Team 22 Aeroponic Growth Chamber Team: Daniel Wright – CprE/EE Chris Reeve – CprE Mohammed Rahim – EE Zach Davis – CprE Advisor/Client: Professor Tim Bigelow

Project Goal & Concept Scetch A simple and affordable aeroponic plant growth chamber to study the effect of sound on plant healing and growth.

System Block Diagram

Model

Functional Requirements  Light radiation in the Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) spectrum (400 to 700 nm).  Air velocity between 0.3 and 0.7 m/s.  Optimum chamber temperature of 68  F during light hours, and 77  F during dark hours.  Use Hoagland solution Type I.  The pH should be maintained between  Capability to administer sound (noise).  Sound level dB.  Frequencies in the 1-16 kHz octave bands.  Capability to control and monitor various environmental parameters from a remote server.  Radiation (Light)  Temperature  Air velocity  Watering  Sound

Non-functional Requirements  Monitor, measure, and report the following parameters as required by NCERA-101:  Atmospheric moisture inside the chamber (Relative Humidity (RH))  pH and Electrical Conductivity (EC) of the nutrient solution  Substrate (air)  Chamber properties: Specifications (floor area, dimensions) Barrier beneath lamps (whether present and its composition) Air flow (whether up, down or horizontal)  To build a web interface to monitor and control various physical parameters.

Assumptions and Considerations  Humidity sensor accuracy of ±3%  Chamber ventilation of two air exchanges per hour  The roots of the plants should be kept in the dark  Air temperature, CO 2 and relative humidity need to be measured at the top of the plant canopy  A second “control” chamber would be desirable for research, however the available budget is not sufficient to build two chambers.

Market Survey  Current market solutions for plant growth chambers are very expensive, upwards of $10,000.  Our solution will be used primarily for research, but has the potential to be used in high schools as a learning tool for both plant growth and for engineering/programming.

Risks 1. Some of the existing components may not work Resolution:  Allot money for this purpose only  Find more sources for money 2. Exceeding the project budget Resolution:  Use wired server link rather than wireless  Build only one chamber instead of two

Cost ItemCost Sensors$40.00 Microcontroller$15.00 Microcontroller Board$20.00 Wireless adapters$75.00 Chamber Parts$ Chemicals$50.00 Speaker$30.00 Power Supply$20.00 Total$ Labor ($20/hour)$13, Fictional Cost$13, Real Cost$350.00

Schedule Project PlanDesignImplementTestTotal Chris Reeve Zachary Davis Mohammed Rahim Daniel Wright

System Decomposition  Microcontroller  Pump  Light  Sound  Heating Coil  Depth Gauge  Temperature  CO2  Humidity  Python server application  Communicates between user interface and microcontroller  Handles settings and periodic tasks  User Interface  Web application to view data and change chamber settings  Server application to change settings

Microcontroller State Diagram

Central Server Program

Web UI Specifications  Web app using ASP.NET AJAX and VB.NET in VS 2010  Master page will handle common items  Home/Welcome page as index  Data page for graphical presentation of gathered data  Alerts page to notify users of problems  Settings page with controls to view and set any modifiable chamber settings  Administrator page for user account operations and for the viewing of past settings changes

Server UI Specifications  Windows Forms app using VB.NET in VS 2010  Very minimal and simplistic  Successful login shows Settings view where any modifiable chamber settings can be viewed and changed  Users view to allow administrator to view, add, modify, and remove user accounts  Users view can be seen by administrator accounts only

Microcontroller Testing Sound Generator Expected ResultActual ResultTesterFix NeededPass/Fail Frequency selected. Frequency played at set volume. Daniel Random # generated for frequency. Random # is in the set bounds and changed at set interval. Daniel Test Completed on:

Central Server Program Testing  Build and test individual modules  Serial communication  Socket server  Task scheduler  Write ‘dummy’ front-end to test with  Write ‘dummy’ program to run on microcontroller

User Interface Testing  Web interface is very easy and straightforward to test. Just need to make sure pages and controls look and function like they are supposed to.  A dummy database will be made so that the tester can see exactly what the web app is doing.  A dummy Python app will be made to print out the commands that it gets from either of the UI’s to make sure it is getting what we expect it to.

Sound Design

Sound Generation PWM Signal Fourier Transform

Implementation

Individual Contributions  Zach Davis  Built chamber  Designed central server program  Sound generation  Mohammed Rahim  Specifications  Technical drawings  Research  Chris Reeve  Team leader  Front ends design  Research  Daniel Wright  Researched and ordered parts  Sound system design  Microcontroller research

Plan for Next Semester  Finalize sound design  Low-pass filter and amplifier design  Signal generation algorithm  Assemble electrical components  Write software  Grow plants  Testing

Questions?