Plant_io - Plant Cultivation Kit (CE09696)

Support Product Questions
1

This is a placeholder topic for “Plant_io - Plant Cultivation Kit” comments.

Grow and learn! An open-source DIY project kit for plant-cultivation experiments.

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This is fantastic! I love the design and ease of use. I was just wondering if there is capability here to add a camera and potentially a server / dashboard for remote monitoring ?

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Hi Conal,

Welcome to the forum!

This was actually proposed during the design :smiley:
Unfortunately Microcontrollers usually arent good at running a camera, though with the new ArduCam Mega Camera’s its become far more accessible.
Since everything is on a breadboard you might want to add a microSD card adapter to simplify things.

It’ll take a bit of work adding the functionality and the micropython driver isnt extensive yet but definitely is possible! (Sending that large image over WiFi with a micro might be difficult - but definifely do-able @Bryce might have some insights!)
Liam

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Great, thank you. As a starting point, is it possible to get this kit with a pi that would allow this in the future, like a zero with wi-fi and camera port?

That way we can get this cool kit (with some of the recommended additional sensors), then have the option for linking to a server and camera in the future?

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Hi Conal,

I suggest remixing our current kit with the added functionality of a full-size Pi. You can get Python to talk to a Pico over serial fairly easily, and software like Flask can make getting Python onto the web a lot easier.

Give those a look and get back to us with any questions :slight_smile:

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Hi,
Just checking if this kit comes with the Pi Pico or not. Just doesnt say it in the “Whats included” section.

Thanks

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Hi @Joshua135241 - welcome to the forums.

Yes! It comes with a Pico H (CE08702)
We’ll fix that

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What I’d really like is an alternate stand that’s laid out linearly in order to fit on a windowsill.

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Hi Politas
Could be regarded as a design challenge. I am sure that others would be interested in your solution.
Cheers Bob

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Hi Politas,

While its certainly possible to laser cut one you could even go lower tech and tape the reservoir to the plant pot then mount the electronics on top.

The platform was designed to fit into a standard-size box + envelope so the longer version might not be viable to create as a kit, but the design is open source so remixing is an option if you have a program like inkscape (you’ll be able to edit the PDF).

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Having issues getting the pump to respond to any code, soil moisture sensor works fine. Can manually power the pump with 6v and it works, just no response via PPM. Have checked pinout and cabling and all fine, but no response, does anyone have any thoughts?

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Hi Jarrah, welcome to the forum!

Sorry to hear your driver board is giving you trouble! Could you please share a photo of how you have everything hooked up? We may spot something!

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Screenshot 2023-08-31 115713
Screenshot 2023-08-31 1157131920×1261 173 KB

Hey James,

Thanks for the quick response! Let me know if you need any more pictures

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Hi Jarrah,

Thanks for sending that photo! I can confirm that everything looks good.
If you have a multimeter handy, it might also be worth checking the continuity from pin 12 to the pumps green wire.

Here’s some code that you can use to test the pump:

import machine
import utime

pwm1 = machine.PWM(machine.Pin(12))
pwm1.freq(50)

min_s = 1300
max_s = 8500

mid_p = int((max_s - min_s)/2)

def map_range(x, in_min, in_max, out_min, out_max):
    mapped = (x - in_min) * (out_max - out_min) / (in_max - in_min) + out_min
    return int(max(min(mapped, out_max), out_min))

def servo_wrapper(val):
    return map_range(val, 0, 180, 1500, 8000)

while True:    
    for i in range(0,180,5):
        pwm1.duty_u16(servo_wrapper(i))
        utime.sleep(0.2)
    for i in range(180,0,-5):
        pwm1.duty_u16(servo_wrapper(i))
        utime.sleep(0.2)

How did you power the pump with 6V directly?

Keen to get to the bottom of this one!
Liam

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Hey Liam,

Don’t have a multimeter on me, but tested with by swapping the cable with the one for the moisture sensor, moisture sensor still worked fine with cable intended for the pump.
I tested the pump directly by connecting the battery pack that was provided to the pump(I have an ardiuno starter kit laying around and that has some breadboard jumper wires), and that ran fine.
Also attempted to directly use the PICO pinout without the makerverse board on the off chance the connection wasn’t right there, this also proved unsuccessful!
I’ve also tried running your code and not had any luck, I am using Thonny, and have the Plant_io python on the Pico, and am connected to the Pi.

Thanks for the assistance,
Jarrah

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Hi Jarrah,

Thanks for running through those troubleshooting steps!

Since it sounds like the pump is faulty could you please send through a reply to your order confirmation email with a link to this forum topic and we’ll get it sorted out ASAP!

Liam

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Thanks heaps, I’ve emailed back :smiley:
Cheers,
Jarrah

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Great device! I think you need a light sensor here so that water is added during the daytime when photosynthesis is active.

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Hi Ciriaco,

Since there is a PiicoDev port included you can add any of the sensors and integrate your own control schemes!

Liam

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Hi Liam

Don’t know about that

This sounds like the pump worked OK when connected directly to battery
Wires crossed up here somewhere.
Cheers Bob

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