Grow Room Monitoring System

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h4ppyf4rmer

h4ppyf4rmer

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so I was wondering what everyone's thoughts are about grow room monitoring system. I was wondering if it would be worth putting one together and if I can put one together reasonably priced, would it be marketable.

I was thinking of having a raspberry Pi hooked up to a bunch of sensors(EC/pH/temp/DO/CO2/humidity/res water level/...), take readings, push the data to a server, and have an on-line login/webpage to view the data. could also set limits to allow email/text notifications if the readings go outside the set limits.

I've looked into this a little bit and the R-Pi is pretty cheap but the sensors are very expensive for 100% submersible 100% of the time.

I know Bluelab has one for $400 for only temp/pH/EC.
I also know this wouldn't be for the closet grower, it would be way too expensive. I'm thinking this would be more for the larger/remote operations

thoughts?
 
SpiderK

SpiderK

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would be good for alerts.

the 25 million dollar kubo's greenhouses give you the app with the greenhouse. and the computer controls temps ect if parameters set .... co2, lighting. my bud has it on his iphone in europe.

and his orchid factory has 5 climate zones ( all monitored and controllable ) diring the ten month trip across his place like 30 acres now in glass.

but something for joe-six would help regarding alerts.
 
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SpiderK

SpiderK

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i wish i could run a gorilla light dep with this and a solar mat and servo lol'
 
SpiderK

SpiderK

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could you read soil / run off every hour ? if so, things like this ....

but without robotic control would be more of alert at best that needs attending.
 
h4ppyf4rmer

h4ppyf4rmer

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Leew421 said:
There's a lot out there for that already. I have the Iponic 624
Click to expand...

yeah, the link4 stuff is exactly what I was thinking except they don't have anything(yet) that will monitor a hydro system(roots down), they only have stuff to monitor the environment(roots up)... I do agree that this system is good across the board for indoor growing, but doesn't do anything for the grow media... so this system only solves half the problem. I would venture to guess they are probably looking into the other half of the problem, media monitor(hydro/dirt/coco)
 
h4ppyf4rmer

h4ppyf4rmer

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Leew421 said:
http://smartbeecontrollers.com/hardware/irrigation-control/
Click to expand...

that one was a little more of what I was thinking and in the short term, they integrate with bluelab for the hydro numbers...

see, I believe these companies are going about it the wrong way. The real money is not with the hardware, the real money is the reoccurring subscription cost for the online service.

these companies are charging phenomenal prices for a $30 raspberry Pi in each module and a $20 sub-Ghz wireless link between the modules. So say their modules cost them $150 to produce and they are charging a one time price of $450 for that module, they made a $300 profit on one unit. now you sell that to 100 well funded growers, $30,000 annual profit... great

now, cut your profit down on your one-time sale of the hardware, and charge a on-line fee of $8 a month.

so you sell your $150 module for $200, so your "get into the game" cost is much lower which will attract many more people.
so you make a $50 per unit profit + $8 a month fee. So now you attract 1000 customers because the cost to get in is much more reasonable and may attract the basement/garage grower.

($50 + ($8 * 12) ) * 1000 hobbiest = $98,000 the first year and $48,000 per year on-going

that's why phone companies basically give away phones at cost... seems like a pretty successful business model to me.

just thoughts, };-)
 
SpiderK

SpiderK

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it's very hard projecting value or profit in the digital arena IMO

as the printing industry changed, scitex introduced huge machines cutting ruby ect one million, then photoshop beta hit and you could produce magazine layouts, do color work on a beefy mac for 25k in 90's, then the price kept dropping and dropping till today.

the value is in the software. but unlike a massive platform like facebook or bitcoin, you can code quickly and the cheap Pi device is totally amazing. but .... the wall street guys will copy and adapt quickly and seeing you have two app's out already doing this limits profits, and you did not market it yet, test it, trade shows ect so this cost will quicken.

and hosting a server with protection, building that platform with interactive time sensitive information would mean grow locations are within this system and a huge issue with security. not sure guys would want grows on this system as it would provide location of many grows across the usa. again can you do it, yes. but providing 100% security from hacking is impossible.
 
SpiderK

SpiderK

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i think you could produce custom specific items.

but would need simplicity and control a few things.

can those controllers change your temps with heat or cold air ? maybe a link between the existing software and actual controlling humidity, lighting, heat, feedings ....

or maybe set up grid system so if you have 80 plants if a sensor goes off in soil and it needs water, only that plant get a feeding at 2 a.m. ???? stufff like this ......

fill in the gaps

maybe some camera set up so you can view the grows, or can you kick on a fan in a tent on / off when needed evey few minutes ?

so is all this grow equipment drivable yet by electronics ? possible you could make the connection between the app's out already the equipment ?
 
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OldManRiver

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The problem with running the server is that it would open the operator for prosecution for conspiracy in jurisdictions where pot is illegal. You could manage that by hosting it overseas.

If you want to riff about this some more, I'm a software engineer.
 
Leew421

Leew421

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I don't pay a subscription service to access my controller from the web and, I wouldn't want to. I could control things when I was in Cuba so it's a great feature.
 
h4ppyf4rmer

h4ppyf4rmer

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SpiderK said:
it's very hard projecting value or profit in the digital arena IMO

as the printing industry changed, scitex introduced huge machines cutting ruby ect one million, then photoshop beta hit and you could produce magazine layouts, do color work on a beefy mac for 25k in 90's, then the price kept dropping and dropping till today.

the value is in the software. but unlike a massive platform like facebook or bitcoin, you can code quickly and the cheap Pi device is totally amazing. but .... the wall street guys will copy and adapt quickly and seeing you have two app's out already doing this limits profits, and you did not market it yet, test it, trade shows ect so this cost will quicken.

and hosting a server with protection, building that platform with interactive time sensitive information would mean grow locations are within this system and a huge issue with security. not sure guys would want grows on this system as it would provide location of many grows across the usa. again can you do it, yes. but providing 100% security from hacking is impossible.
Click to expand...

this is all true, and I agree.

I have a similar issue with the medical devices that I produce that have on-line status/service. no one wants their medical information floating around in cyberspace without heavy security.
 
h4ppyf4rmer

h4ppyf4rmer

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Leew421 said:
I don't pay a subscription service to access my controller from the web and, I wouldn't want to. I could control things when I was in Cuba so it's a great feature.
Click to expand...


right, so the high upfront cost of the hardware with no subscription fees actually benefits the purchaser in the long run, try to convince the buyer that $450 now will payoff in the long run verses $200 now and pay $8 a month that you can cancel at any time...

If the phone/cable/amazon/... used the "make profit on the hardware" model, you would be paying $2500 for a iphone but your service would be free. Who wins in this situation, the customer in the long run... but who wants to fork over $2500 all at once for a phone, they would rather pay 500 to 800 for an open phone and pay for the service over time, or even worse, 2 year contract with a free phone, lol

anyway, I'm not actually going to do any of this, I'm just thinking out loud };-)
 
h4ppyf4rmer

h4ppyf4rmer

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SpiderK

SpiderK

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you are at least thinking .....

but with digital now look at uber ( same idea ) .... once they had simple platform the company quickened forward landing 5 billion, 5% cash buy in from qatar sovereign wealth fund.

so its the reason a company like coke can't be duplicated, billions in infrastructure supply across the world.

and the most important thing is branding, like uber has now.

happy can see this happening ...... but many , many companies are unfolding today, with digital and app's powering the new frontier ...

so the key imo, is the very best do control everything for you. but look at uber. its a gps map and a app and its mobil. and he copied, used existing tech like gps mapping and its really centered around a great idea before anyone else tries it.
 
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