WARNING!!!
Making it like this has a tenancy to fail badly and I got patches of water like in the picture below
Bonjour! =]
Arduino for Propergators
THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS!!! So yes its probably not polished yet and has teething problems=[
Also, the pictures may not be brilliant as my camera is my phone
Fortunately its the N95 =] Came down the food chain from my dad lol
This instructable is based on the Garduino by liseman and has been adapted heavily to make something like this...
This is my first Instructable so bear with me whilst I get the hang of it
*slaps hand for making excuse*
Right onwards... and into stage 1, obtaining parts
A little about me
I am Luke =]
I am 14 years old
I live in the UK (you have no idea how hard it is to get components over here)
I use the word "Le" instead of the to remind me to do some French work when im finished writing >.>
And most of my projects are driven by music/nothing to do
And that I need to do a GCSE project by middle of april =[
Making it like this has a tenancy to fail badly and I got patches of water like in the picture below
Bonjour! =]
Arduino for Propergators
THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS!!! So yes its probably not polished yet and has teething problems=[
Also, the pictures may not be brilliant as my camera is my phone
Fortunately its the N95 =] Came down the food chain from my dad lol
This instructable is based on the Garduino by liseman and has been adapted heavily to make something like this...
This is my first Instructable so bear with me whilst I get the hang of it
*slaps hand for making excuse*
Right onwards... and into stage 1, obtaining parts
A little about me
I am Luke =]
I am 14 years old
I live in the UK (you have no idea how hard it is to get components over here)
I use the word "Le" instead of the to remind me to do some French work when im finished writing >.>
And most of my projects are driven by music/nothing to do
And that I need to do a GCSE project by middle of april =[
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Signing UpStep 1: Getting all the stuff you might need/want
Ill sort this into two lists:
Needs and Wants
What you NEED:
Experience/Things that you cant buy from a shop:
The ability to solder
The ability to not get scared if you need to solder something that is going to be plugged into the mains (I have this, honest...)
The ability to strip wire (which I am lacking)
Faith in yourself *rainbow*
Good judgement, if the solder joint looks OK but is a little grubby, don't bother touching it up
*back to the point*
About �100 to buy bits and pieces *and seeds*
Access to a radiator/heater to dry your soil pots out if you need
Tools
Soldering iron
"HEAT-it craft tool" Hair dryer thing that warms things up in other words
Wire cutters
Various screwdrivers
A drill, preferably with the correct drill bits *unlike me who cant get to b+q to get any...*
//the correct dill bits are 5 mm so you can stick the tubing and wires in the side of the propergator
Pliers
A craft knife
"The kitchen scissors" the affectionate name for the pair of holy scissors that everyone in our house uses
A multimeter, preferably one with continuity test on it *sooo handy*
Chocolate blocks/Terminal blocks - YUM! Make sure they are rated high enough for the "ampage" you are putting through them
Solder - I use lead-free stuff, much to the disgust of my dad/granddad who believe"things are fine the way they are". Ya ill pass on that thanks
Special
2x roll of duck/gaffa tape
You have no idea how useful gaffa tape is in projects...
I say two rolls so you cant loose a roll like me =]
Component bits
Any sort of Arduino board *any = any but a lilypad, those tabs look annoying so solder*
LED's - Any sort, preferably high power like in the picture below (pic 1)
Resistors - 100 ohm, 1k, 10K and 4.7k is what I need so far, but then again I am not finished yet =]
Relays - How many - you decide. I use those relays as they are small and powerful =]
Transistor - Any NPN type
Phototransistor - Light sensor
CdS Cell - If you dispose carefully =]
"Thermosistor" - Temp sensor
DS18B20 - A more presise but more complicated sensor
Hardware - Like wire and sockets
An enclosure where you can stuff a relay with 240v going across two points =] *I used an old laptop power supply thing with... a fair amount of "insulating" tape on it
Single core wire - Lots of it, preferably in different colours
300V rated cable - I live in the UK with 243V (measured =]) power
A plug - Preferably an RCD plug that you can wire the modified extention lead/pump/light into
A socket - If your not RCDing the plug then RCD the socket
//Just put an RCD in somewhere!!!
Garden stuffs
4mm tubing - Hozelock kind, From a garden centre that sells the automatic watering stuff. When you go, dont buy the whole system even if you are tempted, you cant push a button and water your plants *the eventual goal of this project*, however go ahead and buy some stopcocks, they look like *past tense of building my system*
12mm tubing (well, 12mm was the size of the thing on the end of the pump) - the water backbone, you can connect any shoots (4mm tubing to this) as your pump can handle
A small pump - Its harder than it seems to get a decent sized pump that can works. All I can say is: Garden center -> Aquatics -> Fountains -> Smallest pump you can find. Around 100/450 gallons/litres an hour will work. It shouldnt matter if its mains powered, just make sure you get a relay and some veroboard... (the one with copper strips on)...
Hozelock part: 4mm Tubing - 2772 - what makes up the shoots
Hozelock part: Flow Control Valve 4mm - 2776 - Stopcock for your shoots
Hozelock part: Straight Connector 4mm - 2778 - Depending on how many shoots you need off any backbones, you will need some of these. DON'T BUY THE TOOL!!!! Its useless. Trial and error lol. Use a pointy screwdriver and just thread it in, it will also make sure the connection is watertight as well =]
Also, buy some of the correct tubing for your pump when you are at the garden center, I prefer the... tubing that is flexible, is black and has what look like threads running around it. I prefer it because you can warm it up until its wobbly, bend it over and use a heavy weight to stick it down so its sealed, making an end cap thing for it. Re-enforce it with a food thing. I have forgotten what they are called, Look in picture 3.
Don't forget your seeds and compost =]
Notes about all this -
You should have most of this already if you do electronics for some of your current life =]
Wants:
Anything you want for projects =]
Things like special tools are wants...
Needs and Wants
What you NEED:
Experience/Things that you cant buy from a shop:
The ability to solder
The ability to not get scared if you need to solder something that is going to be plugged into the mains (I have this, honest...)
The ability to strip wire (which I am lacking)
Faith in yourself *rainbow*
Good judgement, if the solder joint looks OK but is a little grubby, don't bother touching it up
*back to the point*
About �100 to buy bits and pieces *and seeds*
Access to a radiator/heater to dry your soil pots out if you need
Tools
Soldering iron
"HEAT-it craft tool" Hair dryer thing that warms things up in other words
Wire cutters
Various screwdrivers
A drill, preferably with the correct drill bits *unlike me who cant get to b+q to get any...*
//the correct dill bits are 5 mm so you can stick the tubing and wires in the side of the propergator
Pliers
A craft knife
"The kitchen scissors" the affectionate name for the pair of holy scissors that everyone in our house uses
A multimeter, preferably one with continuity test on it *sooo handy*
Chocolate blocks/Terminal blocks - YUM! Make sure they are rated high enough for the "ampage" you are putting through them
Solder - I use lead-free stuff, much to the disgust of my dad/granddad who believe"things are fine the way they are". Ya ill pass on that thanks
Special
2x roll of duck/gaffa tape
You have no idea how useful gaffa tape is in projects...
I say two rolls so you cant loose a roll like me =]
Component bits
Any sort of Arduino board *any = any but a lilypad, those tabs look annoying so solder*
LED's - Any sort, preferably high power like in the picture below (pic 1)
Resistors - 100 ohm, 1k, 10K and 4.7k is what I need so far, but then again I am not finished yet =]
Relays - How many - you decide. I use those relays as they are small and powerful =]
Transistor - Any NPN type
Phototransistor - Light sensor
CdS Cell - If you dispose carefully =]
"Thermosistor" - Temp sensor
DS18B20 - A more presise but more complicated sensor
Hardware - Like wire and sockets
An enclosure where you can stuff a relay with 240v going across two points =] *I used an old laptop power supply thing with... a fair amount of "insulating" tape on it
Single core wire - Lots of it, preferably in different colours
300V rated cable - I live in the UK with 243V (measured =]) power
A plug - Preferably an RCD plug that you can wire the modified extention lead/pump/light into
A socket - If your not RCDing the plug then RCD the socket
//Just put an RCD in somewhere!!!
Garden stuffs
4mm tubing - Hozelock kind, From a garden centre that sells the automatic watering stuff. When you go, dont buy the whole system even if you are tempted, you cant push a button and water your plants *the eventual goal of this project*, however go ahead and buy some stopcocks, they look like *past tense of building my system*
12mm tubing (well, 12mm was the size of the thing on the end of the pump) - the water backbone, you can connect any shoots (4mm tubing to this) as your pump can handle
A small pump - Its harder than it seems to get a decent sized pump that can works. All I can say is: Garden center -> Aquatics -> Fountains -> Smallest pump you can find. Around 100/450 gallons/litres an hour will work. It shouldnt matter if its mains powered, just make sure you get a relay and some veroboard... (the one with copper strips on)...
Hozelock part: 4mm Tubing - 2772 - what makes up the shoots
Hozelock part: Flow Control Valve 4mm - 2776 - Stopcock for your shoots
Hozelock part: Straight Connector 4mm - 2778 - Depending on how many shoots you need off any backbones, you will need some of these. DON'T BUY THE TOOL!!!! Its useless. Trial and error lol. Use a pointy screwdriver and just thread it in, it will also make sure the connection is watertight as well =]
Also, buy some of the correct tubing for your pump when you are at the garden center, I prefer the... tubing that is flexible, is black and has what look like threads running around it. I prefer it because you can warm it up until its wobbly, bend it over and use a heavy weight to stick it down so its sealed, making an end cap thing for it. Re-enforce it with a food thing. I have forgotten what they are called, Look in picture 3.
Don't forget your seeds and compost =]
Notes about all this -
You should have most of this already if you do electronics for some of your current life =]
Wants:
Anything you want for projects =]
Things like special tools are wants...
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HSBC have given me a visa now so I can get things from sparkfun =]
I think you can get a solo card when your 13 so good luck :-]
and dont make this - it fails.
I did that as I went to bed =]