Maximum Yield USA April/May 2019 | Page 48

LOW COST SENSORS AND CONTROL SYSTEMS: by Lee Allen If you’re a home horticulturist and are looking for some low-cost automation to help with your small greenhouse, there’s no need to spend a ton of money, as Lee Allen explains. W hile many automated agricultural control systems are expensive and geared towards commercial operations, a little Raspberry Pi is perfect for home growers. A single-board Raspberry Pi (originally developed to assist in computer technology needs in poor countries) works great as a controller for a bunch of single program operational micro-controllers like Arduino’s that can be looped indefinitely and will do simple and repetitive tasks. The device is perfect for a hobby greenhouse. “I call these folks micro-culture growers,” says Brian Little, agricultural and biosystems engineer and systems administrator at the University of Arizona. “Sophisticated environmental monitoring and control systems like those found in commercial controlled environment cultivation can often be cost-prohibitive, but a single board Raspberry Pi is inexpensive and works great as a controller that can be connected to a bread board and a ton of sensors. 48 Maximum Yield