Issue link: https://resources.mouser.com/i/1442841
9 / I n a previous horticulture-focused project, we examined how temperature, humidity, moisture, pH levels, and CO2 levels affect plant growth. Here, we examine another key ingredient for plant photosynthesis, which is exposure to light. This follow-on project will allow those with a green thumb to monitor and remotely control artificial light exposure. Controlled Environments (CE) horticulture is a fancy way of saying growing plants with the aid of digital technology. It is becoming an increasingly important mechanism to assist in stabilizing the food supply chain for the planet. In some scenarios, like indoor vertical farms, access to sunlight is not a guarantee. Smart use of artificial lighting is crucial in such situations. This project will utilize Medium One, an end-to-end IoT cloud platform, to allow an end user to monitor, automate, and remotely control the artificial lighting in a horticulture-oriented facility, be it a greenhouse, vertical farm, or some other environment that requires such functionality. Michael Parks, P.E., for Mouser Electronics OVERVIEW The sensor and controller boards used in this project communicate back to the Xplained microcontroller board in two ways—either digitally utilizing a pulse width modulated signal or a 0V-5V analog signal that is read by the microcontroller's analog-to-digital converter (ADC). 1. MIC3202 HB LED Driver: The MIC3202 has two control pins that operate at logic-level voltage. The first is the EN or ENABLE pin. This pin controls the output (-LED and +LED) being on or off. If the EN pin is drawn high, then power is delivered to the LED power wires. Conversely, if the EN is drawn to ground, the output voltage to the LEDs is cutoff, turning off any LEDs connected to the output. The second pin, the DIM pin, controls the brightness of the LEDs. The DIM pin looks for a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal to serve as the control signal for the LED brightness. Varying the duty cycle of the PWM signal will result in varying brightness—100 percent duty for full brightness and 0 percent to turn the LEDs off. AUTOMATING AND CONTROLLING Greenhouse Lighting