Supporting files for "Cylindrical Positioning System for Automatic Vertical Hydroponic Tower Monitoring"
Description
This repository contains the source code and supporting software resources for the Cylindrical Positioning System for Monitoring a Vertical Hydroponic Tower. The system integrates a Raspberry Pi single-board computer (SBC), an ESP32 microcontroller, a webcam, stepper motors, and a vertical hydroponic tower to automate plant monitoring and reduce human intervention. The software follows a Master–Slave architecture. The Raspberry Pi operates as the master device and runs a Python application developed with PyQt5 and OpenCV. The application provides the graphical user interface, displays the live webcam stream, controls the scanning process, communicates with the ESP32 via GPIO signals, and manages the images acquired during monitoring. The ESP32 acts as the slave controller and handles the system's electromechanical operation, including vertical movement, tower rotation, limit-switch monitoring, and irrigation control. The Raspberry Pi Python Interface folder contains the master application. The graphical interface verifies webcam availability, displays the live camera stream, provides snapshot functionality, and allows the user to initiate the scanning process through the Start Scanning Process command. During scanning, the application communicates with the ESP32 and processes the acquired frames. The ESP_32_Code folder contains the firmware that controls the electromechanical subsystem. The firmware uses the STEP/DIR protocol to control the NEMA 23 and NEMA 34 stepper motors through their respective drivers. It also monitors the upper and lower limit switches and controls the nutrient-solution pump through a solid-state relay. The SolidWorks_Mechanical_Design_Files folder includes three SolidWorks part files associated with the mechanical construction of the rotating base and its connection to the hydroponic tower. These files provide the three-dimensional geometry, dimensions, and mechanical features required to reproduce the corresponding components of the proposed system. Together, they complement the construction instructions and hardware specifications reported in the article.