What do you think of my Tent Control system?

[vritzka]

Hello,

I didn’t want to do all the home-growing work, so I built myself a little computer to do some of it.

Its a small controller with a display that goes on top of the tent. And it will then regulate the climate, airflow, light and some other things. It also has a phone app.

This was my first prototype:

It controls the climate inside the Grow Tent automatically…as far as possible.

If it gets warm or humid, the fan speeds up to pump more air.

And when it gets cooler at night (lights off), the fan slows down to not go on my nerves.

The system aims to keep it between 68℉ (20℃) to 82℉ (28℃).

Fan speeds can be set on the display:

The fan should never fully stop becasue plants need some air all the time.

I needed a digital fan. Because the micro-controller can speed control them very precisely.

So I used a digital fan from a Bitcoin miner and built a case with flanges around it.

It also works with most AC Infinity fans.

I made it switch and dim the LED Grow light, too.

Inside, there is a relay (electronic switch) to switch the Lamp.

And I set my photoperiod & Dimmer on the display:

The case can connect to Dimmer with 0-10V Dimming:

Sunset / Sunrise

I think plants get a lil stressed when we switch the grow lamp on and off abruptly.

So the controller makes a sunset / sunrise. The brightness goes up and down slowly over 10 minutes.

Here’s another photo of the back of the controller:

You can see on one of the connectors it says “DATA”.

That is an I2C Data bus. Kinda like a USB connector … so I can connect many different things.

For now, I have a temperature/humidity sensor and a soil moisture sensor. I will, hopefully, add more devices in the future.

App

I want to check from anywhere on the tent, just to make sure.

So together with a friend, we made an ‘App’. Its not really an app, just a mobile website.

I can load it up on my phone from wherever I am. (the controller must be connected to WiFi)

But it has a lot of graphs, so I can see what happened over time

Recently I made a new version, it now has a metal case and it looks a bit more professional.

Lemme know what you think.

Thanks for reading my post,

Volker

[chrisj]

Hey Volker

Great post, I love it, watching your youtube video below at the moment.

Adding WiFi to my Grow Tent (so I can check from my phone)

Unreal how a little bit of german engineering can increase airflow and reduce electrical consumption by almost half with the fan. I hope you are able to make a plan with the licensing fees you pay for the wifi software, and surely you can add value by organizing historical grow data on a cloud platform for members?

https://growershouse.com/tomatotent-controller-stand-alone-controller

[vritzka]

Thank you!

yes, we will do that.

For now, the online service is organized in a dashboard. Here is my current grow Dashboard

Btw nice agency.

[happyhippy]

That’s some cool shit man nice work.

[baby_buzz]

Have you thought about using the controller to control VPD?

[vritzka]

Hi,

it was brought up several times and I will update the system to do that.

Its a great idea,

Thank you

[chrisj]

@baby_buzz

Have you thought about using the controller to control VPD?

May I ask what VPD is?

@vritzka , loved your new video on YT , it caused quit the stir. Gone viral!!

Old AC INFINITYs are bad and here’s why 😤.

[vritzka]

Yeah. It did cause a stir.

VPD (Vapour Pressure Deficit) is better suited to manage ventilation. I’m glad it was brought up.

I haven’t understood it well enough yet, so I better don’t try to explain it.

[happilyretired]

That’s very cool. I’d like to see more about how it works for your lights for sunrise and sunset. Another thought for you, could you figure out a way to tie this to be used to control a mini split. My mini split does heat and cool, but only one temperature setting. It would be nice to be able to set your nighttime temperatures in the 60s and your daytimes high 70s or 80s.

[vritzka]

Hi,

@happilyretired

how it works for your lights for sunrise and sunset

the sunset/rise happens over 15 minutes:

It works with LED Drivers that allow Dimming (0-10V). If the Driver has a dim-knob, it usually works. You’d cut off the knob and connect the cables to the Tenti Controller.

@happilyretired

could you figure out a way to tie this to be used to control a mini split

Thanks for the idea.

What’s the mark and model of you AC unit? I’d like to have a look. Thanks!

[Slym3r]

Super awesome idea!

[happilyretired]

I can’t remember the name of it offhand at the moment. I’ll try to remember to look after a while when I’m out there. But it’s an 18,000 BTU mini split. I think in general they’re all basically the same except maybe the name a little bit of design change, but I believe all the mechanics are basically the same.

[vritzka]

Ok. They have remotes with infrared … we could control it with that.

[happilyretired]

Yes they have remote control. I don’t know how it works though. Definitely sounds like you do. Cool. How easy is it to set up for a non-tech savvy stoner? I have another question, how many lights can you control at once.… I got another idea. Would it be possible to run two separate programs with one device. This way you could run a veg area simultaneously with a flower area.

I have a Senville 18,000 BTU mini split.

[vritzka]

Not sure how easy that is yet … but its a good idea.

2 seperate programs are not yet possible… I’m worried it complicates stuff Thanks for the ideas.

[bludream]

Can i buy the tenticontroller or the whole tent amd monitor?