Manage your greenhouse with a Raspberry Pi Pico W

Sheltered Growth

© Lead Image © Ledda Maria Rita, 123RF.com

© Lead Image © Ledda Maria Rita, 123RF.com

Article from Issue 274/2023
Author(s):

You can safely assign some greenhouse tasks to a Raspberry Pi Pico W, such as controlling ventilation, automating a heater, and opening and closing windows.

When implementing my greenhouse control system, I didn't have to start completely from scratch. An older control system already existed with which I had a little experience. Building on this established setup, I decided to use power windows for the hinged skylights (Figure 1) and a fan to circulate the air in the greenhouse. Also, when nighttime temperatures dropped in the spring and fall, I wanted a heater to switch on automatically. In contrast, crops needed protection against excessive heat in summer.

Figure 1: The automatic greenhouse control system regulates when the skylights open and close.

An intelligent control system would also be nice to reference the outside temperature, allowing it to close the windows in time for cool evenings and build up a heat reserve for young crops during the night. At the same time, a reliable clock was essential to adapt to the lighting conditions of different seasons.

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