Need Ideas on Control equipment

[GeekGirl]

Hi All,

 

I am an Electronics Engineer, who is between projects and it looks like I have a month or so of no work

 

I am looking at constructing some equipment for a friend, as there seems to be hardly anyone doing it in Au.

 

I have come up with a list of gadgets that my friend would like (Cycle timers, Digital thermostats, Digital Hydrostat, Co2 Controller)

 

I was wondering if:

 

A) anyone is interested in these sort of things,

anyone has any other things they would like.

 

I was thinking along the lines of a central unit that had a display and keypad, probably two controlled mains outets ie one for lights and one for pump, then as you wanted things like more timer outlets or any of the gadgets above, you just plug these into the central unit and expand to what you need.

 

 

GG

[need4weed3]

A) anyone is interested in these sort of things,

anyone has any other things they would like.

 

yeah I would like you to send

me some nice buds...

[SukonmiSkunk]

most these things are already available for the commercial industry.. in some form or another...

 

i think if you can come up with something that does everything from the one unit youd be on a winner..like Co2, PH, EC, humidity, temp.. as far as i know you cant get everything in the same unit..

 

but really.. for the home grower its not something people tend to look for.. but i can still see a use for a smaller scale unit.. maybe sends the data to your comp.. or something.. dont know...

 

auto dosers for PH and EC arent really something youd set up for the home grow.. but i think a unit that can monitor and adjust everything from the one place would be a great idea.. like monitor the Co2.. adjust the intake.. adjust the fans.. monitor the PH and EC.. adjust the intake .. same with humidity.. i think if you can come up with a unit which monitors and sends the data to a PC where everything can be adjusted and relayed back to the units.. would be a great idea

 

in the greenhouses where i used to work... we set up auto dosers for the PH and EC.. they had about 30 hot houses then.. and you had to adjust and monitor each one separately would be good if you can just get on the PC and access to all of that.. and more..

[GBOOST]

i think if you can come up with something that does everything from the one unit youd be on a winner..like Co2, PH, EC, humidity, temp.. as far as i know you cant get everything in the same unit..

 

Google Growtronix, DJ has great customer service and the product speaks for itself, the only single bad feedback I have found is one particular meter had a very long waiting period to be made which is hard to point at GT as its made by a 3rd party. Happy searching

 

GB

[Paladin]

Hey - well, you seem to like both Depeche Mode and the Bard, so kudos to you.

 

I'm thinking a single self-contained unit for a grow cupboard would be interesting, as there are lots of people doing these kinds of small indoor personal-use grows. Something with a filter, lights and a powerful enough fan to just bolt in to an established space would be interesting - but I see some problems with being able to adjust distance from lights, etc for the plants. Maybe something that bolts in to the top of a cupboard space, with adjustable shelves below so that rather than moving the lights down to meet the plants, you gradually mode the plants down away from the lights. Dunno. Quite a bit to go wrong on the ventilation side of things there, also, I should think.

 

Price point would be an issue with such a thing, though, as a lot of people who build drobes seem to not want to spend the money on a correct setup and rather go 'ghetto'.

 

Anyway - interesting projects you have going there. Best wishes for them!

[pug1010]

G'day:)

 

I reckon something you could monitor remotely on your iPhone would be superb - perhaps remote monitoring of C02 levels and the ability to turn on power to certain power points.

 

pug:)

[GBOOST]

G'day:)

 

I reckon something you could monitor remotely on your iPhone would be superb - perhaps remote monitoring of C02 levels and the ability to turn on power to certain power points.

 

pug:)

 

http://growtronix.com/store/

 

As I said before, growtronix does almost everything mentioned in this thread, for what I consider good value, including CO2 measurement and as long as you have internet connected to the monitoring laptop, you can view, track and change any parameter from your iphone or any computer anywhere in the world. It can also send you an email or alert if anything runs out of parameter, the possibilities are almost endless I suggest people interested in this type of thing have a look!

 

GB

[Paladin]

Hey, GB. That is indeed some pretty impressive technology.

[pug1010]

Nice one GBoost.

 

Amazing stuff.

[pug1010]

Just had another look at the Growtronix system and reckon GeekGirl might still be in with a shot. It is a great piece of kit, but not 240v and pretty exy. Also wonder why anyone would still use a serial port.

 

If monitoring was the main criterion rather than control, perhaps the easiest thing would be to get a wireless IP Camera and aim it at the instruments in the room/tent ie point it at the thermostat, hydrometer, C02 meter etc. There are many programs on various Operating Systems that supposedly provide a protected live Video stream, so perhaps the camera could also aim down towards the plants, floor and the instruments - depends how safe you reckon the software is.

 

As long as you have an internet connection in your house (a wireless IP camera could connect to the internet via a wireless router), and you had mobile access to the internet, you'd be able to monitor the vital stats anywhere. If control was the main thing though, the Growtronix would be the trick, if you could get around the 120v issue.