Real-Time Clock - Part II: Grow Light Controller

In Part I of this tutorial, you learned how to set up the ChronoDot  with the Arduino and use it to track time.  Part II continues the discussion by creating a timer that can be used to control grow lights.

In a previous post we talked about the importance of light for plants and the role grow lights play in Controlled Environment Agriculture either by monitoring current light levels and providing supplemental light, or by providing all of the light for a fixed time every day.  Part II focuses on the latter, creating a timer which toggles a light on at a certain time of day, toggles it off at another and uses the ChronoDot to track the time.


Parts List
1 x Arduino Uno R3 (IDE 1.0.3)
1 x ChronoDot
1 x PowerSwitch Tail II Relay
6 x Jumper wires


Fritzing Diagram

Figure 1.  Grow Light Timer diagram.

Arduino Libraries
In addition to the libraries from Part I, you will need two new libraries for this sketch:  Time and TimeAlarms.  The Time library is used to set the Arduino's system time as well as to compare times during the initial setup.

TimeAlarms is used to create two alarms, one for the time each day the light is turned on, and a second alarm for the time of day the light is turned off.

Download both zip files, extract them and move a copy into your Arduino's libraries directory.


Arduino Sketch
This sketch takes two times, given as hour, minute and second and creates an alarm for each.  When you first launch the script, the start time and end time are compared to the current time.  If the current time is between the two times, the relay is toggled ON.

During each operational loop, the current time is retrieved from the ChronoDot, the system time is reset and the current time is displayed.

Real-Time Clock - Part I

A fundamental necessity of any controls system is the ability to track time.  As far as we are aware, the Arduino has three methods it can employ:

1. Serial.  Repeatedly get the time over the Serial connection.
2. External Hardware.  Real-time clocks, like the ChronoDot from Macetech, establish a base time when the Arduino sketch is compiled.  When you request the current time in the sketch you actually receive a time based on the time that has elapsed since compilation.
3. Ethernet.  Access time using the internet NTP service.

This tutorial set focuses on option 2.  In Part I we explain the basics of getting the ChronoDot set up and displaying the current time over serial.

The ChronoDot

The ChronoDot is a high precision real-time-clock (RTC) and boasts a number of features needed for Aquaponics. The V2.1 release introduced the DS3231SN chip, which has an industrial temperature range of -40C to +85C and outputs a temperature compensated time - important for aquaponic control systems that reside outdoors in the heat and direct sun.  

Figure 1.  The ChronoDot V2.1, credit Macetech.

The ChronoDot includes an onboard battery cell for a CR1632 battery, allowing the clock to keep track of time should the Arduino lose power, regain power and restart. Anyone in aquaponics can appreciate the ability of a control system to automatically reboot and resume operation in the event of a power glitch. The disadvantage of the ChronoDot, and RTCs in general is the inability to handle Daylight Savings Time.

The Environment DAQ can be configured with the ChronoDot using the prototyping area, which is exactly wide enough to handle the RTC (coincidence?). If mounting to the shield, you can access the pins from the bottom.

Figure 2.  Environment DAQ Shield with ChronoDot.

Parts List

1 x ChronoDot

1 x Arduino Uno R3
4 x Jumper Wires

Mounting the ChronoDot

The Fritzing diagram below shows how to connect the ChronoDot to the Arduino. Note that the RTC connections are on the right-hand side - the pins on the other side are not used.

Figure 2.  Connecting the ChronoDot.

Arduino Library

The ChronoDot requires two libraries

1. Wire.h - Included with the Arduino
2. RTClib.h - Download here.

Download the zip file and extract it. If necessary, rename the extracted folder "RTClib", and then move a copy into your Arduino libraries directory.

Arduino Sketch

Part I of this tutorial simply outputs the current time from the RTC to Serial; part two shows how to set create a toggle time.

Environment DAQ Demo

A live demo of the Environment DAQ is online:

New Google+ Community

We have a new community on Google+:  Automating Aquaponics and Hydroponics.  Here you can get help, find ideas, share your passion and find updates.

Environment DAQ Update 2.2

Version 2.2 brings the new overview container as well as some updates to the CSS files for Firefox.

You can download Version 2.2 here.