MarkSherstan / Biodome

Sensor suite and webpage interface for monitoring plants around the house. Inspired by the Cloud Forest in Singapore.

Biodome

Hardware, firmware, and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) iOS app for monitoring plants around the house. Inspired by the Cloud Forest in Singapore.

Requirements

App

• Computer running macOS
• Xcode 13.0 or greater
• Device running iOS 15.0 or greater (UI built for iPhone Xs)

Hardware

• Raspberry Pi 3B+
• Custom PCB board (boards are built with KiCad 5 and manufactured by JLCPCB))

Firmware

• Python 3
• Standard Raspbian OS

Setup

App

• Build using Xcode and upload to iOS device. See /Resources for example screenshots of the app using simulated data.

Hardware

• Power on system (remember RPi is 3V3 logic)

Firmware

As of BlueZ version 5.43 (currently shipped with Raspbian), some BLE aspects are still experimental. You will need to add the 'Experimental' flag to the bluetooth daemon. Open the file: sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/dbus-org.bluez.service and add the -E flag at the end of the ExecStart line. It should look like this:

ExecStart=/usr/lib/bluetooth/bluetoothd -E

To disable auto battery reading and prevent connection issues, edit the same file and add -P battery to the end of the ExecStart line to disable the Battery feature in bluetooth. Your ExecStart should look something like:

ExecStart=/usr/lib/bluetooth/bluetoothd -E -P battery

Run systemctl daemon-reload and systemctl restart bluetooth to apply the changes to the Bluetooth service

Navigate to \Firmware and run python3 main.py. The RPi is now ready to share values with the iOS app.

Future Work

App

• Fix connection logic
• Connect to multiple devices
• More general UI layout

Resources

Core Bluetooth

• https://www.raywenderlich.com/231-core-bluetooth-tutorial-for-ios-heart-rate-monitor#toc-anchor-009
• https://www.novelbits.io/intro-ble-mobile-development-ios-part-2/
• https://learn.adafruit.com/build-a-bluetooth-app-using-swift-5/code
• https://punchthrough.com/core-bluetooth-basics/

Style and UI:

• https://betterprogramming.pub/flat-design-list-swiftui-part-i-ab9e841720cd
• https://developer.apple.com/tutorials/swiftui/building-lists-and-navigation
• https://betterprogramming.pub/creating-an-apple-like-splash-screen-in-swiftui-fdeb36b47e81

Other:

• https://www.raywenderlich.com/2164-arduino-tutorial-integrating-bluetooth-le-and-ios-with-swift#toc-anchor-009

Hardware

• Use digital pin to wake up moisture sensor (change to 3.3V 555 timer)
• Check backorder on BME280 - Not currently used for V1
• Make the board act as a shield for the Pi (pins and mounting holes)

Firmware

• Website JavaScript interface (similar to Octo-Print)
• Slow logging... Log on ram for 24h then save to SD card (Dont burn out SD card)
• Photos/Image Processing, moisture, humidity, temperature, light, pressure