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jdavidpeter / plc-home-automation

Complete MOSAIC project for a Tecomet CP-1000 based, live, home automation system. Made as hobby.
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Garden irrigation [FEATURE] #1

Open ns3271 opened 2 years ago

ns3271 commented 2 years ago

I am looking to implement a 3 zone garden irrigation with and without soil moisture sensors. What would the best way to start it to achieve best result in the garden?

jdavidpeter commented 2 years ago

It depends on the long run goals. The more you want to automate, especially the more "life critical" systems you target, the more you need to invest in reliable, industry grade hardware. Tecomat or Siemens PLCs are solid but expensive and centralized, KNX is decentralized but costs even more.

If it's only about irrigation, a Raspberry Pi will do it. Most home irrigation systems operate with 12V or 24V AC or DC magnetic valves, there are cheap controller relays for that on eBay or SparkFun. Take one that can be directly operated from the IO ports of the Pi.

If the water is sourced from a well or reservoirs, the pump that can be switched with a 230V pressure switch. I recommend having a hydrophore tank after the pump, so the pump won't cycle crazily if there's leak in the system. I have a 50L hydrophore tank, that's also great for regular garden use, e.g. hand washing or filling buckets.

I don't have experience with Moisture sensors. Likely you find some cheap analoge device that you can star tusing with an AD converter. I'm happy to hear back if you find a good sensor and can tell about how to integrate it with a PLC or Pi.

Have fun!