Upgrading IKEA Vaxer Hydroponic with Cayenne

Contests Automation Around the Home
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About This Project

Hi guys :smiley:

Last night before the contest end, I finally manage to have time to write my project.

Today I’m showing you how I added Cayenne to an IKEA Hydroponic system named Vaxer. This is a very simple and reliable hydroponic system that you can buy for a very cheap price. Google it and you will discover…

The project itself is very simple in terms of electronics. I also used a 3D Printer to print an enclosure for the electronic components and an adapter for my sensor. Feel free to ask the designs!

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Many of you might think this a very simple project. However this is what makes me love Cayenne.
I managed to deploy a solution for a problem that I have in an afternoon!!! :smiling_imp:

So regarding the project…
This IKEA Vaxer system uses a 12V Led to provide light to your plants and has a float so that you know when you should water your plants…
The thing is…this system is almost noob proof, but I still need to turn the Led on/off everyday at a specific time and watch if my plants need water or not.
So I decided to add some electronics and Cayenne to it :sunglasses:

What’s Connected

  • Arduino Nano

  • 2 Channel Module Relay

  • Liquid Level Sensor

  • Raspberry Pi (This is just used because I don’t have a shield for my Arduino so I used the PI for Serial connection)

My Arduino Nano has two purposes in this project. Read the sensor values through an analogue pin, and control the relay for the Led using a digital pin. More simple impossible!
I will not post here schematics and technical information since this is the most easy project you can find… Just google how to wire a relay to an Arduino and how to hook an Analogue Sensor. After that is just adding widgets in Cayenne.

Triggers & Alerts

I used a trigger to check if my Liquid Sensor was below a threshold value. This will notify me so I know when to refill the water reservoir.

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Scheduling

I used two schedules.
One to turn my lights On and another to turn them Off. This Schedules also notify me.

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Dashboard Screenshots

My dashboard is very simple. I only have a button for my Relay, a Graph for my data and my sensor value.

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Photos of the Project

Here are some photos of my purple basil and lettuce!

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Video

Just a proof of work :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: (The red nails are from my girlfriend!)

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Cool! Which 3D printer did you use?

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An Anet A8, bought from Gearbest for 150$. I purchased it in Christmas and so far so good… I did not have any experience with 3D printers and the assembly/calibration was not that hard. Good to know you enjoyed the project :smiley:

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Hello guys,

Here is how my plants are with one month old while using this system (Lettuce and Purple Basil).
I replaced the Raspberry pi and the Arduino for a NodeMcu board.

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What 3d modeling software did you use in the screen shots? I’ve been using FreeCAD but am growing increasingly annoyed with the bugs.

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I used Fusion 360 from Autodesk. I’ve learned everything from instructables classes, however my knowledge on this is very short. But give it a try. Its very easy to start sketching some objects.

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Hey very nice :blush:… can you give me the model for the liquid level sensor?

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Sorry I meant the model for the 3D-printer

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oh, sorry. @joaoduarte_89 can only provide you with that.

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I hope he will answer very very soon :joy:… I’ll need it for a project for university :see_no_evil:

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@FitchMeike it’s in the post above. Anet A8