Automating mushroom substrate bagging system w rpi

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Looking to automate a mushroom substrate bagging system using load cells, stepper motors and a rpi to drive several waste gates and a water valve. The idea is to have a menu driven system to allow an operator to select the recipe required and the rpi automatically adds the right amounts of each material and water up to the weight required.

Current thinking is to use a 20KG load cell + ADC for weight control (bags would be 2.5-5KG max) coupled with 3-4 stepper motors using lead screws to open/close the waste gates (similar to Reddit - The heart of the internet ). Possibly need a relay to open/lose the water valve as well.

Parts list:

Still figuring out the size of stepper motor and power system required, closing the gate could require some force…

Appreciate any thoughts/ideas

Quintin

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Welcome to the forum, @Quintin302669, glad to have you here.

It sounds like a particularly fun (and potentially delicious) project. I love a good fried mushroom.

Fortunately, you’re not the first person on the internet to have had this idea. Kyle Gabriel has a wonderfully in depth write up for his own Mushroom Cultivation Kit on his personal blog. It might be worthwhile comparing your parts list to his:

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Thanks, I’ll have a read through and see if there is anything I can incorporate

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