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.
STARTED YEAR WITH NEW GOAL August 28, 2020
Posted by rik94566 in Node-Red, Uncategorized.Tags: aquaponic devices, aquaponic electronics, aquaponics, Node-Red, rik-dyi-IOT, rik94566
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In an effort to be able to develop faster I set a goal to go in a different direction. My choices were learn to program in python or explore and work with Node-Red.
Being that I have no programing background or real understanding of computer science python was going to be a major effort to learn and a large time commitment which would take away from my other efforts. After a little more research Node-Red seemed the better choice since both options were going to be a lot of work on my part.
Learning Node-Red and getting start with it was my new goal for the year.
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.
Arduino IDE running on RPi using 5″ HDMI 800 X 480 display March 30, 2017
Posted by rik94566 in 800 X 480 display, adafruit, agponics.com, arduino, DIY aquaponics, Instructables, IoT aquaponics, Raspberry PI, rik kretzinger, rik94566, Uncategorized.Tags: 800X480 display, arduino, arduino IDE, rik, rik94566
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Since the problem with using a 5″ HDMI display was worked with the Raspberry Pi. A new problem developed that needed to be addressed. Running Arduino IDE on Raspberry Pi using the 5″ HDMI display at 800 X 480 resolution. The problem is that the Arduino IDE bleeds off the edges of the display (see picture below). The issue is that the Arduino IDE cannot be moved around to get access to the menu options. So there is no way to check libraries or setting to insure sketches are being up-loaded correctly. No new sketches can be opened either. Major pain.
After some research and a little time solving the Raspberry Pi – Jessie with Pixel display issue I found a solution that resolves this issue as well.
I wrote an Instructable to document what is needed, so check it out if this is a issue for you.
Window size issue with Arduino IDE and RPi
Here are the results:
aquaponic BIO-REACTOR – part of a Balcony Unit design just published on INSTRUCTABLES May 31, 2015
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Just published on INSTRUCTABLES the section on BIO-REACTOR build for the Balcony Unit. AdditionAL sections will be published now to document the building of a Balcony Unit. So stay tuned as more content will be generated in support of releasing the Balcony Unit as a open source project for all to view – share – build!
CLICK LOGO BELOW TO VIEW INSTRUCTABLE:
aquaponic BIO-REACTOR – Balcony Unit
aquaponic BIO-REACTOR is a component of a lager aquaponic Balcony Unit System ( see in pictures above). This instructable is to document the build of the BIO-REACTOR and is referenced in the assembly directions for putting together the Balcony Unit. This provides a comprehensive guide to parts and materials used in the construction of the BIO-REACTOR. You can find individual items of the build at www.rik94566.wordpress.com if you do not want to spend the time to gather all the parts on your own or have extra materials left over from the build.
WHAT DOES IT DO?
DIY BIO-REACTOR – converts toxic fish waste to non-toxic plant fertilizer using moving bed media (big system component not found in any small systems).
WHY IS IT NEEDED:
Three basic rules in aquaponics are as follows:
1:1 RELATIONSHIP — between fish tank volume and grow bed volume.
NUMBER OF FISH (stocking density) — The general rule of thumb for a home, media-based aquaponics system is one pound (500g) of fish for every five to ten gallons (20 to 40 liters) of fish tank water.
FEEDING FISH – only feed fish the amount of food they can eat in 5 minutes.
The BIO-REACTOR is needed because most if not all small systems and owners of these systems break all three of these rules. Breaking these rules causes systems to fail or never reach a balance. The BIO-REACTOR builds a buffer into the system so when the above rules are not followed the Balcony Unit can still work without major system issues that new auqapons (people new to aquaponics) are unaware of or know how to correct.
NO POSTS IN A LONG TIME — March 10, 2015
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Well this is a true statement. Many things have taken place since Maker Faire in 2014 and now. Some good and some not so good. But now is the time to get back to blogging about all the developments of importance in regards to aquaponic automation and systems in my world.
The really good news was that during Maker Faire – Keith Hammonds an editor with Make Magazine approached me with an idea about doing a article on automated aquaponic system build using only items that could be constructed with parts and materials purchase at local big box stores.
I got very excited about this idea and possible project. As in all things execution on ideas is what make the world go round. I developed the concept and started on the execution of the concept. Then some of the not so good things played out and I had to scale down my time commitment to aquaponics and could not deliver the project before years end of 2014.
Well the build is now on track and details will be in the next post that will take place just after this one.
Automated Aquaponics for Business or Pleasure: A Scalable Approach May 14, 2014
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GREAT NEWS – this just was published – Thank You Marco Schwartz January 31, 2014
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Here is a great blog post regrading the biggest problem with IoT –
This is good news as it can be done with a uno arduino and gives basic functionality and seems to be very straight forward solution. I will be working with it this weekend.
Hats of to Marco and his efforts in this area. This in my mind is a huge step forward in automation for hackers like me.
Hello folks ! I am Marco Schwartz from Open Home Automation, and I wanted to share with you the latest article I published on the blog.
In this article, I took home automation outside of the house, to the garden to be more precise. I designed a wireless temperature & humidity sensor, based on Arduino, that connects to the web-based service Carriots, and can measure temperature & humidity directly into the ground.
With this project, you’ll be able to monitor your garden remotely, and even tell the project to send you an email if one measurement coming from your project gets out of range! Want to know more ? Simply read the full article on the blog:
Wireless Gardening with Arduino & the CC3000 WiFi chip
Also, I noticed that you are more and more to get the paperback copy of my book, Home Automation with Arduino. For those of you who received this version of the book, I’d like to hear from you, to know if you were satisfied with what you received from Amazon. Please let me know by replying directly to this email !
That’s all for today folks! Thanks a lot for all the support and the encouragement emails that I receive everyday, and of course you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Cheers,
Marco Schwartz
Open Home Automation
Slide Switch – making it work for my need April 7, 2013
Posted by rik94566 in agponics.com, aquaponic automation, aquaponics, aquaponics electronics, arduino, DIY aquaponics, Uncategorized.Tags: aquaponic automation, aquaponics, arduino, automation, DIY aquaponics, electronics, rik kretzinger
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First question is what is a “SLIDE SWITCH”? Well they are very common. Never thought I would need to know how they worked and how I was going to connected them up. As it turns out I have two projects now that require them. So now is the time to work out how to connect them up.
Here is what one looks like. They are found in many electronic devices.
Yet again in electronics you need to know what it is that you want. There is not just on size fits all when it comes to “SLIDE SWITCHES”. I thought this was going to be easy to get connected up.
Here are just a few of the options I had and decisions I had to make on such a small part.
SPDT – Single pole double throw
DPDT – Double pole double throw
SPST – Single pole single throw
SPDT Sub-mini
Heavy Duty Slide Switch
DPDT Right-Angle PCB Mount
These are just the options at Radio Shack. Do an internet search and the options are endless (seems like).
To solve my problem I made a trip to Radio Shack and made a purchase to get started.
Once I got them home I had to deal with picking between the option of 2-3-4-6 prongs to work with. To solve this issue pulled out my multimeter and tested my options.
The end result I was after is to be able to switch between external power and arduino power (parasite power) for my sensors. The reason for this is some times I want to run external power, but when I am only testing a few sensors I just want to keep things simple and run off arduino power.
The end result was use a DPDT Slide Switch. This required to use the 6 prong switch.
NASA Standard – good enough for me March 7, 2013
Posted by rik94566 in agponics.com, DIY aquaponics, indoor aquaponics, Rj45 connector, Standards, Uncategorized.Tags: aquaponic automation, aquaponics, arduino sketch, DIY aquaponics, rik kretzinger
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I was reading through my blog feeds and ran on to this item:
HERE IS THE LINK IF INTRESTED:
http://blog.makezine.com/2012/02/28/how-to-splice-wire-to-nasa-standards/
I have been interested in establishing standards in all the things that I work on because when I start to scale I will need to have documented processes in place that will allow for building SOP (Standard Operation Procedures). An aquaponics business is no different than other well established industries. So now I have one for all my wire connections that are well documented and well established.
Aquaponic DIY Automation Blog 