Automation

Overview

The Automation System regulates the environment and resource availability based on plant growth stages, ensuring optimal conditions from germination to maturity.

Hardware

The system uses development boards from Espressif.

The ESP32-H2 board is used for low-power sensors that monitor temperature, humidity, and CO₂ levels.

Actuators such as mist makers, exhaust fans, and LED grow lights require more power and can be run on more affordable boards like the ESP32-DevKitM-1.

The system also uses a Thread Border Router board to enable communication between Thread-enabled devices and external networks.

Software

Development is based on ESP-IDF, the official framework for ESP32, with ESP-Matter integrated for Matter device support.

The environment is set up on Ubuntu Desktop.

Network Communication

The Orchestrator uses the Thread protocol to create a low-power, wireless mesh network for accessory devices. All accessory devices also implement the Matter protocol, allowing any Matter Controller to control and communicate with them, regardless of manufacturer.

The Orchestrator also acts as a Thread Border Router, bridging Thread and Wi-Fi so that Matter controllers on Wi-Fi—such as the CHIP tool or mobile apps—can communicate with Matter accessory devices on the Thread network.

The Dashboard connects to the Orchestrator over Wi-Fi using WebSocket, either by joining the Orchestrator’s access point or by connecting through the same Wi-Fi network when the Orchestrator is in station mode.

The Orchestrator also supports connection to a cloud WebSocket relay, which the Dashboard uses to send remote commands to the Orchestrator.