Schogini

The Grow Light
The Exhaust Fan that pulls air out of the room, through the grow light fixture
A Heater
The controller has the ability to log the temperature and humidity readings with a time stamp to an SD card. It also logs events such as the powering on and off of appliances in a separate file in the same directory. The file directory structure is as follows: “YEAR\MM\DD\” and there is an event and data log for each day.

It is composed of the following components:
Arduino Mega 1280 (I’m sure with some code adjustments it could work with an Arduino Uno, but currently the sketch is almost 32Kb it would require down-scaling)
SHT15 Digital Temperature and Humidity Sensor
DS1307 Real-time Clock w/ Rechargeable coin-cell battery
Serial 2×16 Alphanumeric LCD Display
SD card mounted on Ethernet Shield (I don’t use the Ethernet for this project, just the SD interface)
3 NPN Transistors that activate relays that control the grow light, heater and exhaust fan (I use 2 PowerSwitch Tails and a Relay from Sparkfun)

Syntax:

rotate(angle);

The background() function sets the color used for the background of the Processing window. The default background is light gray. In the draw() function, the background color is used to clear the display window at the beginning of each frame.

An image can also be used as the background for a sketch, however its width and height must be the same size as the sketch window. To resize an image ‘b’ to the size of the sketch window, use b.resize(width, height).

background(gray)
background(gray, alpha)
background(value1, value2, value3)
background(value1, value2, value3, alpha)
background(color)
background(color, alpha)
background(hex)
background(hex, alpha)

Images used as background will ignore the current tint() setting.

It is not possible to use transparency (alpha) in background colors with the main drawing surface, however they will work properly with createGraphics().

Even though there is a large number of different types of microcontrollers and even more programs created for their use only, all of them have many things in common. Thus, if you learn to handle one of them you will be able to handle them all. A typical scenario on the basis of which it all functions is as follows:

• Power supply is turned off and everything is still…the program is loaded into the microcontroller, nothing indicates what is about to come…
• Power supply is turned on and everything starts to happen at high speed! The control logic unit keeps everything under control. It disables all other circuits except quartz crystal to operate. While the preparations are in progress, the first milliseconds go by.
• Power supply voltage reaches its maximum and oscillator frequency becomes stable. SFRs are being filled with bits reflecting the state of all circuits within the microcontroller. All pins are configured as inputs. The overall electronis starts operation in rhythm with pulse sequence. From now on the time is measured in micro and nanoseconds.
• Program Counter is set to zero. Instruction from that address is sent to instruction decoder which recognizes it, after which it is executed with immediate effect.
• The value of the Program Counter is incremented by 1 and the whole process is repeated…several million times per second.

                  Wiring is an open source electronics prototyping platform composed of a programming environment (IDE), an electronics prototyping board, documentation thoughtfully created with designers and artists in mind and a community where experts, intermediate and beginners from around the world share ideas, knowledge and their collective experience.
The Wiring i/o board is a small, cheap standalone computer with many connection capabilities. It can be easily programmed in a variant of the Processing language, with a similar programming environment. The board can control all kinds of sensors and actuators. Sensors allow the board to acquire information from the surrounding environment (temperature sensors, light sensors, distance sensors, etc). Actuators are devices that allow the board to create changes in the physical world (lights, motors, heating devices, etc). It can also interact easily with other devices and computers, such as your PC/Mac, GPS receivers, barcode readers.

Wiring is an open project initiated by Hernando Barragán (University of Los Andes, Architecture and Design School). It builds on Processing, the open source progra programming language and environment initiated by Ben Fry and Casey Reas. Arduino was inpired by Wiring and is basically the same thing. It is programmed in the Wiring language.

Fritzing is an open source  software initiative  to support designers and artists ready to move from physical prototyping to actual product. It was developed at the University of Applied Sciences of Potsdam.

The software is created in the spirit of processing and Arduino and allows a designer, artist, researcher, or hobbyist to document their Arduino-based prototype and create a PCB layout for manufacturing. The complementary website helps to share and discuss drafts and experiences as well as to reduce manufacturing costs. In other words, they make electronic items from your design.

Fritzing can be seen as an Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tool for non-engineers: the input metaphor is inspired by the environment of designers (the bread board-based prototype), the output is offering nearly no options and is focused on accessible means of production.

Arduino is a single-board microcontroller with an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. The hardware consists of a simple open hardware design for the Arduino board with an Atmel AVR processor and on-board input/output support. The software consists of a standard programming language compiler and the boot loader that runs on the board.

Arduino hardware is programmed using a Wiring-based language is similar to C++ with some simplifications and modifications, and a Processing-based integrated development environment. Arduino can sense the environment by receiving input from a variety of sensors and can affect its surroundings by controlling lights, motors, and other actuators.

Processing is an open source programming language and environment for people who want to create images, animations, and interactions. Initially developed to serve as a software sketchbook and to teach fundamentals of computer programming within a visual context, Processing also has evolved into a tool for generating finished professional work. The main features are:

• » Free to download and open source
• » Interactive programs using 2D, 3D or PDF output
• » OpenGL integration for accelerated 3D
• » For GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows
• » Projects run online or as double-clickable applications
• » Over 100 libraries extend the software into sound, video, computer vision

To learn more log on to www.processing.com

QkCtrl Serial BT adds a programmable Bluetooth remote control to your electronics projects. QkCtrl Serial BT enables you to design custom controls that let you easily communicate with serial devices over Bluetooth. It’s simple and takes very little to integrate into your projects.

QkCtrl Serial BT was designed with the Arduino microcontroller in mind. However, it should work with most projects that support serial communication and most Bluetooth transceivers that support SPP. Check out a sample project on the kvndev’s website to see how you can implement QkCtrl Serial BT into your project.
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Arduino Nano is a surface mount breadboard embedded version with integrated USB. It is a smallest, complete, and breadboard friendly. It has everything that Diecimila/Duemilanove has (electrically) with more analog input pins and onboard +5V AREF jumper. Physically, it is missing power jack. The Nano is automatically sense and switch to the higher potential source of power, there is no need for the power select jumper.

Nano’s got the breadboard-ability of the Boarduino and the Mini+USB with smaller footprint than either, so users have more breadboard space. It’s got a pin layout that works well with the Mini or the Basic Stamp (TX, RX, ATN, GND on one top, power and ground on the other). This new version 3.0 comes with ATMEGA328 which offer more programming and data memory space. It is two layers. That make it easier to hack and more affordable.

You end up paying less with Nano than Mini and USB combined!

Specifications:

Microcontroller Atmel ATmega328
Operating Voltage (logic level) 5 V
Input Voltage (recommended) 7-12 V
Input Voltage (limits) 6-20 V
Digital I/O Pins 14 (of which 6 provide PWM output)
Analog Input Pins 8
DC Current per I/O Pin 40 mA
Flash Memory 32 KB (of which 2KB used by bootloader)
SRAM 2 KB
EEPROM 1 KB
Clock Speed 16 MHz
Dimensions 0.70” x 1.70”

Features:

• Automatic reset during program download
• Power OK blue LED
• Green (TX), red (RX) and orange (L) LED
• Auto sensing/switching power input
• Small mini-B USB for programming and serial monitor
• ICSP header for direct program download
• Standard 0.1” spacing DIP (breadboard friendly)
• Manual reset switch

Power:

The Arduino Nano can be powered via the mini-B USB connection, 6-20V unregulated external power supply (pin 30), or 5V regulated external power supply (pin 27). The power source is automatically selected to the highest voltage source.