Vivarium Set-up automation help.

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calcasmy
 
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Vivarium Set-up automation help.

Post by calcasmy »

Hello Adafruit Techs,

My current project involves automating a Vivarium for a small plant (max height of around 8 inches). The following are what I am considering to automate.
1. Humidifier to maintain humidity.
2. Fans to circulate air and humidity based on temperature readings.
3. Drip irrigate the plant
4. Control LED Growlights, not just turn on and off but control the intensity using a PWM.

I am not electronically savvy, so with my initial research and limited knowledge, I am planning on controlling all the components using SS Relays and Raspberry PI.

Question: In my research I have come across multiple varieties of components, humidifiers operating at 5V, 12V, 24V and 120 etc.

The Growlights require 120V as it is a commercially available components that I am buying, So one 120V SS Relay.

Do you suggest I use, 12v Fans and 12V humidifiers or should I go with 5V, What is the difference. I will be powering them separately (not form Raspberry PI).

Appreciate your help.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Vivarium Set-up automation help.

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

The general rule is to choose a supply voltage that matches your biggest load. Then use buck and/or boost regulators to derive other voltages if necessary. Generally speaking it is more efficient to reduce voltage with a 'buck' regulator than to increase it with a 'boost' converter.

Motors such as fans & pumps are likely to be your biggest loads here. Higher voltage motors tend to be more efficient, but lower voltages are safer. 12v is probably a good compromise for a project of the scale you are describing.

Most microcontrollers can be powered from a 5v source. And you can efficiently derive that from your main 12v supply: https://www.adafruit.com/product/4739

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calcasmy
 
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Re: Vivarium Set-up automation help.

Post by calcasmy »

Thank you for the suggestions. I got a Pimoroni Enviro+ recently to monitor my plant environment. The temperature reading are completely off and based on what I read about Enviro+, it uses this temperature to derive relative humidity.

Also, Would you have any really suggestions. My Growlights are going to be 120V, Powered separately and will use a Relay and PWM to control them.

As for Fans humidifier and water pumps, I will go with your suggestions to use a buck to step-down to required voltage with a single 24v power supply.

Finally, What is the different between BME280, BME680 and BME688

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: Vivarium Set-up automation help.

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

The temperature readings on the Enviro+ are going to be affected by the heat from the Pi. They have designed the board to minimize that. But you wold probably get better numbers from a remotely mounted sensor.

The BME680 and 688 are equivalent to the BME280 with respect to temp, humidity and pressure. But they add gas sensing capability as well.

The BME688 expands upon the BME680 capabilities with programmable heater controls in the gas sensor to better differentiate between different gasses.

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calcasmy
 
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Re: Vivarium Set-up automation help.

Post by calcasmy »

Thank you for the immediate response. I will get a BME 280.

I have connected the Enviro+ with an extension strip. Do I have an option to turn off the calculated temp gain? I am unable to find the BME library to make any changes.

Thanks.

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Re: Vivarium Set-up automation help.

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Which BME280 library are you using? There are several out there.

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calcasmy
 
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Re: Vivarium Set-up automation help.

Post by calcasmy »

Hello Bill, This is where I got the library from - .https://learn.pimoroni.com/article/gett ... on-library

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Re: Vivarium Set-up automation help.

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Not familiar with that one. Pimoroni should be able to help you out with that. They have a support forum here: https://forums.pimoroni.com/

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calcasmy
 
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Re: Vivarium Set-up automation help.

Post by calcasmy »

Thank you for the quick response. Also, I will try and figure the coding part out my self, but want to separate the Enviro board from the raspberry pi, Can you help me with a 40 pin ribbon cable (male to female)? I searched, but couldn't come up with anything except https://www.adafruit.com/product/1988?g ... bEEALw_wcB which is a female to female.

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