Aquaponics Project Primer

What is an aquaponics system?  I'll write more about this when I detail the construction of my system, but pretty much it is a system that pumps water out of a tank into planters and then the water drains back into the tank.  You raise fish in the tank and plant vegetables in the planters.  The fish fertilize the plants and the plants and soil filter the water for the fish.  The goal is a symbiotic environment.

Now what is an aquaponics project doing on an automation blog?  Well first, this blog is meant to be about the people behind The Automation Store, and we take pride in providing healthy meals for our family.  Also I hope to use it for therapy to calm the nerves and relax the mind after a long day at work.

Of course for those of you who don't know me that well I have the attention span of a gnat so starring at plants and watching them grow isn't my idea of relaxation.

At the same time we are looking at adding a microcontroller product line to The Automation Store.  Microcontrollers are pretty much miniature computers that have inputs and outputs for switches, motors, pumps,sensors, etc built in.  I don't have a tremendous amount of experience with them so I thought I would use this as an opportunity to familiarize myself with these controllers.

My initial plan is to try to monitor water levels, sunlight, soil moisture content, pH,  temperature and some other variables and use these to determine how much and when to water the plants and adjust the temperature accordingly to produce higher crop yields and reduce water usage.

Later I might geek out and add some remote monitoring...oh might as well make it web based...so that we can monitor these values remotely, turn on pumps, maybe even send you a text message when your tomatoes are ripe (red).

Tim
The Automation Store

NEW - Allen Bradley Micrologix Programming Cable with 90 Degree Round Connector!

We are now offering an Allen Bradley Micrologix Programming Cable with 90 Degree Round Connector!  This will allow you to close the programming cable door with the cable attached.
http://www.theautomationstore.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_images.tpl&product_id=12&category_id=47&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=2

Who are we?

We've shared this many times with our customer but who is The Automation Store?  We are made up of five small family owned businesses.  Three husband and wifes, one father and son, and one other individual.  We are not a huge company.  We don't have a million items or a million dollars in inventory.  But each item is assembled, tested, and packaged with pride by one of us.

When you call us, there is a good chance you will hear kids playing (hopefully quietly) in the background.  Sometimes they aren't quiet and that's life.  Even when they are quiet if you listen after we say goodbye to you chances are you will hear them shout "I QUIET" looking for praise for being quiet during the phone conversation.  We haven't got them to understand that it takes a few seconds after we say goodbye to hang up the phone.  Maybe it adds to the experience of ordering from us and helps you realize what The Automation Store is all about.