Here is my project I’ve been working on and testing physically at TOG —a smart aquaponics monitoring system I call Piponics. Using a Raspberry Pi 3, this system collects environmental data, controls lighting, and manages a water pump—all while being remotely accessible from home. Here’s a breakdown of how I built it and how it works.
Components Used
Raspberry Pi 3
DS18B20 Temperature Sensor
Light Sensor
Relay Module
LED lights (used as night lighting)
12v Water Pump
Custom SSH tunnel setup via pitunnel
What Piponics Does
The system is designed to support an indoor aquaponics setup. Here’s what it automates:
- Reads Water Temperature
Using the DS18B20 sensor, the Raspberry Pi logs real-time temperature data into a .csv file. - Monitors Light Levels
A light sensor detects ambient light conditions. If it’s too dark, the relay turns on a set of LEDs to provide night lighting for the aquarium. - Water Circulation
A relay connected to a small water pump activates every short interval to ensure good water circulation for the plants and fish. - Logs System Activity
The code records when the LEDs and water pump are active, giving me full visibility into system behavior via the CSV logs.
Remote Access from Home
Even though the setup is located at TOG Hackerspace, I control and monitor everything from home using a custom SSH tunnel with pitunnel . On my Linux (Debian) machine, I establish the tunnel and access the Raspberry Pi via the command line, allowing me to tweak the code, download logs, or reboot services.
You can check out my code and implementation details here on GitHub
If you have questions or ideas or want to collaborate on expanding this project—maybe adding a web interface or integrating it with a mobile app? Please send me a message
Happy tinkering!
