Now we are moving along. I recently received all my aquaponics equipment like the Hydroton, new pump, electrical equipment etc. and have been able to continuously add to the Mini Plant 2. As I was adding more equipment to the system, I had to add in more water as well. The problem with this is that I live in an apartment, and if something goes wrong (aka overflow of water to my apartment (I live upstairs, too), I will have a lot to worry about. The solution to this anxiety-causing problem will be an automated overflow system.
We will be making our automated overflow system (AOS) run from the Raspberry Pi of course (UPS problems have denied us our kit still). The AOS will be based on a "Control Power Outlets Using Raspberry Pi" project we found online. Here is the link to that amazing tutorial if any of you want to use this as well:
https://www.samkear.com/hardware/control-power-outlets-wirelessly-raspberry-pi.
We have the material ready, and we are in the process of implementing it into our system. The only part left to do is to include the overflow switch: the switch that will turn off the pump if it detects an overflow occurring.
The overflow switch will be a simple open ended wiring that will complete the circuit when the two exposed conductors are submerged. The exposed conductors will be a screw of some sort. I am not sure if they sell copper screws, and if they don't I will get some copper tape and place it somewhere in the tank.
So far this is still in the works so if any of you have any questions or comments please let me know.
Quick update on everything else:
Our seeds are ready to be transferred over to a seedling tray, so I will be doing that tomorrow. This is my first time growing a plant from seed so much help would be appreciated. Here they are in my sandwich bags:
The software is ready for temperature and pH. The lighting code is being completed as I type this. As soon as the lighting code is done, I will add the lights and the grow bed into the system. Tomorrow, I also plan on keeping the script running all day long as well to begin collecting data for us to play with.
This week is definitely looking busy for me, but not necessarily productive. Here's to a very productive week for all of us.
