Ongoing changes

Gate opener using ESPHome on a Raspberry Pi Pico W

Recently, I needed a way to open an automatic gate. I used a Raspberry Pi Pico W along with a relay to simulate a 1-second button press, which triggers the gate motor to start or stop. I'm documenting the setup here: https://sites.google.com/site/growboxguy/esphome/esphome_gate

New Hempy module using ESPHome on a Raspberry Pi Pico W

With the Pico W’s built-in WiFi, each module connects directly to Home Assistant, removing the need for the Main module

I'll keep track of the progress here: https://sites.google.com/site/growboxguy/esphome/esphome_hempy

Recent changes

Interactive Home Assistant dashboard for the Main module

Using HACS (Home Assistant Community Store) and the multiple-entity-row custom card, I'm developing a new native Home Assistant dashboard for the Main module. The dashboard features interactive buttons that directly trigger MQTT commands. Node-RED is still required to parse the JSON reports from the Main module into individual sensor readings.

Moved waste reservoir weight sensor

Due to memory limitations on the Hempy module, the waste reservoir weight sensor has been relocated to the Reservoir module. The Hempy module now features updated watering logic that exclusively relies on the bucket weight sensor to calculate the amount of water drained during watering.

Aeroponics update

I recently combined the Spray and Bypass solenoids to a single assembly and updated the misting loop to quick-connect fittings.

Home Assistant

This idea to use Home Assistant came from one of you guys and I love it. Home Assistant OS is designed to be the central system for smart homes with a focus on local control and privacy. It is a Linux server with a web interface running on your local network with Add-ons for services like Adblocking, hosting a Database/Web/DNS/MQTT/VPN server, displaying Grafana dashboards, and processing data using Node-RED.

Home Assistant Supervised - Add-ons

Grafana dashboard

Node-RED flow: Logic that controls data processing / displaying the dashboard

Node-RED dashboard For controlling the Gbox420 Arduino modules

Home Assistant entities Current status of each sensor entity reported by the Gbox420 Main module. Created and updated by Node-RED.

MQTT and Node-RED support

The latest release of the Gbox420 sketch now supports publishing sensor readings to MQTT and reacting to commands received through an MQTT subscription. This allows IoT applications to interact with the grow box.

One example is a custom dashboard using Node-RED:

Migrating to a grow tent

After many years I'm letting go of the idea of using a wardrobe as the base of the grow operation and moving every component to a 100x100x200cm / 40x40x78inch grow tent. You can find my virtual showroom for the migration in the SketchUp 3D Warehouse:

SketchUp 3D Warehouse: Gbox420 - ShowRoom

Or visit the Gbox420 GitHub page and download the entire project.

New Hempy Bucket UI and watering logic

Weight-based watering now displays the measured Wet weight and the calculated Dry Weight for the next watering. Check out the Overview of the new watering logic here.

Migrated the Hempy and Aero modules to finite-state machine logic

Instead of having a jungle of if-else conditions to track the state of each module, I'm now using the Finite-state machine concept where the modules have predefined states represented by Enum classes.

Hempy bucket - Irrigation update

Replaced the drip lines with drip spikes and updated the pumps to 12V - 2A diaphragm pumps.

Car battery UPS

I finally installed an Uninterruptible Power Supply to power all DC equipment in the grow tent. I opted for an old 400VA UPS with broken batteries and hooked up a car battery to it. It should be able to power the Arduino automation, Aeroponics, and the Hempy pumps for 24 hours after losing AC power. This was especially crucial with Aeroponics where plants die in a matter of hours without regular watering. This also meant upgrading to a 180W - 12V DC power supply to power every DC component from the same source.

Spray duration tweaks

Added a new thread to the Aeroponics module that runs every 0.1 seconds to check if it is time to stop spraying. Before this tweak, the spraying could continue up to 1 second longer than scheduled. I captured several spray cycles using an oscilloscope to demonstrate this. Check out the difference of the spray solenoid ON time (HIGH signal) when the spray duration is set to 1 second. Notice that before the tweak the spray could run for up to 2 seconds:

Before spray interval tweaks

After spray interval tweaks

PWM pump speed control

Adjusting the pump motor speed is now possible using the Hempy and Aeroponics modules using Transistor-based relays.

Aeroponics - Day and Night spray interval

Now you can define different spray intervals for when the lights are ON and when they are OFF. The current state is determined by the state of the lights and the light sensor feedback. If any of the lights are on OR the light sensor detects light the Main module signals to the Aeroponics module to enable Day mode, in darkness the Night interval is applied.

Lights - Fade in/out option when turning the lights ON/OFF

With Fade in/out enabled the lights slowly transition from ON to OFF and from OFF to ON state using PWM dimming. On the Gbox420 interface now you can set the brightness increase/decrease rate in 1% increments, and how often to make a change in seconds.

PS: Pressing the ON or OFF button a second time instantly changes the light state and skips the fading part.

Feature removed, plants do not need a slow transition of light: https://youtu.be/ID9rE5JewVg?t=1678
I highly recommend watching the entire video, but the key point regarding the unnecessary fade-in and out is at the 27:58 timestamp.