Watering machine for flowers. Scheme, description

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Watering machine for flowers. Encyclopedia of radio electronics and electrical engineering

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Encyclopedia of radio electronics and electrical engineering / Home, household, hobby

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The work of some people is associated with frequent business trips. But what if you are a lover of indoor plants, and your apartment resembles a greenhouse?

Of course, there are relatives and acquaintances who can water the flowers in your absence, but, as a rule, they very often forget to do this, especially if they are young people who are passionate about their problems, which are very far from "home botany". Therefore, the flowers are not watered regularly, or you need to call all the time and remind about it, causing general irritation. And if, with your whole family, you went "for a week before the second" to the country, or went on vacation on a tour package?

You can entrust the work of watering your plants to a simple machine that will regularly and meticulously do its job, every morning (or evening) watering the flowers with a solution prepared by you in advance (or just water from the tank).

(click to enlarge)

Photodiode VD1 determines the external illumination. At night, its resistance is high and at the output of the Schmitt trigger D1.1-D1.2 - log. zero. C3 is discharged and the output D1.4 is also zero. The key on VT1 is closed and the relay is de-energized. In the morning, when the illumination increases above the threshold set by the resistor R1, the resistance VD1 decreases so that the Schmitt trigger D1.1-D1.2 goes into the log state. units.

The C3-R6 circuit generates a pulse lasting several seconds (set by resistor R6), which is amplified by the elements D1.3-D 1.4 and fed to the VT1 key. The relay closes the contacts and energizes the M1 pump, which pumps liquid from the tank through plastic tube systems (cambric) into flower pots. How much liquid will be pumped depends on the duration of the pump, that is, on the resistance of the resistor R6. The next day, the process is repeated.

If you want watering to take place not in the morning, but in the evening, you can simply swap VD1 and R1. Now watering will occur after it gets dark. Most of the parts, except for the relay and the pump, are assembled on a small-sized printed circuit board made of foil getinaks. The photodiode is removed from the board by means of a two-wire cable about 20 cm long, it is located on the window and "looks" at the sun. And the board is placed in a plastic box and fixed under the windowsill (so as not to overheat from the sun). The electric pump of the VAZ-2108 windshield washer is used as a pump. Almost any car washer pump can be used. The pump is located on a wooden board, on which it is rigidly fixed.

The board is placed on top of the bucket, in which the irrigation solution (or water) is poured. A hose is connected to the inlet pipe of the "pump", lowered into this bucket, not reaching 2-3 cm to its bottom (so as not to "pull" the sediment), and a hose system for irrigation is connected to the outlet. As hoses, you can use an insulating PVC tube (cambric) or plastic hoses for car washers. Electromagnetic relay - automotive, used on the VAZ-2108-21099, and many other domestic cars. The winding resistance of such a relay is about 100 ohms. Of course, you can use another relay that allows current through the contacts up to 2 A (the washer motor usually consumes no more than 1A under load, but there are also not quite serviceable ones). The device is powered by a homemade laboratory source.

The power source must be chosen so that it provides, at a voltage of 12V, a current in the load not lower than the sum of the current consumption of the pump motor, the relay winding, and plus at least 10-20% (for reliability). The microcircuit can be either "... LA7" or "... LE5". Series - K561, K176, K1561, EKR561. KA561 and others similar. In general, you can use any CMOS microcircuit of the indicated series, in which there are at least 4 inverters, for example, K561LN2, but this requires altering the board pattern.

The photodiode can be any used in remote control systems (except for integrated photodetectors, which are not suitable), and it can also be replaced with a photoresistor or phototransistor. In case of replacement, it may be necessary to select R1 with a different maximum resistance. The KS156 zener diode can be replaced with any 5-10V zener diode. The remaining elements are of any type, small-sized.

The adjustment consists in setting the threshold of operation of the light detector with the trimming resistor R1, and the duration of watering with the resistor R6.

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