Whatevver happend to Arduino diy controller hype?

Crusher026

Active Member
Hi guys,

I'm heavily planning my first grow setup..
As an electronics enthousiast i'm facinated by automation technology.
And i'm al about diy!
I want to build a growroom for several years now, and would like to control and monitor by arduino(/raspberry pi).
I'm a member on multiple forums both national(NL) and international.
I've noticed a sudden drop in the entousiasm for diy arduino based controllers.. whatever happend?!
Did i miss someting (to unstable, or new and better platform)?
You still see some people build simple temp/humid sensors now a days, but the real "full on" projects seem to have lost interest..
I realy think its a shame!
Non the less i'm still gonna build one!
:eyesmoke:
 

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
the same thing that happens to all hype...people discover that it's just as easy to do it the way they've been doing it forever, and it's cheaper than buying the new shit that doesn't do anything better.....

timers are about the only "automation" you can trust, and they fail from time to time.
people say stuff like "i travel a lot and want to grow weed" and then expect to be able to automate it and let it take care of itself.
needless to say, they fail miserably...then stick their arduino bullshit in the closet, and either quit growing, or start doing it by hand.
you can use timers for lights, and for watering systems, but you still have to be there every couple of days to check things, refill things, clean things.......arduinos wont tell you you have mites, or pm. unless you build alarms into it, it wont tell you you have a dry res or a leak...
it won't tell you you made a mistake mixing nutes and your plants are now getting their roots sauteed......
 

Crusher026

Active Member
What i like about automation is: you can go as crazy as you want! Of course you still need to do a lot of thins manual.. and be there with your plants.. but indeed i' m not always home and would like to grow weed.. and have an arduino let me check params from my phone(idealy) so that when im away i can check of its still running is it should be.. personaly i think a relay controlled by a microprocessor can be just as reliable as a regular timers..
But then again o dont have experiance with arduino yet. And i dont how it will preform overtime.. As i would like to ad more sensors and code along the way i hope arduino platform is stable enough to handle all that..

In my other hobby(saltwater aquaria) the automation hype is more real.. you have numerous big controller companies like: profilux and apex neptune..
 

Crusher026

Active Member
Res level sensor and leak detector is one of the basic features a grow room controll should have of you ask me..
 

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
What i like about automation is: you can go as crazy as you want! Of course you still need to do a lot of thins manual.. and be there with your plants.. but indeed i' m not always home and would like to grow weed.. and have an arduino let me check params from my phone(idealy) so that when im away i can check of its still running is it should be.. personaly i think a relay controlled by a microprocessor can be just as reliable as a regular timers..
But then again o dont have experiance with arduino yet. And i dont how it will preform overtime.. As i would like to ad more sensors and code along the way i hope arduino platform is stable enough to handle all that..

In my other hobby(saltwater aquaria) the automation hype is more real.. you have numerous big controller companies like: profilux and apex neptune..
weed is getting closer to an actual industry, like fish are, but until they have national legitimacy, no large company will mass produce a fairly expensive automation system.
the variables are different in a garden and a fish tank as well. in a garden, you have to be aware of and adjust for the RH, the temperature, airflow, how vigorously different plants are growing.....i don't feed a slow grower the same as a fast grower, and i give plants that have small weedy stems different nutes than one that's growing red wood trunks...and you can't do that with an automated system on one res
 

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
what it comes down to, is i think automation leads to inferior product, until you get into a commercial scale operation where hands on with each plant is just impossible. when you water by hand, you look at the plants, you notice any problems when they're starting, not when you make a weekly check and see a problem after it's had several days to get good and developed.
you see that some plants need a little more feed now, and some plants need a little less....now...not when the res runs out and i refill it.....
you don't want to love your plants to death, but i honestly think they respond better to hands on attention, they don't like being automated......
and that's why most arduino set ups end up in the closet
 

Crusher026

Active Member
weed is getting closer to an actual industry, like fish are, but until they have national legitimacy, no large company will mass produce a fairly expensive automation system.
the variables are different in a garden and a fish tank as well. in a garden, you have to be aware of and adjust for the RH, the temperature, airflow, how vigorously different plants are growing.....i don't feed a slow grower the same as a fast grower, and i give plants that have small weedy stems different nutes than one that's growing red wood trunks...and you can't do that with an automated system on one res
Thats true.. but still i dont see why an very similar hobby seems to have taken more interest is automation and monitoring then the other..
For a small grow space yielding just one strain ar a time i dont see many issues.. I would like to go ebb and flow so serving up to a specific plant its needs is not realy possible anyway..
Ad first i will mix, fill and drain my res by hand.. but automating it doesnt seem like rocket science at all.
 

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
i'm not saying it is rocket science. there's nothing wrong with having a hobby, and nothing wrong with combining hobbies, if you can.
you asked where did the arduino craze go? and i tried to answer you....people discovered that it was more work to make and maintain the systems than it was to just do it all themselves to begin with....
 

Crusher026

Active Member
Thats true.. but i still think its strange the way less people are in to arduino these days.. everyday there are newcomers to all hobbys but Arduino seems to get the least..

For my grow i will start out all by hand, but will be implementing arduino along the way to monitor the envoirement and what happens when i manual chance things.. onece i got that dailt in i will let it slowly take over events i find annoying/inconvenient to do manual..(like adjust fan speed and dim lights)
We will see how that turns out..
Only thing is i will probably not get the feedback i could get in 2012/2015.
 

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
there are a couple of people around here that are into it....i just can't recall who the hell it is at the moment.....search the site for arduino and automation....ought to turn up something
 

Ryante55

Well-Known Member
Res level sensor and leak detector is one of the basic features a grow room controll should have of you ask me..
Even if you have a sensor when your out of town that's just telling you your plants are dead. Automation is awesome but you still have to be in the room every 3 days minimum or you will fail
 

dstroy

Well-Known Member
It's not hype. It works really good. All I do is prune and clean.

what it comes down to, is i think automation leads to inferior product, until you get into a commercial scale operation where hands on with each plant is just impossible. when you water by hand, you look at the plants, you notice any problems when they're starting, not when you make a weekly check and see a problem after it's had several days to get good and developed.
you see that some plants need a little more feed now, and some plants need a little less....now...not when the res runs out and i refill it.....
you don't want to love your plants to death, but i honestly think they respond better to hands on attention, they don't like being automated......
and that's why most arduino set ups end up in the closet
Nah man, automation keeps things consistent. Consistency leads to better analysis of conditions and a better product.

Most arduino setups end up in the closet because most people don't have a clue what it means to automate something and they give up when their ideas fail. I think it just requires someone who likes electronics and messes around with them.

A background in programming doesn't hurt either, because the process of programming an industrial controller isn't "hobbyist level" (the arduinos intended market), and that's what these are when you use them in this manner, industrial process controllers.

Since it's not a trivial task to automate a garden, I would not recommend it to anyone who doesn't already have a pretty clear idea of what they need and a background in electronics to even try.

If we can put people up in space and have them not die then I think it's feasible to automate a simple garden.
 

Crusher026

Active Member
@Ryante55 i think the whole reason ons sets up a growroom is becuase they love plants as much as they like to smoke them.. a growroom controller/monitor should act as an extra pair of eyes as well as preform simple tasks (when) your not able to.. 2 pair of eyes see more then one..

@dstroy
I stumbled upon your growlog a while a go. Great content! Unfortunatly i cant open the .zip file you posted.. i would realy like to see what your setup is al about! I read you use atlas scientific sensors, thats some serious sh*t mate!
I' m looking to get the dfrobot ones myself..
I have some basic level knowledge about electronics but not so much about dc components and laws..
Also i have 0 background in programming, but it will develop as my project does i assume.. doe the greater part i will just copy and paste existing code at first, just to read temp/rh and switch relais..
 

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
Nah man, automation keeps things consistent. Consistency leads to better analysis of conditions and a better product.
until people start to take things for granted....which takes about two days with most people.
i have enough to do taking care of my garden, i don't need an unnecessarily complicated system in place to complicate things any more.
i'm not trying to brag, but i know 4 other growers in my area, and only one of them approaches my quality. two of them are into "automation"......and they produce inferior product. every time. not saying the automation is the reason, but that sure is a coincidence....
again, if it works for you, go with it...i just hate to see the personal touch, which in my opinion is one of the major factors between mids and top shelf....disappear in the name of convenience....maybe if growing by hand is too hard, you ought to focus on your electronics hobby and leave the gardening to those that actually enjoy it
 

CannaBruh

Well-Known Member
A gardener that can grow as well as you that can incorporate automation while keeping quality high will be able to accomplish a lot more given the same sweat equity.
 

Crusher026

Active Member
Hahahah
I know 0 growers in my area..
But we'll see how my inferior stuff turns out tho..
I'm not aiming to grow the highest quality bud(yet).
That will be an unreal goal for a first time indoor grower..
But i dont want this to be a yes and no discussion.. there is no benefit to that..
I just wanted to see if there are still people into arduino..
 

Cx2H

Well-Known Member
Only automation needed is fans on timers. Float valve on res, timer on drip lines, timer on the light., pH dosing unit on the res. It can be left in unattended for as long as res has nutes in the mix

Quality is not affected at all. Probably better honestly when the system is dialed in.

I know I ran that setup couple year back at my other location. Never set it up again here and the new facility. It worked great for perpetual.

Neve tied it all together with a app or audrino type boards and sensors, too complicated IMHO unless you are going big or something. Long story short, makes you lazy and not in the room daily looking at sheet.
 

CannaBruh

Well-Known Member
The assumption that automation makes you lazy is poor and doesn't consider upkeep of automation equipment.

Automation allows for planned precise controls over certain mechanics. It's only as smart as the design.

Automation doesn't suggest that you aren't in the garden everyday, more assumptions.

If you don't believe in automation then please manually turn on/off your lights :clap:

Which arduino are you working with @Crusher026 ? what are your goals?
 
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