Autoponics

The aim of autoponics is to build technology that empowers people to grow and raise their own food, in a healthy and sustainable way. We've built an aquaponic system, where nitrogen waste from fish is used to fertilize plants.

This is Ruth's passion project which has been ongoing since January, when Ruth got a free iMac and started prototyping (and diarying about) an automatic fish tank. At the beginning of this hackathon, we brought the iMac fish tank, which we've made a tutorial for building, as well as self watering plant buckets (tutorial here), along with our fish and plants. During the hackathon, we set up the hardware and software to allow for:

• automatic fish feeding

• temperature monitoring and control

• pumping fertilizer rich fish tank water to the plants

• plant light and ventilation control.

Our code is open source: https://github.com/pxpeterxu/autoponics

Fish feeding demo

Video: https://goo.gl/photos/bZt4eWzDwNnrKA7K9

To make the fish feeder mechanism, you'll need two 3D printed parts (the feeding disc and the disc stabilizer), a servo, a servo arm, and an axle (we used a hand sewing needle). The servo is attached to the feeding disc on one side and the disc stabilizer sits on the other side of the disc. The axel is attached through the middle of the feeding disc, and allowed to turn freely in the disc stabilizer.

• Feeding disc 3D printing file (STL): https://github.com/ruthgrace/3d_print_filedump/blob/master/autoponics/feeder_disc.stl

• Disc stabilizer 3D printing file (STL): https://github.com/ruthgrace/3d_print_filedump/blob/master/autoponics/disc_stabilizer.stl

Temperature monitoring demo

GIF

The temperature monitoring set up has a screen and a sensor. The screen reports the temperature, and the backlight turns red if the temperature is too hot for the health of the fish, and blue if it is too cold.

Temperature control demo

Video: https://goo.gl/photos/mzesNh6SVhvmjbEy7

We have an aquarium heater from a pet store, which we've rigged up with 3D printed piece to be controlled by a servo motor. All of it is stabilized by a reused plastic bottle and support structures (wooden cutlery in our case).

• Heater to servo connector 3D printing file (STL): https://github.com/ruthgrace/3d_print_filedump/blob/master/autoponics/heater_to_servo_connection.stl

• Servo stabilizer 3D printing file (STL): https://github.com/ruthgrace/3d_print_filedump/blob/master/autoponics/servo_holder.stl

Pump demo

Video: https://goo.gl/photos/egfzC98rzWTjfY7f7

We are using a peristaltic liquid pump component. The pump goes from the fish tank to the first plant pot. The plant pots have vinyl tubing running between them such that gravity makes the water level equal.

Lights and ventilation demo

Video: https://goo.gl/photos/ZgckBLeybhexRKFZA

These are done with the Grove relay component. We spent some time figuring out how to connect devices which plug into the wall to the relay, and documented our process in a tutorial.