A buh...?

---

How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

ahm as in bahm... say it out loud... maybe you need to go for your run yet you're not your usual sharp self. :)

Opto22 has some pretty bulletproof stuff. The problem with PC based controls is the program that you need to use. Unless you have found something that will work for you, expect to spend more on the program than the relays.

And do you really want to have to reboot your irrigation system?

Look at Automation Direct for some cheap PLC's that are easier to program than arduinos, and very stable. I have no connection with them other than programming and installing about 100 of their systems over the years.

Any opinion on RaspberryPi? Seems easy to find a lot of script kiddy type projects and know almost enough python to be dangerous. Not effective, just dangerous. Lol

I have not played with a Pi. In the past they were more for connecting to other computers and the UI. Arduinos were much simpler.

If you understand Python at all, the Pi would be a fairly quick learning curve for you.

The way these little computers are getting, any of them would run 100 irrigation systems.

A lot of the youtube video's I found this morning were by Christmas light nuts doing choreographed light displays. Way more complicated than what I want to do... watering & lighting plants in a greenhouse... Oh crap, just remembered probably should add temperature control too. And then in the outdoor garden, get it to irrigate when really needs to be with moisture content sensor... This could turn into one helluva rabbit hole! (or I just give up and go KISS)

This is some of the shit I do at work but attached to mega dollar robots with the need for auditing... was the voltage correct when that joint was welded? type of issue. I have one project that generates 500GB of data an hour that needs to be analyzed, a bit of a nightmare.

Raspberry Pi will do all you need easily... Arduino is simpler but you need to be more of a nerd to run it. Our stuff is 4-10x as powerful as a Pi and the code complexity is more akin to Arduino to hit performance criteria. When I finally get around to doing my own home automation projects (very simple... just locking garage door, opening/closing chicken coup door) I'll use a Razberry... (a Pi with a Z-wave chip).

Thanks for the tips!

The more I think about this the more potential I see, for starters just timed lights & irrigation though. In the future I could potentially add HVAC control doing everything from controlled temperature & ventilation and also ambient humidity.

This is screaming raspberry pi. There are plenty of walkthroughs on wiring up relays http://www.instructables.com/...Raspberry-Pi-and-a-/ and eventually, you would be able to add temp, humidity, rain sensors, etc. There are plenty of options on how to code it, and lots of help available.

Interesting set up for a terrarium, not sure how scalable it would be but I'm sure that it be a decent frame work to start with.
https://www.raspberrypi.org/...errarium-controller/