Pigrow

The new gui can be found here - https://github.com/Pragmatismo/pigrow_windows_remote/blob/master/test_guiWin_008.zip

This includes picam3 support with rpicam, they're great cameras and make focusing much easer - really good for close up work where depth of field makes focal distance important.

Also Venv support which is required in Bookworm, the newest version of raspberry pi OS which is required for the picam3, pi5 and a few other new things. If using bookworm then set up the venv before running the install wizard or installing any python modules.

Note - using bookworm there may be other changes they've made, for example the location of the /boot/config.txt file has changed so the boot config tools in system_pnl wil not work, i'll fix them but for now make any required changes manually (e.g. i2c baudrate, 1wire config)

The timelapse and localfiles panel have a few small updates and fixes, and there are a couple of other minor improvements.

I'll keep testing with bookworm and fix anything that needs it but hopefully will be able to focus on moving over the graphs tab so we can finally reorder everything. I've got a few projects up and running that will gathering timelapse while i'm away, i'll also be using some of the time i'm away to work on finishing some designs so hopefully i'll have a load of new stuff to add soon.

I used the camera on one of my pigrows to take pictures out my window every five min then used the daygrid tool to put them all into a single image - this is a slightly updated version with more readable labels and a red line at sun up and sunset, i'll update it in the repo as soon as i've tied it up.

I'm trying to get things to a good position where i can run a competition to create the best modules for the timelapse tab, i'm hoping to use it to attract more attention to the project while also inspiring people to create useful timelapse tools we can all use.

The modules i'm demonstrating here are the analyse set tools which scan through every image in a timelapse set, process them or analyse them then gives a single image output - currently they're all very basic and written pretty much just to demonstrate how the tools work, they are very useful though so i'll be upgrading the code when i get the chance.

Currently this tool is only available in the timelapse tab of the new gui but it's been designed in a way that allows them to be incorporated into datawall displays when i expand that feature. Also i'm hoping that the timelapse analysis tools can be a great way of testing for useful metrics which we can use to help monitor and maintain grows that are in progress, once we've established that an analysis tool is accurate with pre-recorded timelapse we can write a version designed to run every time a new image is captured.

I'll have a video coming soon showing how to use the new timelapse tools and write modules to stylise, analyse, select frames, etc.

https://github.com/Pragmatismo/pigrow_windows_remote/blob/master/test_guiWin_007.zip

You can copy your gui settings file and frompigrow folder to carry everything over. To make and play timelapse you'll need MPV installed - there's a script that does it on their website https://mpv.io/installation/

It doesn't currently have the overlay log feature as that will be added when the Graphing is (because it uses the same log loading mechanism).

As it's still too cold to paint or pour resin I still can't finish my growbox which means i'll probably have the user logs and graphs tabs ported into the new gui soon - also i'll be making a video explaining how to make tools for the timelapse tool.

Here's an example of one of the new analyse tools; https://imgur.com/a/UtOPgz4

it makes it very easy to see missing images, light level changes, etc. Depending on your computer it may take a long time with bigger image sets.

new graph too, https://imgur.com/a/uPmVQrT

it's showing seconds since the first image was taken, a smooth ramp means even spacing and any sudden steps suggest a missing period.

I'll be adding a few more upgrades and new tools, any suggestions or ideas i'd love to hear them.

I've almost finished porting the timelapse pnl over so there will be a new GUI release very soon, most of it is pretty much the same with improvements and a few sections are now modular so it's easy to drop in new scripts when required. This is the stylize timelapse tool which feeds the images through the selected python script to create a new image set, the stylize tools included to start with are mostly just to demonstrate how it works and look cool but i'd like to create some useful and informative ones also so anyone with any ideas for anything i'd love to hear.

Still fixing my water tank with layers of resin and stuff so don't have any space to work on the turbidity, pH sensor or anything but I'll get back to that as soon as my desk is cleared - hopefully be able to get the timelapse panel ported over while i wait for the resin and paint to set then there's only two more tabs and we can delete the old gui :)

A cheap greenhouse bar heater connected to a relay controlled by a Pigrow, i've had this box (bluebox) set up the same for a few years but not in use for the last months - just turned it back on and happy to see it's still working as intended.

Did notice because the OS on the Raspberry Pi is so old that it's using a prior version of python that isn't compatible with a few of the scripts used by the new gui - it should be fairly easy to update it without affecting anything else, though if not i'll copy the config files and install a fresh Raspian (RasberryPi OS) then upload the config files back in place. No rush though it's doing it's job well.

It's at a bit of an awkward stage to make content about at the moment because to finalize any part of it the other parts need to be at least vaguely in-place and tested, it is all coming together well though - minor a few disasters such as the leak i'm fixing today which soaked my carpet.

I have a video on the EC sensor coming soon, then turbidity (cloudiness), and pH. Any other ideas for water based sensors to test? Already done basic level sensors which work the same as switches.

Also going to be adding air quality sensors, maybe Co2 or something? I've experimented a couple of times but never been happy with any of the sensors i've tried so suggestions would be great,

The timelapse part of it is working really well which is nice, as i'll be using that part of the pigrow more i'll probably get round to porting that into the new pigrow gui with some upgrades - i am still working on upgrading and porting the user logs tab also, i think it's only graphs after that then we can discontinue the original gui and finalize the new improved one -- the graphs tab is going to require a lot of work to reorganise and improve especially with all the new datawall features, but i do want to get it done soon.

It's looking pretty scrappy at the moment but it's really starting to come together, i made that little switch and LED box to hold the bits I added in the last video and when i get the pigrow in a case with a ribbon cable between the GPIO and sensor breakout, controls, and relays it'll hopefully be fairly easy to replicate on other boxes i have planned - a desert garden, mushroom growbox, decay box, and various experimental boxes. (also i haven't forgotten about the windowsill one, that'll be upgraded and black in place soon hopefully. my working pigrows are still just doing their thing quietly, i check the night temp graphs occasionally but they mostly look after themselves, and now it's actually possible to get zeros again i'll put some together to go outside with some sensors and solenoid controlled watering (hopefully if the testing and setup in the moss garden testing box goes well i'll be able to have a sensor unit i can put into an outdoor water butt to monitor, maintain and dispense rain water)

There are a couple of cool features that i'll be testing out at some point, they now have two dual use camera and display ports which will make it much easier to make a camera that measures photosynthesis (using a regular and IR camera next to each other) - you might have seen be doing this before using two zeros which worked but was awkward, this should make it much easier and maybe we can film a spring timelapse of a landscape changing.

the new PCIe access is likely to bring some interesting new additions to the Pi ecosystem, while a lot of focus is likely to be on crypto we'll no doubt see a lot of GPU/Compute modules tailed to AI which might be fun to play with plus some of the performance upgrades already help that a lot which hopefully will allow us to start building some interesting Computer Vision tools into the pigrow, maybe even experiment with some robotics control if and when cheap and useful tools make that fun.

I can't see any fundamental changes which will require changes to the Pigrow, i assume the new dual cam ports will work with the new libcam tools so that shouldn't be a problem but of course until i'm able to test it i won't be able to say for sure and as it's expensive i doubt i'll purchase one until i have a justified use case (probably the stereo camera)

Pigrow Development News: currently filming testing and set up of water sensors for sagemoss testbox, will be making a datawall script for that and checking through everything for improvements in how it handles a cycling water system (as used in hydro grows) so hopefully that video will be out soon and close followed by others finalizing my sagemos testbox.

I'm trying to design a feature i've wanted for a while, it tracks the progress of your grow to make it easy to see things like 'these said they take 12 weeks from flower to finishing, yours have been in 13 weeks now..' as well as compare them to prior grows and get info like 'you've grown these seeds 6 times and with the new lights it's growing much faster' or 'this variety is growing faster than any other you've tried but the yield is lower' as well as things like 'grows where the temperature dipped below 10C took 12% longer on average to flower' (all those are random numbers btw).

I'd like to have it so the log and gui tools are generated based on a template file, there'd be an online repo which you can select templates from or upload your own to for others to use, hopefully we'd get a good selection of useful options that way and it could be great for doing citizen science community projects like all recording the same log info then comparing at the end.

Here's how i see it working for users;

User presses a button to start a new plant log, they select a template based on the plant type (preloaded, downloaded or custom) this loads a blank form with the initial questions ready to be filled in (appropriate type for the field - dropdown, date picker, text input, check boxes).

When the initial information is input the program generates a simple graphic display showing progress, as time progresses the user reports events (either through the GUI, messaging apps, or etc) which get added to the log and displayed in the graphic - also optionally included is log information from the growbox, high-low temps, humidity, soil moisture level, watering times, etc.

There will also be optional features to have periodic visual inspections, it will message the user through the selected means (in app notifications, push notifications, message to reddit/lemmy user, LED activation, etc) the user will then input the required information - for example; leaf / node count, height, general health / appearance, etc. This allows creation of more interesting data-points to graph and can hopefully be integrated with tools like CV node counting at a future date. The idea is to log things which can help compare future grows of the same seed type or to compare variants.

When the grow is complete the user will select the option to end grow (selecting if it was harvested, moved, failed optionally selection a rating) the data is packaged with other appropriate data and stored. When the user starts the same type of grow again they will be able to show comparisons with other grows - e.g. drawing out markers when prior grows were switched to flower and how long after that until they were harvested. This should make it much easier to notice what negatively and positively affects growing, what certain traits are associated with and seeing how new equipment (especially lights) changes the growth rate and yield.

example

Plant log

plant type : Cannabis - photoperiod (name of the form preset used) plant name / ID : sum23cheese1 (unique plant identifier, default suggestion is autogen from date, type and numeric) seed origin : named seedbank seed type : the strain name, feminised notes: a text string used to put any info about the plant worth noting, copy paste of seed blurb or important details

grow medium : soil

expected growth duration : seed - 1-2 weeks veg - 2 months flower - 2 months

seed planting date : 14th June 2023

stuff logged through duration --

date transfer into current box : [cultivation, veg, flower]

prune log : date + what was done [trim, top, tie] + notes

date light duration change : aug302023 - 12:12 new ratio (on:off)

observation log : [problem noticed [bugs, discolouration, mold], new features [first true leaves, first flowers]

user measured : [every week] height = 45cm

harvested date : [date of actual harvest] opinion based rating : 7/10 final plant weight : optional dried yield weight : optional

As normal I've not been doing much coding during june-july as the weather is nice out, i have been working on other stuff related to the project though (as well as maintaining my own mental well being and motivation by enjoying nature which is something i think is very important for everyone). I'll have my high-humidity box (sagemoss) fully operational soon which will serve as a space to test operation of a range of water based sensors and various monitoring tools such as datawalls and etc while i'm focusing on improving their implementation - i've also been investigating options for running a small private ActivityPub server of some description (lemmy or mastodon likely) on the pi which could open up lots of interesting possibilities - such as replacing the old reddit message bot which could control some features on the pigrow and send alerts.

Great news for the project is the raspberry pi shortage does seem to have come to an end so check out https://rpilocator.com/ and you'll probably be able to find an official retailer in your area that has stock - it means i've finally got some pi's that i can build into projects without having to constantly rebuild to test other things so hopefully i'll be able to make all the projects i've got planned and do longer term testing, as well as various water sensors and tools i've already started designing and getting the pieces together for my outdoor solar-powered build (a continuation of the solar panel monitoring one from before using Hall-effect sensors) so i'll make a video about that after I make one about getting sagemoss running. (oh and i haven't forgotten about my windowcill one, i'll get that put back in place soon and update on that)

I'm also starting to try and design a system for allowing everyone to work together on the various stages of design and development for new features, i'd love to be able to work as a community on designing things by identifying areas needing testing, designing test processes to get the relevant information and working out the best ways to implement it.

I will also have a load of new code features i'll be adding into the pigrow soon, mostly focusing on ease of use and ease of access.