Thought it might be time to update this thread. A huge thanks to everyone for all their suggestions, my balcony garden is looking magnificent and very well watered!
The setup I ended up with is like this...
Click Koyo Ethernet PLC
Intel Compute Stick micro PC running an AdvancedHMI application and TeamViewer
The PC connects to the internet via wifi from my router inside the house. It connects to the PLC using a USB-ethernet adaptor.
The SCADA is still a work in progress, but so far I have it set up to:
- Email me if there are any problems, including a description of all faults and warnings in the alarm text. Includes warnings if the tank is getting low, and when it's completely empty
- Retrieve the weather forecast from the Bureau of Meteorology first thing every morning, and if it's going to be above a set temperature, give the plants some water before the sun comes up
- Retrieve the weather report in the evening, and if the actual temperature was above a set temperature, water again after the sun goes down. Also, if there was above a certain amount of rainfall for the day, only water the parts of the garden that aren't exposed to rain
- Water after 3 days regardless of weather, if no watering has taken place in the meantime
I ate the first tomatoes from the garden last night with my dinner, and they were delicious!
Learning AdvancedHMI was a little bit of a learning curve, but with the forums and the excellent support from Archie both here and on the AHMI forums, I'm working through everything quite nicely. For a free product I'm thoroughly impressed!
The photo below shows the garden as it currently sits. The big timber structure up the back I designed and built from scratch using recycled timber. The water tank is sitting underneath, and the water pump is out of sight underneath the bench seat. The rack against the handrail was built by my mother in law out of an old pallet (she also found and restored the bench seat). You can see the panel mounted on the end of the bench seat where it also doubles as somewhere to sit my beer while I watch the sunset. The water is run up the back of the main planter box and around the balcony railing in 19mm poly, and then I tap off it everywhere I have something green with an adjustable dripper.
The setup I ended up with is like this...
Click Koyo Ethernet PLC
Intel Compute Stick micro PC running an AdvancedHMI application and TeamViewer
The PC connects to the internet via wifi from my router inside the house. It connects to the PLC using a USB-ethernet adaptor.
The SCADA is still a work in progress, but so far I have it set up to:
- Email me if there are any problems, including a description of all faults and warnings in the alarm text. Includes warnings if the tank is getting low, and when it's completely empty
- Retrieve the weather forecast from the Bureau of Meteorology first thing every morning, and if it's going to be above a set temperature, give the plants some water before the sun comes up
- Retrieve the weather report in the evening, and if the actual temperature was above a set temperature, water again after the sun goes down. Also, if there was above a certain amount of rainfall for the day, only water the parts of the garden that aren't exposed to rain
- Water after 3 days regardless of weather, if no watering has taken place in the meantime
I ate the first tomatoes from the garden last night with my dinner, and they were delicious!
Learning AdvancedHMI was a little bit of a learning curve, but with the forums and the excellent support from Archie both here and on the AHMI forums, I'm working through everything quite nicely. For a free product I'm thoroughly impressed!
The photo below shows the garden as it currently sits. The big timber structure up the back I designed and built from scratch using recycled timber. The water tank is sitting underneath, and the water pump is out of sight underneath the bench seat. The rack against the handrail was built by my mother in law out of an old pallet (she also found and restored the bench seat). You can see the panel mounted on the end of the bench seat where it also doubles as somewhere to sit my beer while I watch the sunset. The water is run up the back of the main planter box and around the balcony railing in 19mm poly, and then I tap off it everywhere I have something green with an adjustable dripper.
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