Hydroponics
What is hydroponics? Well good folks it's a way of growing plants indoors using mainly water! For this project my plants (basil, parsley and dill) would be in seed pods in tubs of water growing under an LED light! The light is mean to mimic the Sun, wouldn't suggest looking right at it! Alas many did and regretted it. Mr. Willauer warned I might signal aliens with the light so it's strictly used indoors. I have other ways of contacting my friends on Mars anyways. :)
Anywho this project would also include some circuitry on my part! I programmed the light to turn itself on and off on a 12 hour rotation. 143,200,00 ms if you're using Arduino. Now that I've introduced hydroponics, let's get down to the drawing board! |
Conception - "Presearch"
There are many variations of a hydroponic system! The images above were all used as inspiration for my final product and where what I was most familiar with. A shallow bed of water with the plants floating above on a piece of styrofoam bathed in the LED light. Below are some websites I used to come up with the idea! Herbs generally don't need the light super far away from them which was great in my case! Luckily those websites came with some videos I could watch to help better visualize the process. The conception of the final product wasn't too hard: foot tall table to hold light, 5in cube with open top to hold plants, and styrofoam pieces to fit inside with 2" holes for seed pods. The light on the other hand is a whole other story.
- https://growagoodlife.com/indoor-garden/
- https://www.trees.com/gardening-and-landscaping/hydroponic-plans
- https://www.thespruce.com/best-grow-lights-4158720
- https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/gardening-under-lights/5080.html#:~:text=Like%20plants%20growing%20outdoors%20in,culinary%20herbs%20and%20other%20plants
Machines Used In This Project:
I used the 3D printers for the tubs used to hold the plants and craft the table for the light! This was the first year I was able to use the Z18 and it opens up whole new possibilites for big builds! I honestly could've crafted my entire table in one print if I'd wanted! Don't underestimate 3D printers.
Ah yes the laser system! It hated me last year but through lots of trial and error I made it happen! I had lots of fun using it to cut out my styrofoam to hold the seed pods. I'm much more confident with it now.
Brand new this year, ARDUINO! In the end I was able to make this project work with Arduino Nano, and it was so much fun to work with circuits for this project as well as use a relay device!
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Starting Off With 3D Prints
My two boxes are each 5 in cubes 1/4 in thick with an open top. Took 2 days to completely make them.
My table legs are a foot tall 1/2 wide on all sides. Took 3 days to completely make them. Finally the light case for the grow light took almost a week to complete due to the intricacy of the build. Measure twice! Worked out well for me and it took up the entire 11.8 x 12 in bed of the Z18. |
Laser Cutting
Arduino
Arduino gave me one heck of a time with trying to tweak the light and creating the relay but I got it all to work out! Stripping my light's cord the relay just needed to be hooked up to my board and circuit! Power to ground, then the green wire to port! First did six-second intervals then when that worked I bumped it back up to 12 hour intervals! Overall took about a month to figure out which light was the best and figuring out how the timed switch would work out. After my Arduino was done I just had to glue it all together! The final product is on the far bottom right. :)
UPDATE: Sorry everyone! I had a note written down to include this video then proceeded to lose that note! I'll include the YouTube video of the guy who helped me understand the relay! Thank you Robojax! |
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Timing it all
To see how this project played out over the semester go visit my Gantt chart! Here's the link below:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eJjPHSeasz6rknIeUfmt2xDxkGEq15HXXAu2sPeVhXU/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eJjPHSeasz6rknIeUfmt2xDxkGEq15HXXAu2sPeVhXU/edit?usp=sharing
Summary
This project taught me about "thinking in new ways". I can't find a better way to say it. Renewable energy, conservation of water, recycling, printing off organs and electrical cars! New ideas that people really need to take advantage of! Hydroponics I feel will be important in the future when we talk about living on Mars or trying to grow plants on the Moon. I learned that I can apply the knowledge from this project to things I may work on in the future. So think ahead makers! Think about who you want to be! What you will contribute to our people's legacy! My DIY hydroponics system is just the beginning of my career. As always, happy creating!
btw the picture to the left is me obsessing over the light |