Cheap & Simple Growroom Automation!

**skunklover** · 03-12-07, 07:02 PM

...additional assistance could be offered by a pair of trained monkeys to trim your plants, take clones, plant seeds, transplant your infants, spray them, watch for spider mites, check for fungus etc. I guess they could take care of the harvest too, you could just visit every now and then to pick up a new stash and feed them some bananas.

Just don't tech them how to smoke too, or they'll blaze through the lot.

**lkdj2003** · 04-12-07, 04:36 AM

I will be watching this one, it will be very interesting if you get it all together and working.

Best of luck with it mate.

Welcome to THC btw.

**Reefer420** · 04-12-07, 02:28 PM

Well, just to update y'all...

I'm waiting on most of the components and materials I need to start putting together a sensor and the serial interface. I've just been in touch with the state-side supplier and the order is now in the 'processing' stage? I can't make much sense of most these online tracking systems - first it says PREPARING? then it says PENDING? now it says PROCESSING? What does all that tell me ... feck all!

Anyway, i have pretty much all my gear - soldering iron, solder, helping hands, anti-static mat etc - ready to go! I'm just waiting on these other few bits.

I will begin by building one sensor, the interface and making them talk to each other.

In addition, I bought a few small project boxes (58x35x21mm) a couple of days ago and with a few holes in the lid, I think will be perfect for containing at least the smaller sensors such as temperature and humidity.

I also picked up something called Plasti-Dip - it's a spray on rubber/plastic coating and can be used for all sorts of applications. I will use it to waterproof my circuits.

**lkdj2003** · 04-12-07, 05:25 PM

Cool, im really looking forward to this, who knows it may well become the next big idea.

**Blueberryog** · 04-12-07, 08:24 PM

Its possible to have an automated grow room and controll it from a satallite location. Theres a few problems with it though. Im sure you can be tracked through the internet and all that crap but they can also track ordershipments of lights so that doesnt really concern me. The plants are what concerns me. It seems hard enough to grow when the damn things are in my closet and im checking them everyday. I dont believe theres a proven equation for a sucessful grow, individual attention is always needed. So i dont think your grow would be that sucessful unless you had a check up every couple of days.

**Reefer420** · 04-12-07, 11:38 PM

This system is by no means a replacement for the gardener and regular checks must be made as per usual - I wouldn't rely on technology 100% either! As I said, the purpose is to maintain growroom conditions such as temperature and humidity, check that lights are working when they should be working, detecting intruders, either the mundane tasks will be eliminated like altering timer schedules for heaters as the weather changes, you'd know when your bulb blew or a reservoir leaked because your growroom assistant will let you know. The point of this post is ... 'You WILL still need to get your hands dirty! I know how much you all love that aspect of it too.

**Ragemonkey** · 05-12-07, 02:14 PM

Originally Posted by Reefer420

This system is by no means a replacement for the gardener and regular checks must be made as per usual - I wouldn't rely on technology 100% either! As I said, the purpose is to maintain growroom conditions such as temperature and humidity, check that lights are working when they should be working, detecting intruders, either the mundane tasks will be eliminated like altering timer schedules for heaters as the weather changes, you'd know when your bulb blew or a reservoir leaked because your growroom assistant will let you know. The point of this post is ... 'You WILL still need to get your hands dirty! I know how much you all love that aspect of it too.

That sells it for me !

D · 05-12-07, 10:05 PM

Originally Posted by skunklover

...additional assistance could be offered by a pair of trained monkeys to trim your plants, take clones, plant seeds, transplant your infants, spray them, watch for spider mites, check for fungus etc. I guess they could take care of the harvest too, you could just visit every now and then to pick up a new stash and feed them some bananas.

Just don't tech them how to smoke too, or they'll blaze through the lot.

Or you could just get married

...mind you, I'd rather have the monkeys

**asci** · 06-12-07, 03:28 PM

Nice idea mate but I reckon you're over complicating things. If you want it to shut down when an intruder appears, that bit is easy and without programming! Simply have a sensor set up to a power switch so that if triggered, all goes off.

You can autonomise the watering (if using soil) with a setup written on thc somewhere. Humidity sensors linked directly to rvks will sort out temps and humidity...

Still, fantastic idea you have, but you must have been very stoned when you first came up with it!

**Reefer420** · 25-12-07, 08:53 PM

Well, it's Christmas and I was hoping to have this bloody project well underway by now, however, the package has been seized at customs this side of the water for VAT purposes so once I pay the VAT (only about £25) they will deliver the next day! I will sort this out ASAP but suspect it will have to be the New Year now.

I've received the webcams, hub and extension cables for the CCTV system so have made a start on that. The cams are wicked. By that, I mean they seem to be solid sturdy well built units and the actual camera part is only about 1.5"x1.5"x1.5". They also feature 6x Infrared LEDs for night vision - please note when purchasing webcams for night vision that some feature normal LEDs designed to light the area it is capturing on vid rather than provide infrared light.

I bought five of these little buggers and have positioned one near the PC covering the entrance to my grow, one covering the vegetative grow room and one covering the flowering grow room. Each one is set to detect motion in it's entire field of vision and record for a minimum of 30 seconds each time motion is detected. At the moment, the webcam near the entrance is also set to send a pic via email when motion is detected - it will eventually send a SMS text message too. The veg cam takes a still jpg image every 30 seconds too as i am hoping to try a bit of time lapse. I have a problem to overcome with the flowering cam though - the light is too bright! Way too bright!! I only use a single 400W Grolux lamp, but it burnt one camera out before I even used it!! I will have to mount a lense off a pair of sunglasses to protect it. I have also covered the infrared LEDs on this unit to prevent any unwanted light (visible or not) upsetting the flowering cycle. I also want to place one viewing each main door to the property ie. front & back.

None of the webcams are set up to sound an alarm when motion is detected so any intruder will not know they have been spotted.

The software I am using is 'Cam Wizard' - I downloaded the trial and am considering paying for the full version as it seems to do all the things I need - including ftp, http, email etc. Google 'Cam Wizard' for loads of download sites.

COSTS (Roughly):

5x Webcams..........£25 (1 broke so around £6 per camera)
1x 7-port USB Hub..........£7
2x USB Extension Cables (3m & 5m)..........£6.50

Here is a pic of the webcams I am using. They are simple, compact, good quality and well-made.