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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.
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With the help of Temboo – my aquaponic Balcony Unit generated its first TEXT Message:

SMS

MESSAGE IS:

aquaponic Balcony Unit grow bed now filling.

TOWER SYSTEM – set-up at Maker Faire 2014 May 22, 2014

Posted by rik94566 in adafruit, agponics.com, arduino, DIY aquaponics, DS18B20, Electronic Componets, indoor aquaponics, indoor gardens, indoor growing, Internet-of-Farming, IoT aquaponics, One-wire, Raspberry PI, Tower System, Tower Tubes.
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Maker Faire - 2014

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.
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IMG_1365Since 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:

Media Question – asked on youtube video comment section March 1, 2014

Posted by rik94566 in agponics.com, aquaponic automation, aquaponics, DIY aquaponics, Internet-of-Farming, IoT aquaponics.
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Here is a question that was asked:

media

media - 2

www.carriots.com — new option in the IoT world of automation February 4, 2014

Posted by rik94566 in agponics.com, aquaponic automation, aquaponics, aquaponics electronics, arduino, Carriots, DIY aquaponics, Internet-of-Farming, IoT aquaponics.
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Last week I was very charged up about the blog posting by Home Automation.  It was not that the work they were talking about was that outstanding, it was more about the API he was using called CARRIOTS.  It can be found at http://www.carriots.com.  There have been a number of similar type products hitting the market place recently by a number of different organizations and companies.  What I found most impressive with this was the fact that it was very straight forward and well documented with a clear pricing structure that was affordable for hackers.  The better news is that they have tech support as part of the reason they are in business.  Even better is that with this product it can be used in place of two products (APduino & Xively) because it has features that are found in both the other two services like “RULES”. Can’t wait to see what we all can do with a easy to use and less resource intensive API.

Check out this tutorial:

https://www.carriots.com/tutorials/Arduino_RPi_Carriots/flowmeter

Here is a cool project that will help you see what can be done with this service:

carriots - beer

Pass through PORT – on agponic-MD February 3, 2014

Posted by rik94566 in agponic MD, agponicMD, agponics.com, aquaponic automation, aquaponics, aquaponics electronics, DIY aquaponics, indoor aquaponics, Internet-of-Farming, IoT aquaponics, Rj45 connector.
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One design feature on the agponicMD unit is the “pass through port”.

This is a tube that runs from the top of the grow bed and in front of the RJ-45 top junction connection box and then down into water tank or fish tank.

cap on

This ‘Pass through port” actually has 3 functions:

First Function —    is to allow the unit water tank or fish tank (if you have fish in it) to be filled with having to open the unit up.

Second Function  —   allow for your fish to be feed if you chose to add fish to the unit.  I like Cory cats myself in it Green Emerald’s add a nice color contrast .

Third Function  —  Really the main reason I needed one.  Being that these containers are sealed when fully locked down air cannot get into the bottom tank.  This causes a problem with the drain valve.  Water tank container will not allow draining from the grow bed container as a air is source needed to unlock the inside pressure of the closed container.

I did a youtube video on the subject.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odFwA7KqAJ0

cap off

200,000 Views on Youtube – “Internet of Farming” — WOW February 2, 2014

Posted by rik94566 in agponics.com, aquaponic automation, aquaponics, Crop, DIY aquaponics, Internet-of-Farming, IoT aquaponics, Tower System.
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200K views

Connector Box on agponic-MD February 2, 2014

Posted by rik94566 in 1-wire, agponic MD, agponicMD, agponics.com, aquaponic automation, aquaponics, aquaponics electronics, arduino, DIY aquaponics, DS18B20, Float Sensor, Float Switch, indoor aquaponics, Internet-of-Farming, IoT aquaponics, One-wire, Rj45 connector, Slide Switch, Stainless Steel Temp Probe, SUGRU.
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A big part of the aquaponic simulator is the fact that it uses standard RJ-45 jacks to interface with Arduino’s or a Raspberry PI.  Having this type setup helps keep all the wires and connectors that are required for the unit to operate in a consistent manor safe and out of possible interaction with water elements.

Here is what is needed to construct this sub-assembly:

box MD

When all the above parts come together the finished product looks like this:

Plate - RJ45

Re-Design of agponic-MD January 29, 2014

Posted by rik94566 in agponic MD, agponicMD, agponics.com, aquaponic automation, aquaponics, aquaponics electronics, DS18B20, Float Sensor, Float Switch, indoor aquaponics, IoT aquaponics, One-wire.
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agponicsMDAfter much thinking about how I could improve the desktop aquaponic automation simulator called agponic-MD (micro-device) I built a new one.  It helps to have people that wanted to purchase a few of them.  So I got busy and made it a bit  larger with expansion capability for future components like a 12V backup system  and additional sensors to learn how to automate.  Here is the feature set for the re-designed agponic-MD.

agponic MD
Fully valved for water movement and control
Large grow bed and  tank configuration
1 – water pump to drive unit

4 – water level control sensors
1 – RH and temp internal probe
3 – temp probes (grow bed / water tank / outside)
1 – water flow sensor
1 – pH probe and connectors
1 – DO or additional probe expansion options for future growth of unit
1 – controllable drain port
1 – grow bed media package to fit grow bed (comes from an established grow bed – so bacteria included)
1 – Container of starter water from an active system ( should you like to cycle the system)
1 – outside tank temp indicator
1 – Heater for tank water
1 – Air pump and stone

3 – Grow Pockets for holding plants
5 – Grow sponges for starting seeds and fit into grow pockets
3 – RJ-45 testing cable – for test jacks and sensor connectivity
Back-up air stone and supply option for expansion
Power cords to connect up valves and electrical items
Arduino or Raspberry Pi ready  — (can connect up to either one depending on situation)
Over flow configuration to prevent spillage in grow bed
RJ-45 control boxes that allows outside connection to micro-controller option using standard RJ-45 jacks
Switching External or micro-controller power configuration (depends on sensor power requirements)
EXPANSION CAPABILITY:
2 Additional RJ-45 jacks for sensor expansion
Connection port for DO Sensor to be added at future date (once developed)
e-Tape Sensor expansion
Capacity for adding fully functional 12V back-up system with TXT message notification via off-grid technology
======================================
With this new design it will allow me to have 3 different price points for the educational markets going forward.
Here is the difference in the lite version and the MD unit –  a pro version will also be available in the near future and I will post the feature set for it in a few days now that I have if finalized.
lite-MD visual

Drain configuration for micro device — December 9, 2013

Posted by rik94566 in agponic MD, agponicMD, agponics.com, aquaponic automation, aquaponics, indoor aquaponics, indoor growing.
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Now that I have been building additional micro-devices for recent orders – I need to start doing a better job documenting how the build goes so I can duplicate the process as demand for the units is building (more on this in a later post).  Here is the view of the draining mechanism that allows water exchange between media bed and water tank or fish tank in the real world.

MD Valve for unit