Thank you!

That's awesome!  It's just like a CNC machine!!

Great work he did...   If he could use a Magazine for seeds, it could be a lot faster to plant'em!  :) ll seeds might be a problem... very fine to larger...  looks like it would like Radish & onion seeds...

Yes, if he used a Pi with a Camera, it could be trained to recognize GOOD plants vs weeds and pluck'em before they got very big.

Thank you!  COOL!

WOW!  You're really into it!

Ha ha! Well not to that degree. I only got into this stuff a month or so back. I had dabbled in software in my career but nothing serious, just small hacks to solve specific problems. But being exposed to these inexpensive MCUs and sensors peeked my interest. Like most I wanted to try something that would use a number of functions and would like to create something useful. 

The primary thing that got me fired up was the discovery of the sonic wind sensor. Even though I could buy one off the shelf I was very interested in the technology, the math, the fact there would be no moving parts and I thought I had a chance to build some of it myself. The rest of the sensors got added just because I could.

Using components from HC-SR05 that is built for measuring distance and repurposing them to measure the difference in sound speed due to wind movement was very appealing to me. Using these sensors for an outdoor project is not the smartest idea but it started as more of a proof of concept and if it appears to work I can always change them out.

I must admit I'm at the limit of what the HC-SR05 and it's components can perform. I now have is a lot of software involved to make up for its lack of repeatability and the noisy environment. My current environment is a mass of wires on a breadboard. The electrical noise with all the sensors running is having a significant impact on repeatability of my wind sensor readings. When I recently moved to the ESP32 I had to rebuild most of the circuitry. I started with the wind sensor and got very stable reading with no other sensors operational. So I'm hoping the move from breadboard to perf board will reduce the electrical noise associated with long wires.

Do you have a LINK to such a Video?!   Sure sounds interesting!  YES?!

And it knows a weed from a tomato seedling?  🙂

Here is the link to FarmBot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqYrAWssrrY

And yes and no on does it know weed from seedling. Since it is used to plant the seedlings it knows where they should be and it was implied that it tracks the growth of the plant. With that information any thing outside of the calculated area of the plant is defined as a weed.

WOW!  You're really into it!

I picture Remotes...  Wind Reporting Remote...  Rain Measurement Remote... Temp., Humidity, Pressure Remote...  Pollen sensing Remote...  etc. etc.

Then, in the Master Station, all remotes will be interrogated as required gathering & processing it's information...  Setting OFF any required ALERTS and communications to Action Remotes like Turn on the Water...  Activate Weed Eating remote...  Remote to call the cat due to recognizing a mouse / rat...

The Master is just controlling when to look at the various remotes... 

All remotes having their own I.D. Char/number... using the NRF24L01's to communicate to the Master,   Saving all readings (+ date & time stamp) from all remotes to a SDcard file for further analysis... as well as Displaying key information on a screen...  Buttons to control various screens for various types of information.

Some remotes may be super simple using the ATiny MCU...  NANO...  UNO...  as required to do the job.

Result is using the KISS principle... 

The Master may have to be a MEGA just for the additional memory that may be needed.  (?)

Am I on the wrong track thinking this way?

Bill has done a great job in introducing & working with the ESP32...  Makes one think a little... 

Could be using an ESP32 CAM in certain Remotes to report VIDEO of someone stealing those Avocados from your avocado tree, sounding off a Silent alarm causing the police to be called, if required.   

Of course, the WeedEating Remote would have to have the ESP32 Cam so it could detect good-stuff from weeds!  :)   

Then comes the Laser Armed Remotes to detect insects like Grasshoppers, Beetles, etc. and ZAP them in their tracks stopping them from eating those great tomatoes, etc.!

Isn't this FUN!  :)

@mikeburton_2000

I think a lot of us hobbyist are in the mode of having a solution that is looking for a problem they can solve. It's great to see some practical application for these MCUs.

I was watching a YouTube video last night about a guy who built a robot (it looked very much like a scaled-up version of a 3D printer) called FarmBot.  The bot had access to several different types of tools that magnetically attached to a movable head for planting, watering and weeding. It looked like a lot of technology and cost to solve minor problems. But is was fun to watch it watering and weeding unattended.

Do you have a LINK to such a Video?!   Sure sounds interesting!  YES?!

And it knows a weed from a tomato seedling?  :)

I think a lot of us hobbyist are in the mode of having a solution that is looking for a problem they can solve. It's great to see some practical application for these MCUs.

I was watching a YouTube video last night about a guy who built a robot (it looked very much like a scaled-up version of a 3D printer) called FarmBot.  The bot had access to several different types of tools that magnetically attached to a movable head for planting, watering and weeding. It looked like a lot of technology and cost to solve minor problems. But is was fun to watch it watering and weeding unattended.

The I/O requirements are 2 outputs for mux addressing and 1 for mux chip enable. One output for the HC-SR05 trigger and one input for Echo. So just for wind measurements there are 4 outputs and 1 input. The other sensors in the station include rain amount and rate requiring one input, a BME280 for temp, humidity and pressure taking 2 pin for the I2C interface, one analog input for the UV sensor and another digital input for particle detection unit for pollen detection.

The ESP8266 was very close to accomplishing my needs but there are additional restrictions that some pins can't be pulled low and other can't be pulled high during boot that I was not aware of when I started with the MCU that kept tripping me up. After several days of research, trial and error experimentation, no combination gave the needed I/O without a restriction.

The ESP32 is much more functionality than I needed but for a similar cost I now see why people are switching to it. In my short experience with the two MCUs I found the ESP32 is less finicky about it's power requirements and has significantly less got-ya's on boot restrictions.

I'm curious as to what you are doing that requires so many IO pins?

For my master station, it's primarily a Collector from the remotes using the LRF24L01's to communicate with all of the remotes.

So far, it appears that the Arduino NANO could be used for the remotes which would only report Temp, Humidity, & possibly a soil moisture Reading to the Master...  when the Master calls for it.

The Master will probably be the UNO because of the Program Memory required...  but will not be strapped for IO pins.

Thank you.

I will continue to tinker and add to this project until I have something I am happy is working correctly and has the possibility of a sensible life span. As it is with the cheap sensors etc I don't think it is a viable long term 'product' and despite it only being for my personal interest it needs to last.

Adding the auto watering for certain zones within the greenhouse comes next but the pumps and valves will have a bit of power draw so I am awaiting the Orient Express to bring the solar power stuff to run it all. Then as we head towards winter, everything will need keeping warm, so there is an excuse to add temperature control too.

The whole reason for picking up the gauntlet with microcontrollers again was because I want to make a rig to test 3 phase BLDC pumps I use at work. I have a lot to learn to before I get to a solution for that and this project was a complete diversion (though most if not all the principals in the project can relate back to things found in my work), but I have learned some valuable stuff - not least the power of community!