using, but I assume it's intended to operate 24v commercial grade devices/switch relays on and off and such? If you can control it with a computer, then you could use something like TeamViewer to remote-control a local machine to your grow, from anywhere in the world.
I have the equipment to something similar with a old control system with like 30+ inputs and multiple outputs in both analog and digital. Only problem is it not a plc so I have to think of interesting ways to make it fit with the existing software. Plus side is this controller has Ethernet, modbus, I/o net and echelon. It a rx400 from Emerson. The hardest part is getting ph meters and so forth to have a useable output voltage. But I think I have figured that part out. RESISTORS turn ma outputs into volt outputs. Sent from my iPad using Grasscity Forum
@[member="Halo-noob"] If your controller doesn't support 4-20ma then you can add a 500 ohm resistor inline with the signal wire. Its simple math. @[member="Original Past"] it is 24V functioning, it has onboard triac relays, but I am building a relay board so as to eliminate stress on the internals. Team viewer isn't necessary as I have set up a static network at home using an old wifi router, so I can VPN directly to the controller with any PC. The Pi idea sounds cool, but not my forte, if you need help with sequencing I can look over it. @[member="DazedAndStoned"] the ppm will be controlled using a reverse acting PID, also it is in the PLC sequence. I am using a digital constant to float the number within a range. Anyways, I like the idea of adding in a pH sensor and controlling dif pres using vav systems. The dp will be set to 1 in wc, with it being adjustable, there will be 3 damper motors using a single 0-10v output, able to modulate in 0.1 v increments, the fans will be added to the relay board, the lights will be on relay, and the pumps will be as well. Thanks for the ideas, I was about to flop my sequence into a Priva controller and just be done super fast, but this option of self programming is going to cost me under 200$, where the Priva controller is around 450$.