HOME ASSISTANT — NODE-RED August 31, 2020
Posted by rik94566 in agponics.com, aquaponic automation, aquaponic systems, aquaponics, auqaponics automation, Controlled Environment Agriculture, DIY aquaponics, indoor aquaponics, internet of farming, Internet-of-Farming, Uncategorized.Tags: aquaponic automation, aquaponic devices, Home Assistant, Internet-of-Farming, Node-Red, rik kretzinger, rik-dyi-IOT, rik94566
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Researching how best to start learning Node-Red I spent a lot of time on YouTube watching what Node-Red is and how people learned how to use it. As always a lot of YouTuber’s put out content and some are clearly better at actually helping people understand concepts and produce valuable content that can be put to use by a non-computer programmer type person.
So I developed my list of people that were best for me to follow and start the process of learning this new skill set. Many of the ones I like were talking about the use of Node-Red with Home Assistant.
I had looked at Home Assistant some years ago and at the time it seemed Home Assistant was for very advanced users that are very good at the command prompt and with a lot of system knowledge. Way above my level at the time.
Then my research turned up this reference and changed my perspective on using Home Assistant.
This was, just what I was looking for.
Miniature Test Leads – which ones work best for my projects July 20, 2019
Posted by rik94566 in adafruit, agponics.com, aquaponic automation, aquaponic systems, DIY aquaponics, indoor aquaponics, Instructables, internet of farming, Internet-of-Farming, IoT aquaponics, rik kretzinger, rik.diy.IOT, rik94566.Tags: aquapnic devices, aquaponic system parts, aquaponics, DIY aquaponics, Internet-of-Farming, jameco electronics, rik, rik94566, sensor
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I wanted to move away from alligator clips because they were much large when working with small gauge wire. They did not work for me in very small areas. So was looking for a better solution. Found this miniature test leads at Jameco Electronics when I was picking up an order, they were a good solution for me.
When first using these miniature test leads they worked very well. But after a little time using these leads and problems surfaced. The problem was that they were cheaply made. The connection of the wire and the metal insert probe would break off without much stress placed on them. One or two is understandable, but 5 out of 10 was not the experience I was looking for.
When doing a search for a new product on the Adafruit site I found these test leads
These leads are a little larger than the Jameco test leads, but still were small enough for my use. Construction and connections were of high quality and work perfectly and held up with repeated use. So these are my new go to test leads for my development efforts. They will be seen in a number of up coming Instructables that I am working on and all my testing of sensors and connectors.
Started a new YOU TUBE channel — rik.dyi.IOT July 13, 2019
Posted by rik94566 in agponics.com, aquaponic automation, aquaponics, aquaponics electronics, arduino, auqaponics automation, Balcony aquaponics, Balcony Garden, BSF - Black Solider Fly.1 comment so far
Be a maker – change your world
Being that I have been working on a lot of content in a number of different areas over the past two years, I need a better brand than what I had been using (which was really nothing). So, to support this effort I decided to re-brand with a new logo and more descriptive caption as to my actual efforts and interests. My focus has not changed over all and still is AQUAPONICS, but there are so many other areas that impact the full scope of Aquaponics in todays world. Aquaponics is no longer just about PLANTS – FISH – WATER which is being shared — in my mind.
Here is the link to my new YOU TUBE channel and I will be building it out as I finish off content that supports my AQUAPONICS efforts to expand my development of some RADICAL new concepts that I have been thinking about and working on deployment of.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcsDV2kS2vE_snRF5OlKL_A
WATER LEVEL INDICATOR – AQUAPONICS quest for a useful one September 13, 2018
Posted by rik94566 in adafruit, aquaponic automation, aquaponics, Balcony Garden, DIY aquaponics, Instructables, internet of farming, IoT aquaponics, rik kretzinger, rik94566, sensor, Uncategorized.Tags: aquaponics, DIY aquaponics, rik, ultrasonic sensor
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THE PROBLEM IN AQUAPONICS for me —
Up to this point I have wanted to have a simple, but effective water level indicator sensor for the water level in the Balcony Garden fish tank component of the build – that works!
Aquaponic Sensor Set for Balcony Garden — see section on ultrasonic sensor
I spent a lot of time working with and trying to stabilize a ultrasonic solution.
First off these sensors are not waterproof ( the waterproof version is around $85.00 US Waterproof version). The non-waterproof versions run around $5.00 US. So this would seem the best way to go and work to make it work by using some waterproofing strategies. Hard to do when working in an aquaponic environment.
Next they are very hard to mount in a way that they can be useful to determining water level in a tank. There are a lot of instructables talking about this aspect for these sensors and even more youtube articles, but most if not all are just demos and breadboard applications. No real useful solutions that really can be implemented in a scalable way.
Final issue is that I have yet to be able to stabilize these sensors and have wasted a lot of time trying to get them to be reliable in a usable way.
SOLUTION – find a better method or be able to purchase one that actually gets the job done in a simple and affordable and scalable way.
800 X 480 – 5″ HDMI display – Jessie with Pixel – resolution issue – Raspberry Pi March 16, 2017
Posted by rik94566 in 800 X 480 display, adafruit, aquaponic automation, aquaponics electronics, Balcony Garden, DIY aquaponics, Electronic Componets, indoor aquaponics, Instructables, IoT aquaponics, Raspberry PI, rik kretzinger, rik94566.add a comment
This display was purchased to allow a graphical interface element to the automation effort of aquaponic systems. So I was very happy to find this display and it could easily be integrated into the overall design with a very small footprint.
ADAFRUIT is quite clear that that this 5″ HDMI display will not work without changes to the “config.txt” file to set-up for the different display size. In this case 800 X 480 resolution. The documentation to make these changes is very good and works as documented.
THAT IS UNTIL A NEW RELEASE OF RASPBERRY PI OS —
As always technology never stands still. Advances are made almost daily when it comes to Raspberry Pi and the OS is no exception. In late 2016 a new upgrade was rolled out called “JESSIE” with Pixel. There was a lot of buzz about this new upgrade and it does look and perform much better over all. Once you upgrade or update there is no going back.
The problem with the “JESSIE” upgrade is that now the solution provide by ADAFRUIT for the 5″ HDMI display no longer worked very well and was unusable as a display on the Balcony Gardens.
A fix was needed, but since “JESSIE” was so new no one was really aware of this resolution issue and the resolution issue was not even being talked about on ADAFRUIT site or in the Raspberry Pi forums.
After a lot of searching and months later a solution was found.
Long story so I will not go into details of the issue, but have documented it all in an Instructable that can be found here:
Instructable – 800 X 480 5″ HDMI display – resolution issue
HERE IS THE FIX AND LINK TO THE SOLUTION:
Actual changes needed in the “config.txt” file for use:
In the file /boot/config.txt add the following text to the end of the file:
#increase HDMI signal strength
config_hdmi_boost=4
#remove black borders
disable_overscan=1
#set specific CVT mode
hdmi_cvt 800 480 60 6 0 0 0
#set CVT as default
hdmi_group=2
hdmi_mode=87
dtoverlay=ads7846,cs=1,penirq=25,penirq_pull=2,speed=50000,keep_vref
_on=0,swapxy=0,pmax=255,xohms=150,xmin=200,xmax=3900,
ymin=200,ymax=3900
dtoverlay=w1-gpio-pullup,gpiopin=4,extpullup=1
Save the config file and then do this: (see note below about this one)
sudo apt -get install xinput-calibrator
I have not tried using the above install command, because I was able to gain the results I needed without it. I believe like Auvy that sometimes less is more!
HERE IS THE LINK TO THE SOLUTION AS SHOWN ABOVE:
AMAZON SOLUTION – 5″ HDMI display – JESSIE – Pixel – resolution issue
Temboo — aquaponic “HELLO WORLD” equivalent June 1, 2015
Posted by rik94566 in agponics.com, aquaponic automation, aquaponics, aquaponics electronics, Balcony aquaponics, internet of farming, Internet-of-Farming, rik94566.Tags: agponics, aquaponics, automation, balcony aquaponics, Controlled Environment Agriculture, DIY aquaponics, rik kretzinger, sensor, Temboo
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With the help of Temboo – my aquaponic Balcony Unit generated its first TEXT Message:
MESSAGE IS:
aquaponic Balcony Unit grow bed now filling.
Temboo – my new found friend May 28, 2015
Posted by rik94566 in aquaponic automation, aquaponics, arduino, Internet-of-Farming, Temboo.Tags: agponics, aquaponic automation, balcony aquaponics, rik kretzinger
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Ever since the release of the “Internet of Farming” YouTube interview – the recurring question is how to get the code working on my Arduino for my situation. Well — the reality of it is that everyone has a very different situation and totally different conditions specific to their setup and needs.
In the video I was using what was the best solution at the time to overcome this programming issue for me and what I was working to accomplish. I spent a lot of time on research and internet searches and came up with the best solution at the time. Fast forward 3 years and factor in advancements in technology and now things have progressed at a fast rate and new tools and companies are popping up in this next big area of technology growth IoT – Internet of Things.
I started learning about Temboo ( https://temboo.com/ ) on different blogs that I follow and checked them out and began to learn more about their solution. It seemed very simple in concept and very close to what I was looking for to help others on the same journey I have been on for a long time now. Couple this with the Balcony Unit I have been developing over the last year for entry level people wanting a solution to learn Aquaponics and use automation — it was a clear match. It is a match because if someone built a Balcony Unit for themselves or purchased a kit of parts then they can customize the software solution for their needs using Temboo. All I would have to do is supply a base code to get people started and then they can take their Balcony Units ( or other projects you have ) to whatever level you want. There you go a PERFECT WORLD!
So as it goes I contacted Temboo about working with me on the Balcony Unit and the article for MAKE Magazine that is schedule to run sometime in the Fall of this year. Well it turns out Temboo was interested in this effort and will be working with me to get some base code build that all of you will have access to right here for the Balcony Unit. John Sigmier of Temboo reached out to me and let me know Temboo was interest in this effort. So I will be blogging about all this effort now that we are close to pulling it all together for the finished Balcony Unit effort. You will be reading about this effort and what I learn in this process.
John Sigmier of Temboo came by to chat and look at the aquaponic Balcony Unit at Maker Faire 2015 –
aquaponic- IoT device — Balcony Garden March 10, 2015
Posted by rik94566 in aquaponic automation, aquaponics, Balcony aquaponics, Controlled Environment Agriculture, DS18B20.Tags: agponics, aquaponic automation, aquaponics, arduino, automation, balcony aquaponics
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BALCONY AQUAPONIC GARDEN – IoT READY- DIY or purchase materials locally and build — by rik kretzinger
EDITOR’S CHOICE – not once – but 3 times @ Maker Faire – WOW May 21, 2014
Posted by rik94566 in agponics.com, aquaponic automation, aquaponics, aquaponics electronics, arduino, DIY aquaponics, indoor aquaponics, indoor gardens, indoor growing, Internet-of-Farming, IoT aquaponics, Raspberry PI, sensor, Tower System.Tags: aquaponic automation, aquaponics, automation, DIY aquaponics, indoor aquaponics, microcontroller, rik kretzinger
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Very few displays achieve 3 EDITOR CHOICE AWARDS —
RADIAL FLOW FILTER – just completed April 2, 2014
Posted by rik94566 in agponics.com, aquaponic automation, aquaponics, aquaponics electronics, Controlled Environment Agriculture, DIY aquaponics, Electronic Componets, indoor aquaponics, Internet-of-Farming, IoT aquaponics, PRODUCTS, radial flow filter, Tower System.Tags: aquaponic automation, automation, Controlled Environment Agriculture, DIY aquaponics, indoors aquaponics, IoT, microcontroller, rik kretzinger
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Since first conceiving of the Tower unit as a concept I knew they needed to be operated differently than DWC and Media bed in how you deal with the solids from the fish. Media beds — it has not been that big a deal for me because my rule is that any tank size smaller than 350 I filter the water and break-up the solids and then put back into solution by pumping back into the grow beds. This way I lose no nutrients that the fish produce. Has worked well for over 3 years now. In the testing that I have done with the towers I found that solids need to be dealt with or things will plug up. I still will be reintroducing the broken up solids back into the system put it will take place downstream of the bio-filter component and re-injected into the new buffer tank that stabilizes fish tank water volume and height. This all came out of research I was doing on how best to handle solids in aquaponics. As designed this radial flow filter can handle up to and maybe a bit more than a 1000 gallons of fish tank water. The only thing left to figure out on this radial flow filter now is where I will be locating the outlet for the clean water. That will be dependent on fish tank water level. Should have fish tank completed this coming weekend and make the determination on this aspect of the build.
I put together a youtube slide show if you want to see more detail of the radial flow filter:
Aquaponic DIY Automation Blog 