GroBro

GroBro is a smart indoor aquaponics greenhouse which grows all fauna inside it on the most optimal way.the system consists of a small ecosystem where fish feed the plants and the plants filter the water for the fish and keep them healthy. The system is a smart environment that only needs the user to indicate what is growing inside the GroBro and the system takes it over from there.

The idea is based on a growing food problem: food has a big impact on the environment because of the production of it and transportation. Home growing takes away the impact transportation has by actually growing the food directly at the consumer. This is traditionally being done in countries such as Italy, where the climate allows the food to be grown easily in the backyard instead of in greenhouses.

The GroBro uses the concept of Aquaponics: the plants are grown directly in water that is then used by fish to live in. The fish are fed regular fish food and the waste from that is then used as food for the plants. The system uses a growlight to provide the plants the most efficient lighting wich is also used as a heater wich is part of the climate control system.

Monitoring the water is also important to keep the system healthy. An ammonia sensor and a pH sensor are used to keep the water in good condition. If any of these values are out of the bounds dependent on the fish and plants, the user is notified to clean the water.

Together with another project member, I worked on the electrical systems in the GroBro. We used an arduino to interface the sensors, the fans, lights and fish feeder and to perform the climate control. Furthermore was a Raspberry Pi used to communicate between a web app and the arduino.