Student: Matthijs Brand (2020)
Introduction
When the lockdown of 2020 hit everyone started gaining new hobby’s. For me that was home automation. For a lot of others it was gardening. Whilest everyting is closed we have more then enough time to drown our plants because we have nothing else to do. But will everybody be thinking of all their plants when the lockdown is over. For this problem I started a project to automate a garden. So you won’t have to check your garden constantly if your plants have to be watered.
3D printed enclosure and waterproofing
To house the electronics a weatherbox is designed for 3D printing. To waterproof this box a thin two part epoxy can be used to coat the box to make sure no water leaks through the plastic layers. To waterproof the electronics this same epoxy is used to coat the electric components so no short circuits can be made when wet.
Smart garden and Home Assistant
The smart garden is in connection with Home Assistant, a well used open source home automation software. The diagram below shows the devision of labour between the smart garden and the home assistant server. The system has a two way connection. If the smart garden switches the pump on the home assistant will show it’s turned on. Also the home assistant is able to turn on the waterpump.
Watering system
The watering system is based on professional watering systems used in greenhouses. The setup can be used without a running water source. The pump can be placed in a container of water that can be placed anywhere in the room to make it least notable.
By changing four components of the watering system it can be upgraded for higher capacity gardens, connecting it to the watergrid.
Smartphone app and web UI
The home assistant server is running the interface of the smart garden as for any other home automation appliances. This way there is no need for a different app for every appliance. The webUI and smartphone app both have the exact same interface and thus have the same features.
Logging can be visible on the home assistant server.
Conclusion
The smart garden can moniter your garden and water your plants. A manual override for watering is also implemented if the system ever has an error. Your garden can easily be upgraded for more capacity.
