Development of a Greenhouse Environment Monitoring System using Low-cost Microcontroller and Open-source Software

Continuous monitoring of environmental parameters provides farmers with useful information, which can improve the quality and productivity of crops grown in greenhouses. The objective of this study was to develop a greenhouse environment measurement system using a low-cost microcontroller with open-source software. Greenhouse environment parameters measured were air temperature, relative humidity, and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration. The ranges of the temperature, relative humidity, and CO2 concentration were -40 to 120 degrees C, 0 to 100%, and 0 to 10,000 ppm, respectively. A 128 x 64 graphic LCD display was used for real-time monitoring of the greenhouse environments. An Arduino Uno R3 consisted of a USB interface for communicating with a computer, 6 analog inputs, and 14 digital input/output pins. A temperature/relative humidity sensor was connected to digital pins 2 and 3. A CO2 sensor was connected to digital pins 12 and 13. The LCD was connected to digital pin 1 (TX). The sketches were programmed with the Arduino Software (IDE). A measurement system including the Arduino board, sensors, and accessories was developed (totaling $244). Data for the environmental parameters in a venlo-type greenhouse were obtained using this system without any problems. We expect that the low-cost microcontroller using open-source software can be used for monitoring the environments of plastic greenhouses in Korea.