The perfect nozzle monitoring system is solved
It is a challenge to find a solution to verify if your misters are working or not working in your high-pressure aeroponics grow chamber.
Two things must be verified:
- One, are the misters activating?
- Two, are they spraying at the right or programmed interval?
Humidity sensors – No way!
My first approach was to use a humidity sensor. They don’t work well in 100% humidity or when they get rained on 24/7.
The second approach is to use a rain moisture sensor. This kind of worked with some faults. Its response is slow. It could take hours before your notified of a failed nozzle or spray interval problem. after nozzles failed to get the alarm. Moisture left on the sensor needed too much time to dry before it registered a change in wetness.
We Have Corrosion?
Another problem with this sensor is since the electrodes were exposed to the environment, they start to corrode just after 7day. Not good if toxins are released in your grow chamber .
Wet bulb to dry bulb
Next, I used a wet / dry bulb measurement. It worked poorly as well. Due to the lack of air movement in the grow chamber, the difference in temperature of the bulbs were always too close to get fast accurate reads.
So what do we? Give up?
An innovative way to remotely monitor the high-pressure misting -Your Ear!
Since I could never depend on these humidity sensors, I would always just wait and listen to hear if the nozzles are firing. By the sound along I could tell if the nozzles were firing and nozzles weren’t clogged.
Eureka!
Use a sound sensor in the grow chamber. So here is my experiment. I placed a mini microphone into the grow chamber and recorded the sounds from inside.
You can listen by playing the media file below:
Here’s the sound waveform (click it to enlarge):
As you can see and hear, I mist for 6 seconds about every 4 minutes. Cool! Right?
The experiment is a huge success!
No one. and I repeat, no one is doing this kind of monitoring of their aeroponics system.This will come in handy when growing profitable herbs .
You show me who uses a microphone to monitor the deep bellows of an high-pressure aeroponics system. No one is doing this kind of research online.
The aeroponics controller
As you know I’m engineering a master aeroponics controller and this sound sensor will be incorporated into the system and all data will be logged and presented in real time.
Monitor the health of…
You know this kind of remind me of those heart monitors (EKG) doctors use on their patients. As long the chart on the monitor is bouncing up and down the patient is alive. But once it goes straight line, panic sets in because his patient is dying.
My sound sensor serves the same purpose. Now the patient is your system. As long we can hear the misting. Our high-pressure aeroponics system is alive and well. Our plants are happy.
Please send me a message if you have any comments to share.
