Aquaponics and hydroponics sensor platforms for Makers

Cooking Hacks, the open hardware division of Libelium, has launched two new sensor platforms that automate control and maintenance tasks in aquariums and in gardens through wireless connectivity and using open-source APIs. Designed for Makers, the new IoT solutions are based on Arduino, and include specialized sensors to measure parameters vital to aquatic life in ponds and fish tanks, or for indoor and outdoor gardening.

Powered by an ATtiny84 microcontroller (MCU), the Arduino Uno-compatible Open Garden platform consists of three separate kits equipped with sensors to maintain healthy growth, despite whether plants are located indoors, outside or in water. A suite of sensors, ranging from humidity and temperature to light and soil moisture, monitor plants for optimal care wherever they are situated. The platform’s actuators can control irrigation, as well as activate lights and oxygen pumps. A hydroponics kit is also available, which includes both pH and conductivity probes.

Open Aquarium has been designed to help Makers care for their fish by automating the control and maintenance tasks that are typically required in tanks and ponds. This newly-unveiled platform monitors water factors such as temperature, pH and conductivity. In addition, the fully Arduino-compatible system has the ability to measure water levels and leakage, as well as deploy actuators that can feed the fish, regulate water heating / cooling, activate pumps to change water or administer medicine, and control light intensity to simulate day and night cycles. The sensors send information using wireless interfaces such as Wi-Fi, GPRS and 3G.

Each product comes with a complete open source API to easily control the board through an ATmega328 based Arduino, as well as a web application that allows users to easily access and visualize relevant information from a browser or iPhone/Android device.

“We design connected technology using open source code to help makers discover, improve, and scale new sensor-based solutions for the Internet of Things,” explained David Gascón, CTO at Libelium.

Interested in learning more? You can check out the official Open Garden page here. Readers may also want to browse through some of our previous articles on open source agriculture, including “Vertical Farming with Arduino,” “The Internet of Things, Stalk by Stalk,” “Smart Urban Aquaponics in West Oakland,” “DIY Farming with Atmel and Arduino,” “Open Source Aquaponics with APDuino,” “Agricultural Monitoring with Atmel AVR
,” “Arduino-Based Farming in Maine” and “Building a DIY Moisture Monitor.”

Open Garden hardware built around ATtiny84 MCU

Cooking Hacks, the the open hardware division of Libelium, has debuted a new Open Garden hardware platform.

Powered by Atmel’s ATtiny84 microcontroller (MCU), the platform consists of three separate kits equipped with sensors to maintain healthy growth, whether plants are located indoors or outside.

“All kits measure parameters such as temperature, humidity and light; soil moisture is monitored in the Indoor and Outdoor kits; water sensors such as pH, conductivity and temperature are added to the Hydroponics kits,” David Bordonada, Manager of Libelium’s Open Hardware division, explained.

“The Open Garden platform works with various types of actuators that can modify the state of the plants, by irrigating them with droppers or sprinklers or activating lights and oxygen pumps. The sensor nodes periodically send information to an Internet Gateway by using available wireless interfaces such as Wi-Fi, GPRS and 3G.”

According to Bordonada, an open-source web application stores data, allowing users to easily access relevant information from a browser or iPhone/Android app.

The system – compatible with both U.S. (110V) and Europe (220V) power requirements – will be showcased at Maker Faire Bay Area, May 17-18, 2014, at booth 231.

“Open Garden helps you get started with plant projects that range from beginner gardens to fully automated watering systems with grow lights,” added Bordonada.

“Now it’s easy to run your garden with microprocessors and a suite of sensors to monitor your plants and make sure they get optimal care.”

Interested in learning more? You can check out the official Open Garden page here. Readers may also want to browse through some of our previous articles on open source agriculture, including “The Internet of Things, Stalk by Stalk,” “Smart Urban Aquaponics in West Oakland,” “DIY Farming with Atmel and Arduino,” “Open Source Aquaponics with APDuino,” Agricultural Monitoring with Atmel AVR
,” “Arduino-Based Farming in Maine” and “Building a DIY Moisture Monitor.“

Arduino-based farming in Maine

Roberts Farm in Maine is currently testing an inexpensive Arduino-powered agricultural system that automatically monitors and waters crops. As Scott Taylor of the Lewiston-Auburn Sun Journal reports, the system has already proven itself by allowing Earl Morse, a retired teacher and volunteer at the Roberts Farm project, to successfully harvest a crop of spinach grown last winter in an exterior green house.

Photo Credit: Scott Taylor, Sun Journal

“[The system] keeps watch on the soil temperature and interior moisture through freezing temperatures and darkness. It works, not with hundreds of dollars worth of computer equipment but hobbyist-grade, [Atmel-based] Arduino boards,” wrote Taylor.

“While the farm’s goal is teach local kids about growing their own food and the technology behind farming, Morse hopes to create an automated system that not only gives the plants light and keeps them watered but extends the growing season — and does it cheaply.”

According to Taylor, Morse hopes to publicly release the open source, Arduino-based system this fall.

“What we’re trying to do is make all the mistakes now, so it’s ready for everyone else to use,” said Morse.

Photo Credit: Scott Taylor, Sun Journal

“That’s basically what we’re trying to do, make a farm robot. Maybe a robot farmer.”

Interestingly, the idea behind the inexpensive Arduino-powered agricultural system is based on an older platform Morse helped design back in the 1980s. Indeed, the first version worked with an old Atari computer, although the most stable version relies on MS-DOS, with Roberts Farm still using the Microsoft OS to run its automated hydroponics nursery.

“What it does, this 20-year-old system, lets you match the growing conditions for any location on Earth,” Morse explained.

Photo Credit: Scott Taylor, Sun Journal

“You plug in the longitude and latitude and time of the year and it matches those conditions.”

More specifically, the system controls banks of lights over seedling plants, matching the light’s intensity and time lit to conditions anywhere in the world – at any time of the year. As expected, the system also keeps the seedlings watered, utilizing water from a nearby aquarium to add moisture and fresh fertilizer in a basic hydroponics configuration.

As Morse notes, Arduino boards are perfect replacements for the PC-based version of the system. They are small, inexpensive, easy to program, adaptable and require a fraction of the electricity a standard PC needs to run.

Three versions of the open source Roberts Farm software are ultimately expected to be made open source, allowing farmers to:

• Control the lights, monitor ambient temperatures, water plants and warn users if there’s an intruder.
• 
Replace Morse’s MS-DOS application, enabling the farm to provide seedlings with appropriate amounts of light and water via Atmel-based Arduino boards.
• Add livestock support, including managing a farm’s flock of chickens.

“What we want to do is be able to use every greenhouse to grow four crops per year, all year long. Summer, winter, it won’t matter,” he added. “[For the chickens, it] lets them out in the morning and in at night, keeping them fed and watered. [Plus], it has an intrusion alarm, warning you if there are predators around.”

Interested in learning more about farming with Atmel-based systems? You can browse through some of our previous stories on technology and farming including “The Internet of Things, Stalk by Stalk,” “Smart Urban Aquaponics in West Oakland“, “DIY Farming with Atmel and Arduino,” “Open Source Aquaponics with APDuino,” and “Agricultural Monitoring with Atmel AVR
.”

Open source aquaponics with APDuino

Aquaponics is a food production system that combines conventional aquaculture (raising aquatic animals) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) in a symbiotic environment.

Essentially, water from an aquaculture system is fed to a hydroponic system where by-products are broken down by nitrogen-fixing bacteria into nitrates and nitrites, which are used by the plants as nutrients. The water is then recirculated back to the aquaculture system.

Recently, a farmer by the name of Rik Kretzinger decided to mesh aquaponics with open source technology by creating an automated garden using an Atmel-based Arduino Mega, Ethernet shield, along with various sensors and valves.

According to CNX Software, Kretzinger’s firmware is based on the popular APduino, an open source project designed to run on an Atmel-based Arduino Mega (ATmega1280). The open source aquaponics platform is tasked with processing and analyzing a comprehensive data feed from numerous sensors including those that monitor humidity, temperature, pH balance and light levels.

In addition, Rik’s aquaponics system is designed to automatically upload data to the cloud via Xively, post emergency SMS alerts as well as stream updates over Facebook and Twitter. 

Kretzinger says his open source aquaponics system is quite versatile, vertical (optional) and can be set up in both urban and suburban locations.

Interested in learning more? You can check out Rik’s Aquaponic DIY Automation blog here. Readers may also want to browse through some of our previous stories on automated farming including “The Internet of Things, Stalk by Stalk,” “Smart Urban Aquaponics in West Oakland” and “DIY Farming with Atmel and Arduino.”