Plant_io - Plant Cultivation Kit (CE09696)

Support Product Questions
62

Hey there!

As stated previously, it is possible to use the RPi Pico with the Arduino codebase/IDE, thus this project could be created using C++ on the Pico included with the kit. Here is a short guide to set this up.

However, the process would involve re-writing the code essentially from scratch to perform the same function, which would no doubt take some time. This process however is helped by the fact that both the moisture sensor and peristaltic pump have available C++ code from DFRobot’s website, linked below.

Provided there is enough support, we could create a C++ codebase for this project in future, but an adaptation on our end does not currently exist.

Hope this helps!

63

Hello Core Electronics team!

A little about me: I am not a very technical person but I want to learn 1) electronics 2) Python. Extra motivated because I will be doing this with my kids (teaching them as well). That being said I am very interested in buying this whole kit to get going. I have 4 plants outside the house that I want to practically utilize this kit on, but since there are 4, I’d need 4 soil sensors no? If I use 4 soil moisture sensors that each utilize ONE motor to grab water when soil is dry…how do I set that up circuit wise using pico? Would love some help on that end as I begin electronics education. Thank you core team for the kit (i’ll order one irregardless if solution exist to 4 plant problem or not).

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64

Hey @Sarfaraz295094, welcome to the forums!

Fantastic to hear that you’re eager to learn, and that you’re doing the project with your kids! Very exciting.

Regarding expanding the project for multiple plants; It is very doable, but it might be intimidating for someone with zero experience. I’ll outline what parts the kit comes with, and which parts would need to be additionally required for the expansion. I’ll additionally go into what kind of modifications you’ll need to make for the program.

Plant_io Kit

  • Peristaltic Pump
  • Moisture Probe
  • Pico
  • Plant_io SHIM
  • Power Timer

Some of these items are expandable and would not require additional components.

Basic Setup
The Pico (which acts like a small computer) wakes up every 20 minutes and checks the soil moisture on one of its input pins. If the soil is dry, it sends an output to turn on the pump. Both of these things are handled by the Plant_io SHIM. That means, to expand it, you’ll need:

  • 3 Extra Pumps
  • 3 Extra Moisture Probes
  • To remove the SHIM and connect the pumps and sensors up yourself (not super hard, but might be confusing at first. Invovles input and output pins, and some extra wiring to get the pumps powered correctly.)

Modifying the Program
The programming won’t need much modification, you’ll really just program the input and output for the other 3 in the same way the first pump was programmed. (Not difficult, there are many experienced Python programmers on the forums that can help!)

Regardless, the steps needed to convert the kit to serve 4 plants are not particularly hard, once you’re familiar with Python. I think the best thing to do (do ensure the project goes smoothly) would be to start with the standard kit, so you and your kids can become familiar with how microcontrollers and setups like this work.

Once you have the setup working, you could follow some of the basic Python courses such as the Raspberry Pi Pico Setup and Thonny Guide, which will get you familiar with coding in Python.

Then, the above steps won’t be nearly as daunting, and you can puzzle out the new pumps!

Hope this helps give you some direction, let us know if you have other questions!

1 Like
65

Thanks for the response Zach! Yes I am planning on buying this + another PICO and work through guide on the website to learn about microcontrollers more.

Follow up question, there is no way to connect these moisture probes in parralel to ONE peristaltic pump right? Like I have to have 3 probes and 3 pumps right? I’ll experiment and report here though. Appreciate your help!

66

Hey @Sarfaraz295094,

Sounds awesome! You could definitely find a way to use only one pump, but both methods I can think of are non-ideal (or seem so to me, at least).

  1. One pump controls the output to all plants via a shared tube, so they all get watered at the same time. This would achieve watering for all of the plants, but you could only control how much water gets pumped, not how much water each plant receives. Naturally, the plants will fall out of alignment, and some plants will get watered too much, and some not enough.

  2. One pump with a tube that splits into a separate tube for each plant. Problem here is that you would need some way of stopping water from going into plants when its not ideal. So you’d have to have some sort of valve on each end, and more wiring for each of the GPIO pins.

I would personally aim for a separate pump for each, completely up to you though!

1 Like
67

I’m thinking of doing a remix of this project, adding some extra bells and whistles. Rather than use the shim, I plan to solder up everything to a protoboard.

With the Gravity Digital Peristaltic Pump, what voltages do I need for power and control signal? I assume the control signal is 3V3 through a PWM pin, but what voltage do I need to supply the pump?

If it’s 5V, do I supply this from the Pi Pico’s VSYS?

Cheers.

3 Likes
68

Hi Steven,

Glad to have you back!

The pumps like 5V (6V is better), the Vbus pin would be better since current doesn’t have to flow through the schottky.

You could also use this pump: Peristaltic Pump | Buy in Australia | CE10149 | Core Electronics
With a MOSFET board/motor driver:
Components & Parts Australia
Brushed DC Motor Drivers - Motor Drivers & Controllers - Breakouts & Modules Australia

3 Likes
69

Thanks @Liam120347. On second thoughts, I’ll go with the shim and breadboard combo as per the kit. Why reinvent the wheel, and I can access the exra GPIO pins I need through the breadboard. Will report back on the final result!

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