Team 22Aeroponic 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 68F during light hours, and 77F

during dark hours. Use Hoagland solution Type I.

The pH should be maintained between 5.5-6.5. Capability to administer sound (noise).

Sound level 90-100 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, CO2 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 workResolution: Allot money for this purpose only Find more sources for money

2. Exceeding the project budgetResolution: Use wired server link rather than wireless Build only one chamber instead of two

Cost

Item Cost

Sensors $40.00

Microcontroller $15.00

Microcontroller Board $20.00

Wireless adapters $75.00

Chamber Parts $100.00

Chemicals $50.00

Speaker $30.00

Power Supply $20.00

Total $350.00

Labor ($20/hour) $13,600.00

Fictional Cost $13,950.00

Real Cost $350.00

Schedule

Project Plan Design Implement Test Total

Chris Reeve 10 30 100 30 170

Zachary Davis 10 30 100 30 170

Mohammed Rahim

10 30 100 30 170

Daniel Wright 10 30 100 30 170

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 Result Actual Result Tester Fix Needed Pass/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

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?