The control deserves special attention in an automated hydroponic system. This is where the evaluation of the nutrient solution, pH and Ec values, temperature and many other factors come together that must be evaluated with a computer in order to keep the system in the most perfect balance possible for the plants.
The configuration of measurements, taxes and regulations can almost be called banal. A handful of sensors for a few euros are enough to carry out the necessary measurements. A computer with a simple control circuit in just a few lines of program code ensures the appropriate dosage of nutrients as well as a balanced pH value.
The question that now arises is: why does a finished device for this purpose cost several thousand euros? Our answer would be that with cheap technology (RaspBerry, Linux, etc.) there is in principle almost no cost to build such a device - but the reliability that is required in the industry is beyond the possibilities that can be achieved with these same ingredients can. PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers) are still used in industrial plants today. These only cost a few hundred euros and have an extremely long lifespan and are considered highly reliable.
The problem is that no customer today would be satisfied with a handful of lamps that tell them the status of their system. In addition, their programming is quite demanding. Statistical representation and evaluation of the data is practically impossible at this level. A particularly nice introduction to this topic is provided by engineer Tim Hunkin, who made a short film about it on YouTube: PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers) - The Secret Life of Components .
Back to the question: why so expensive? A short answer is: interdisciplinary. In detail: You need a chemist who can calibrate and configure the inexpensive sensors. The professional sensors usually have a direct output of the measured values. But you sometimes pay a hundred times the price. With the inexpensive analog versions, series of measurements and tests must be created which ultimately provide a mathematical formula which also takes into account the inaccuracies of the sensors and environmental influences. You need a programmer to configure the control software - the software costs nothing. However, understanding them requires a long period of training. In addition, you have an operating system that doesn't cost anything but shows amazing behavior when it is supposed to coordinate thousands of measurements per day with hundreds of control commands via various inputs and outputs. And the whole thing was about interfaces that were intended for entertainment and games and not for high reliability or even continuous operation for several months.
Even the simple drivers under Linux have big problems when it comes to such dimensions. Even a USB port on a RaspBerry Pi 4 under Ubuntu - which works great - collapses at unpredictable intervals due to a design flaw in the USB protocol... Here's a nice example of how a small design flaw can make the chosen hardware and software platform seemingly completely unusable does - unless you have a programmer who finds a completely different way. That, and many years of research - including trial and error as well as research in the related areas of biology, chemistry, electronics, mathematics and computer science - make a toy a still affordable tool.
We are convinced that we can offer an acceptable compromise between quality and performance with our systems.
And: You shouldn't believe a word we say. Rene Descartes, the French philosopher, already strived for complete certainty and questioned everything - not only God, but also himself. Just try it out for yourself - maybe you don't have as high standards as we do. |
This is a selection of DIY projects that you can find on https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/projects/tags/hydroponics .
Foreword : Building your own control system or measuring individual hydroponic aspects (pH, Ec, O 2, etc.) requires a wide range of experience. For the do-it-yourself systems presented here (do it yourself), you need some basics in the following specialist areas:
- Linux.
Here you have to install the workbench for Arduino and configure ports.
- Databases.
Only necessary when recording and documenting growth and nutrient concentrations.
- Programming.
Ideally, you should even understand what you are programming.
- Electronics.
Although soldering is not always necessary, you should already know what a circuit is.
- Mathematics.
Depending on the sensor, it may be necessary to convert the measured values; school knowledge is almost always enough.
This basic knowledge is sometimes only required in a rudimentary manner. Don't let that put you off!
The appeal of building your own is also to deal with new things. The tricky part, and the challenge, is often the interaction of the individual components.
One final note: The electronics used are often very reliable. Despite this: for systems where a loss of the harvest would be financially painful, you cannot avoid a certain amount of redundancy. Redundancy is the additional presence of functionally identical or comparable resources in a technical system when they are not normally required for trouble-free operation. In short: everything in the system that is essential for operation should be monitored promptly or even be designed twice.
Even if you are not a customer of ours, you can receive help from us in all areas with a time-limited support contract . If the effort seems too high for you, we also offer ready-made systems .
Overview of some do-it-yourself projects using microprocessors (Arduino, RaspBerry, etc.)
Frustrated with the prices for high quality grow light systems? Let's design a fully controllable, easy to adjust, open-source LED panel. DIY Grow LED Light | Designing a Better SunProject tutorial by Dmitrii ALBOT |
