Team Leader: Greg SwansonLudim Castillo

Ryan BornManuel Perez

Alex King

Why this system?

Aquaponics is a sustainable food production system combining aquaculture and hydroponics...but this is a delicate system that requires maintenance

This is where we come in!AutoPonix is an automated

water quality monitor and adjustment system for upkeep of an aquaponics system.

The pH, temperature and conductivity of the water are all monitored and logged.

The data is transmitted via wifi to a server that hosts a site displaying charts of system data

Water quality and content PH sensor Temperature sensor, heater Conductivity probe Fish feeder Camera for visual feedback to the user Water pumps Wifi connection to server for data logging LCD screen for user interaction

Functionality

Processor• Manufacturer: NXP LPC1788

o Speed: <= 120MHz, Expected OP speed:143MHz or 166MHz

o Buses: Three AHB-Lite buses

o Internal Memory: 512kB Flash Program Memory; 96kB on-chip SRAM data memory; 4032 bytes of EEPROM memory

o External Memory: External Memory Controller (EMC)

o Switch to boot off flash memory

o On board only linker; compiler and debugger outside of the board

o I/O systems would be our LCD screen, probes, motors, and digitally controlled wall outlets

o When power is applied the probes will turn on and wait for user input of target values for desired PH, temp, and feed timer.

o Reset Circuit

Cut power to all peripherals

close current file being logged to

Display: The display will show the most recent samples from each of our sensors.Wifi: WiFi will transmit the samples to a server where data will be remotely stored

and accessed by the websiteThermometer: This module measures the temperature once every minuteHeater: The heater turns on when the temperature reaches the lower threshold and

turns off when the upper threshold is reached.PH Sensor: This part measures the PH level of the water once every hourFish Feeder: This will activate our feeding mechanism twice a day (or more, if

specified)Camera: We will be using the camera to monitor the fish and plants’ health. The

camera should save its images onto the SD card and will store the last 90 days of images. An image will be taken every 3 hours during daytime hours.

Data Logger: This part will record the data from all the sensors into a file. Each day, it will produce a new file and remove the least recent file if it reaches the maximum number of days, as defined by us.

Subsystem Definitions

The level of acidity and basicity of the water is vital to both plants and fish, if too far out of range the fish die and the plants are locked out of nutrients

For example ferrous iron (Fe2+) becomes ferric (Fe3+), which is insoluble at higher pH levels thus inaccessible by plants

pH - percentage Hydrogen

• Driven using an analog signal and operates through a BNC interface

• Default target pH of 6.6• Alkaline buffer salts introduce

carbonate to the water and are used to raise the pH to equilibrium, while acidic buffer salts convert carbonate to CO2and are used to lower the pH

pH Sensor - Atlas Scientific

• Takes in an analog signal• Connects to PCB with a BNC

connection• Heater will turn on when the

temperature drops below the user defined level, with a default setting of 75°

• Able to withstand harsh environments for prolonged amount of time

Temperature Sensor, Heater

By measuring conductivity, the total hardness of the water can be determined, thus alerting the system to a possible mineral deficiency

The total hardness is the general hardness (GH) + carbonate hardness (KH) which is another important aspect of water quality. The KH is directly correlated to the pH of the water and GH consists of the vital inorganic materials needed by both plants and fish.

Water Conductivity

• This meter gives analog readings in microsiemens which can be converted to total dissolved solids (TDS) using the data sheet provided with the probe

• Can be submerged indefinitely making it ideal for aquaponics systems

• The GH can be deduced to a somewhat accurate value by estimating the KH based on the pH and subtracting the KH from TDS

Conductivity Probe

Fish Feeder and Buffer Dispensers

● Operated by DC motor (6-12V)● PWM interface● The fish feeder will operate twice a day,

during daylight hours, unless specified otherwise by the user

● The salt dispensers will only turn on for a variable time when the threshold limits are reached

● The motor turns a drill bit that is fed by a funnel containing either the fish food or salts

● This allows for easy, quantized dispensing

LCD Screen● It will display live

measurements from the sensors

● Displayed information will update every time the sensors measure samples.

● Capacitive Touch Panel with a built in FocalTech FT5x06 controller

● Interface signal levels: 3.0 -3.6 V

● TFT color display with RGB interface

• Used to monitor fish and plant health

• TTL serial connection• Transmits pre-compressed JPEG

images, so easy to store them• JPEG images will be transmitted

over wifi to a website that will decrypt the data stream and construct the image.

• UART interface

Camera

Water Pump• The pumps will operate every

fifteen minutes and will run for fifteen minute intervals

• This allows the plant roots to receive oxygen as well as stay sufficiently hydrated

• The pump is plugged into a wall outlet that is digitally interfaced by our microcontroller

● A 16 GB SD card will be used for data logging exclusively

● The SD card will allow for a display of data over long periods of time to monitor fluctuations throughout different parts of the year.

SD Card

Wifi Module• Will constantly transmit all images

and data measured• Will • UART interface• 802.11 b/g• Internet Protocols

o WEP, WPA, WPA2

o DHCP, DNS, ARP, ICMP

o TCP/IP

o FTP client, HTTP client

Software Structure• Upon boot all of the sensors will

run and the corresponding data will be stored onto the microSD card as well as submitted to the database via wifi

• If the data is outlying of the threshold amounts set, the related controls will be triggered until the system returns to equilibrium

• Following the first data capture, each sensor will be read only intermittently as specified previously

• The pumps will be operating off of the processors built in timer

• The fish feeder will operate off of the real time clock

AutoPonix Schedule

Bill of MaterialsPart Vendor Vendor Part Number Unit Price Total

CRYSTAL 20MHZ 10PF SMD Digi-Key 887-1303-1-ND 0.968 0.968

32.768 Khz crystal Mouser 581-ST3232768H5HPWAA 1.5 1.5

Wifi Mouser 765-RN-XV 34.94 34.94

LCD Screen Digi-KeyNHD-5.0-800480TF-ATXL#-CTP 68 70

pH Sensor Atlas Scientific pH sensor 60 60

temperature sensor Atlas Scientific temp sensor 18 18

SDRAM 128MBit 133 MHz Digi-Key 557-1100-6-ND 5.065 5.065

uSD Mount Header Mouser 688-SCHD1A0101 1.27 1.27

uSD Card Mouser 908-AP16GMCSH4-B 19.95 19.95

Conductivity Probe Atlas Scientific conductivity sensor 105 105

DC Motor Jameco MD5-2445 3.25 13

Bill of MaterialsPart Vendor Vendor Part Number Unit Price Total

Conductivity Calibration Liquid Atlas Scientific K=0.1 8.6 8.6

PH Calibration Liquid Atlas Scientific pH 4.0 6.95 6.95

PH Calibration Liquid Atlas Scientific pH 7.0 6.95 6.95

Female BNC Jameco 1952821 0.79 2.37

TTL Serial Camera With NTSC Video Jameco 2144340 49.95 49.95

RS232 DUAL 250KBPS 20SOIC Digi-Key MAX3233ECWP+G36-ND 6.84 ?

DSUB R/A US 9POS PIN Digi-Key 609-4003-ND 0.831 ?

CONN FFC 40POS 0.50MM SMD R/A Digi-Key WM3431CT-ND 2.686 ?

CONN FFC 6POS 1MM R/A ZIF SMD Digi-Key WM7955DKR-ND 1.219 ?

CAP CER 18PF 50V 5% NP0 0805 Digi-Key 478-1307-1-ND 0.1 ?

Project Total = $404.51+

Questions?Comments?Concerns?Rebuttals?Discrepancies?Suggestions?