I am a software engineer by trade; however, I wanted to build a better garden that could scale in my backyard. I embarked on my hardware journey and 2 years later I finally finished the project. I wanted to personally say Thank You to Adafruit for providing open source hardware and software and excellent customer help. I built several prototypes using the nRF52840 Adafruit Express and various other hardware components. I now have my own custom Arduino which I can use as a core LoRaWAN board to add more functionality to my homestead besides garden control.
Here are some technical details on the hardware:
- Power consumptions is around 1.6uA in deep sleep
Powered by a single AA LiFePO4 battery with solar replenishment
No regulator needed since the LiFePO4 provides a nominal voltage of 3.2V
Arduino compatible for the nRF52840 which comes with integrated BLE
10 GPIO pins and all standard Arduino outputs
5V regulator with SHDN for interfacing with 5V devices
Vertical USB for easier debugging and field servicing
Fits perfectly in the WP-28F outdoor enclosure from Polycase with room for external connections and daughter boards
The dev kit is essentially designed to run outdoors where low power is needed. I've been running it the backyard for several months and it has been running great!
What you see in the backyard picture are 5 of my kits integrated with my Garden Controller daughter board. The Garden Controller does the following:
- Monitors soil moisture and soil temperature
Accurately measures water flow and consumption via pulse input from a water meter
Controls a latching solenoid water valve
Data updates are currently set at 20 minutes and the batteries are still at 100% for the last 5 months. I expect several years of battery life from the project. I also have a mobile app, but I figured the forum would be more interested in the hardware :)
I developed and designed the entire system myself in spare time, so I had a lot to learn. Thanks for looking and feedback welcome!
- Core Board
- IMG_2221.JPG (164.77 KiB) Viewed 313 times
- Daughter Board
- IMG_2224.JPG (139.29 KiB) Viewed 313 times
- Enclosure
- IMG_2229.JPG (167.83 KiB) Viewed 313 times
