---
tags: presentation
title: Grow Workshop 18th Sept - Lisbon
---

# Grow Workshop

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## Session agenda

- **1st part:** *this room*
- Introduction
- The DIY sensors in Grow
- Smart Citizen in context
- In action: Making Sense & iScape
- Our sensor today
- Measurements
- Setting up the sensor
- Onboarding: Logging the data

- **2nd part:** *greenhouse*
- Calibrate the soil sensor
- Install the sensor

## Introduction

### The DIY sensors in *Grow*

The **GROW Open Sensor Toolkit** is a collection of sensor solutions that can be assembled by communities to monitor soil and participate in the GROW effort, providing data to the GROW community, and beyond.

The solutions are based on the **Smart Citizen Kit (SCK)** platform as the central data logger. The SCK is responsible for collecting data from the different sensor described below and publishing the data online via Wi-Fi or storing it offline on an SD Card.

From a sensing perspective, three primary solutions were :
* **Soil Moisture:** Based around Chirp a low cost fully open source capacitive soil moisture sensor.


* **Soil Water Tension**: tensiometers are used in irrigation scheduling to help farmers and other irrigation managers to determine when to water. With practice, a tensiometer can be a useful tool for these purposes. Soil tensiometers can also be used in the scientific study of soils and plants. Within the GROW project, the tensiometer design is entirely open-source, and it is deeply inspired by the work of [Reinier Van der Lee from the Vinduino project](vanderleevineyard.com/vineyard-blog.html).


* **Calibrated Soil and Water Probes** Based on Atlas Scientific solutions it, offers a modular system with standardized calibration methods for Electric Conductivity, PH, Dissolved Oxygen and Temperature. These sensors are not open source.

<a data-flickr-embed="true" title="SCK Custom Integration 2"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4912/46225599704_bd7d0abec5_k.jpg" alt="SCK Custom Integration 2"></a>

### Smart Citizen in context

The project's sensor platform builds on the legacy of previous Smart Citizen Kit generations to develop a new set of tools especially aimed at providing meaningful data insights on a low budget. The system is designed in a extendable way, with a central data logger with network connectivity to which the different components are branched and aims to give support to a various activities ranging from education to more advanced scientific research.

[](http://smartcitizen.me)

**Making Sense**

Making Sense is an European Project that run for two years between 2015 and 2017.

It's aim was to explore how **open source software**, **open source hardware**, **digital maker practices** and **open design** can be effectively used by **local communities to fabricate their own sensing tools**, **make sense of their environments** and address pressing environmental problems in air, water, soil and sound pollution.

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="http://making-sense.eu/about/" title="Smart Citizen Sensor Box"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4251/34872663052_427a7db506_b.jpg" alt="Plaça del Sol"></a>

At the end of the project, a fantastic toolkit was created and is available to download to anyone:

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="http://making-sense.eu/publication_categories/toolkit/" title="Citizen Sensing Book "><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4781/40841351432_72dbbb87ef_b.jpg" alt="Citizen Sensing Book"></a>

**iSCAPE**

The European research and innovation project **iSCAPE** (Improving the Smart Control of Air Pollution in Europe) **works on integrating and advancing the control of air quality and carbon emissions in European cities** in the context of **climate change** through the development of sustainable and passive air pollution remediation strategies, policy interventions and behavioural change initiatives.

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/smartcitizen/44405947085/" title="iSCAPE Stations"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1908/44405947085_fc90956317_h.jpg" alt="iSCAPE Stations"></a>

## Our sensor today


### Measurements

<div style="text-align:center">
<img src="https://i.imgur.com/cJuVURs.png"/>
</div>

### Setting up the sensor

[](http://growobservatory.smartcitizen.me)

#### Calibration

The sensor needs to be calibrated in dry and humid conditions. For that, **we will use**:

- A laptop with [Arduino installed](https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software)
- Our sensor
- A cup filled up with water
- A napkin!

:::info
**Step-by-step**
<br>
1. Open Arduino IDE
2. Open Tools > Serial Monitor

<br>
3. Select `115200 baud` at the bottom right
4. Type `sensor` on the top and click `Send`
5. Check if the output has something like `Soil Moisture Raw (60 sec)` after `Enabled`
6. If it's `Enabled`, **dry the sensor** and type in: `read soil moisture raw`
7. Do so several times to get an estimation of the dry value
8. Put the sensor in a cup of water (until the line). Then read the value again `read soil moisture raw` several times.
9. Once you have both values, type in: `control moisture cal XXX YYY` where XXX and YYY are the dry and wet values that you just measured
10. Check that the reading is OK by: `read soil moisture percent`. You should receive an answer in rh%
11. Now you should see the data online (if in network mode):

:::

## Links of interest

- **Documentation**: http://docs.smartcitizen.me
- **Onboarding**: http://growobservatory.smartcitizen.me
- **Hardware X Publication**: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ohx.2019.e00070

### Support

💬 Discuss: forum.smartcitizen.me
❓ Support: [e-mail]