great presentation first and foremost. Based on what you said, I'm under the impression you are developing the software and using existing hardware and controllers? Will you be packaging them all together on the final product? Here is my critique:
The alarm features and such I think are going to be more appealing to those who manage or run more than 1 grow room. Although someone who works a 9-5 on top of a solo op can still benefit from these features for sure. What kind of redundancy is on that fire system? I would hate to come home to my op being doused with flame retardant due to a failed heat sensor. I think (it may be there already) once the heat sensor kicks in and before the system douses the fire, perhaps it should send pics of the room to the phone and then finally have a prompt for the user to confirm the fire extinguisher.
A nice optional feature might be to have a sensor near the plant canopy either lux or temp so that this could prompt the motors on the lights to raise or lower accordingly. Even a little dangle "touch" sensor hanging off the lights so that it can detect if the light is too low to the plant (ie. the sensor touches the plant top) although this is a bit redundant as you can turn the camera on and adjust visually)
I think my favorite feature is your dosing system. I think it would be more user friendly if there was an option to do all the steps automatically. Right now you demoed to dose with 1ml/l grow a, mix, then dose with 1ml/l grow b, mix, check cf, mix with lower dose etc..... I think as part of the setup process it might be nice to have a "learn" mode so you can teach the system that adding 1 ml/l of liquid A is go to result in a cf value of X. Once this is taught, it might be nice once the user has taught the system this, then the user can simply put in the desired CF value and it will take care of itself by running a script on its own. input desired ec 1.4 will output dose 1ml/l a mix x minutes dose 1ml/l mix x minutes repeat if value is too low etc.....if the value gets to high then you could top off with water and then ph etc... (hope that makes sense)
My only complaint of anything lacking would be environmental controls including day/night features. I hope this will get implemented in the future. Also apps for smart phone I think would be a must too. Other than that man. Incredible work. I want this system! Keep up the great work!
Thanks for the reply
I am currently working on making the programming side a lot better i.e not using loads of stand alone electronic components and using custom build circuit boards etc. This way if say someone wants a NFT kit, dripper kit or a DWC aerated recirculating kit I can easily copy and paste the code into the boards of which will have all the timings set etc.
The automatic fire extinguishers are used in laboratory situations, expensive boats etc and are the same as the sprinkler systems you get in department stores etc. Basically if the sensor melts at 69 degrees centigrade it will pump out foam all over the place...I spoke to the manufacturers and researched it before I put it in there...that building is a friends lockup and the other half of it is packed full of expensive bits and pieces so if he got back from holiday to find everything covered it would not be groovy
I have thought about using lazer sensors to jack the lights up but havent researched it yet..the thing with the way the lights raise now is they can get a still picture off the room camera and actually see what height they are at once theyve raised or they need to raise.
The problem as I see it with the auto dosing system is the large range of nutrients on the market...this could be programmed like you say i.e enter a CF value and it will dose acordingly but it will be a very complicated thing to do and I might be limiting myself to the types of nutes it uses...ill have a look into this.
As far as the enviroment goes I was thinking of putting a temp and humidity sensor on it so you can request the current temp and humidity for piece of mind to check the twin fan controllers are working i.e if the stand alone fan controllers are set to a temp it would be good to be able to check this via command.
As far as lux is concerned this might be taking it to far as you would change the lamps every couple of crops and its using lumatek ballasts.
To use this system you would have to understand the strain your growing and use cuttings each time as I see it so you will know how its supposed to perform at the various stages.
Today I designed a sh#t hot dwc recirculating aerated system like the normal ones but better
The problem with DWC is the amount of water thats needed i.e about 10 litres per pot and it would need to be able to flush and fill completely so 30 - 40 pots for a 8 x 600W system is going to need almost 500 litres allowing for what the plants drink...I think ive sussed it though and it involves using a 470 litre tank + another tank for storage of which as RO system can be connected.
I am also going to add a mic and speaker to the system so you can talk into the room via phone and listen to whats being said...you can listen on the cameras also...this would be hilarious i.e talking to the intruder...gettings pics of them shi#ing themselves then throwing it all over youtube
The other day me mates dad went in there using a spare key I didnt know about and was trying to be nosey...the camera alarmed while I was watching TV at home...I saw the 5 pics and who it was..phoned the camera and could here him swearing, falling over himself then getting out quick...he opened the door, saw the camera lights flashing at him then sh#t himself..he dosent know me but had suspisions I was setting up a room so he probably thought it was booby trapped
...I was pis#ing me pants laughing.
At the moment im going to concentrate on the electronics and how it could be packaged so it could be sold off the shelf as a kit with instructions/videos
Thanks
