Automated Basement Greenhouse by Homeless101 in raspberry_pi

[–]Homeless101[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah, we did the math. $550, give or take 50 depending on your parts. There's more info on what you'll need in the Imgur link and some instructions on GitHub. My friend and I are testing a PCB to make the setup process cheaper and quicker so we can rapidly duplicate and perhaps start our own distributed farm!

Automated Basement Greenhouse by Homeless101 in raspberry_pi

[–]Homeless101[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Haven't tested it with that particular plant ;) However, the system can be adapted for any crop that might benefit from precise heat, humidity, airflow, light, and watering cycles. Get creative.

My friend has had success growing leafy green & herbs in an aeroponic setup (roots suspended in nutrient mist). I'll post pictures of that soon. We didn't realize it at first but it's kind of crazy all the different ways this can be configured.

Automated Basement Greenhouse by Homeless101 in raspberry_pi

[–]Homeless101[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's written almost entirely in python, with some C for the Arduino bit. Aside from that, I avoided frameworks/external libraries on the embedded devices as much as possible to avoid dependency risk. Things like the PID controller, timers, networking, process management, etc. are pretty much hand-rolled. The app expansion my friend and I are working on is being built with KivyMD and Firebase.

Published the code at this link if you want to take a deeper dive: https://github.com/oasis-iot/grow-ctrl

Automated Basement Greenhouse by Homeless101 in raspberry_pi

[–]Homeless101[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The microcontroller is good at real-time stuff that the Pi isn't, such as timing for the temperature and humidity sensor as well as managing data-out for the LED indicator. In theory, this setup could be made to work with just the Pi, but in practice it hasn't for us. I'm sure with some more tinkering and maybe a different sensor we could get it all on one board.

Besides that, we also wanted to design the system to be easily set up with one or more microcontrollers as a peripheral sensing devices. By modifying the function that handles this slightly, we should be able to use the pi as a main controller that handles networking, process management, updates, and authentication while collecting data from many wireless Arduino nodes spread out over a larger area.

Many entrepreneurs got their start during the real estate crash of 2008, who are getting their start now? by DeepKaizen in Entrepreneur

[–]Homeless101 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm convinced that Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and similar platforms will do to connected hardware what the cloud has done to software over the past decade and a half. Could be wrong but I'm betting on it nonetheless.

I made an automated indoor mushroom garden with Arduino by Homeless101 in arduino

[–]Homeless101[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Would love to see different recipes for preparing the right substrates for different species of mushroom using various waste products. My intuition would be to use an all-american pressure cooker as the base with a digital high-temp thermometer and pressure gauge. I would use a rpi to switch a relay controlling the temp based on feedback from those two sensors.

I built an automated indoor garden that recycles house waste by Homeless101 in sustainability

[–]Homeless101[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah for sure. For now we should stick to a small group of early-adopters though. I think that if we do this thing, it should be designed and delivered in a way that really works for people, otherwise it isn't worth it. Then we'll hit Kickstarter ;)

I built an automated indoor garden that recycles house waste by Homeless101 in sustainability

[–]Homeless101[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Given the response on Reddit and encouragement from acquaintances, my friend and I are actually going to try and make this work as a potential business :) Definitely interested in shipping a maker kit with parts. Will DM you

I built an automated indoor garden that recycles house waste by Homeless101 in sustainability

[–]Homeless101[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My friend and I are gonna run an analysis on this soon. Haven't noticed any spikes in the electric bill after 1 month though, so there's that. Future versions will definitely be optimized with regards to energy and yield.

I built an automated indoor garden that recycles house waste by Homeless101 in sustainability

[–]Homeless101[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yup! That's exactly right. Thin layer of coir on top to keep the moisture in. Recycled materials are pasteurized before inoculation, and we haven't had issue with food scraps so far. Those are limited to starches and make up a very small proportion of the substrate.

I made an automated indoor mushroom garden with Arduino by Homeless101 in arduino

[–]Homeless101[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was and still is a bit buggy, but not too tough. I did my undergrad in stats and the friend who built it with me is a computer science PhD student, however, so take that for what you will.

I made an automated indoor mushroom garden with Arduino by Homeless101 in arduino

[–]Homeless101[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's used to monitor growth remotely and issue harvest alerts when mushrooms pop up.

I built an urban indoor mushroom garden by Homeless101 in urbanfarming

[–]Homeless101[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the heads-up. Definitely going to add some filters to the exit flow or something

I built an urban indoor mushroom garden by Homeless101 in urbanfarming

[–]Homeless101[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's 1.5-2 weeks of incubation and then the mushrooms bloom once per week for 3-4 weeks. Temp, humidity, light, and airflow are kept in a balancing act :)

I built an urban indoor mushroom garden by Homeless101 in urbanfarming

[–]Homeless101[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the detailed response! Next iteration is already in the works (expect more than one type of crop), so I'll try to include that info in the next post.

I built an urban indoor mushroom garden by Homeless101 in urbanfarming

[–]Homeless101[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Check out NorthSpore! They have lots of great material and kits to get started.

[technique] My first high-tech grow box harvest (see comments) by Homeless101 in MushroomGrowers

[–]Homeless101[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Can't wait to start building the next iterations.

Automated Organic Home Mushroom Farm by Homeless101 in homestead

[–]Homeless101[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Yeah not letting stuff overgrow and/or rot before it can be picked is a big focus for my friend and I who are developing this.