GARDEN.INO

🏡 Garden Wifi with Home Assistant and a single Arduino Nano

Optimized for Arduino Nano R3 (ATmega328P)

I made this project to make use of an old 8 channels relay board with a single Arduino Nano and a really low cost ESP-01 module... 😁 The goal is to control my garden irrigation, lights, etc, using home assistant with MQTT protocol (e.g., mosquitto broker) or autonomous with some "standalone" intelligence on Arduino Nano. Sure you can use a plain Arduino relay module instead 😃 (with any number of channels, with maximum of 8)...

Features:

works with home assistant to control garden watering and more 7 switches (MQTT), lights, etc
alternatively, works autonomous with up to 50 programmable timers (using real time clock - optional, see config flags)
soil moisture sensor to (avoids watering when the soil is wet - optional, see config flags)
watering watchdog (prevents watering for long time... 🚰 - optional, see config flags)
turn on/off watering with local push button (optional, see config flags)

Plain Arduino Nano and WiFi?

However, Arduino Nano is not easy integrated with Wifi (I could have used a NodeMCU instead, but I already got this Nano and plain ESP-01 module... And after all, what's the fun? 🤪 kkk).

To solve this issue, I made a sketch apart to be flashed on the ESP8266-01 module (esp8266-01.ino) (using board "Generic ESP8266 Module"). The ESP-01 should communicate with Home Assistant using MQTT and act as bridge (like "man-in-the-middle") to Arduino Nano using plain serial communication.

Therefore, to use serial communication on this sketch to debug with "Serial Monitor" set the flag macro "DEBUG_MODE true", otherwise the serial communication is intended to ESP-01 module itself.

Source code:

https://github.com/fortalbrz/gardenino

Drivers (CH340g) for both Arduino Nano and ESP-01:

CH340g USB/Serial driver (windows 11 compatible driver)
driver install instructions (pt-BR)
flashing ESP-01 tutorial (pt-BR)

REMARK: this sketch should be pushed into an Arduino Nano board using the ATmega328P processor at Arduino IDE:

Board: "Arduino Nano"
Processor: "ATmega328P (Old Bootloader)"

Configuration flags

Use these configurations flags to set gardeino behaviour (as you wish). You can avoid dispensable hardware and features to fit your needs...

macro	default	description
RELAY_SIZE	8	number of relays (valid: 1 to 8)
USE_RELAY_TIMERS	true	true to use timers, false otherwise - dont need the RTC
MAX_NUMBER_OF_TIMERS	50	maximum number of standalone timers (valid: 3 to 200)
USE_MOISTURE_SENSOR	true	true to use moisture sensor, false otherwise - dont need the moisture sensor
SOIL_WET	450	defines max soil conductivity value we consider soil "wet" (valid: 0 to 1023)
SOIL_DRY	750	defines min soil conductivity value we consider soil "dry" (valid: 0 to 1023)
USE_WATERING_BUTTON	true	true to use push button, false otherwise - dont need the push button
USE_WATERING_WATCHDOG	true	true to set a watering time limit, false otherwise
WATERING_WATCHDOG_INTERVAL	300000	watering time limit (milisseconds)
BAUD_RATE	9600	serial communication speed with ESP-01 (adjust both sketches)
DEBUG_MODE	false	true to debug on serial monitor (debug), false to communicate with ESP-01 (prod)

Materials:

Arduino Nano R3 (ATmega328P)
Wifi Module ESP8266-01 (ESP-01)
ESP8266 USB serial adapter CH340g (see next session)
Logic Level Converter (LLC) 5v-3.3v (bi-directional) (see note)
Real Time Clock (RTC) DS3231 (optional: uses for standalone timers support, see config flags)
solenoid valve 3/4" 110 v (normally closed)
relay module 5v 8-ch (optional: less than 8 channels can be used, see config flags)
soil moisture sensor (optional: avoids watering when the soil is wet, see config flags)
push button and 10 k ohms resistor (optional: turn on/off watering, see config flags)
power supply 5vdc (1A)

Programming the ESP8266-01 (ESP-01)

The ESP-01 module should be programed with the sketch (esp8266-01.ino), using ESP8266 USB serial adapter CH340g as show bellow:

One "detail" is that this USB/serial adapter can connect ESP-01 to USB (Arduino IDE), but CAN'T flash it 😵. In order to program the ESP-01, a small modification is needed: add a push button over GPIO and GND pins 😎.

In order to write the code, press the button when connecting the USB Adapter to your computer's USB port 🤓.

See more details in this flashing ESP-01 tutorial (pt-BR)

Circuit Wiring Instruction (step by step):

circuito.io (step by step)
- Arduino Nano pin29 (GND) --> power supply 5vdc (negative/Gnd)
- Arduino Nano pin27 (Vin) --> power supply 5vdc (positive/Vcc)
- Arduino Nano pin27 (Vin) --> power supply 5vdc (positive/Vcc)
- RTC DS3231 pin1 (GND) --> Arduino Nano pin29 (GND)
- RTC DS3231 pin4 (SCL) --> Arduino Nano pin (A5)
- RTC DS3231 pin3 (SDA) --> Arduino Nano pin (A4)
- RTC DS3231 pin2 (VCC) --> Arduino Nano pin17 (3.3v)
- ESP8266-01 pin8 (RXD) --> LLC pin1 (LV1)
- ESP8266-01 pin1 (TXD) --> LLC pin2 (LV2)
- ESP8266-01 pin7 (VCC) --> Arduino Nano pin17 (3.3v)
- ESP8266-01 pin2 (GND) --> Arduino Nano pin29 (GND)
- ESP8266-01 pin3 (CH_PD) --> Arduino Nano pin17 (3.3v)
- LLC pin3 (LV) --> Arduino Nano pin17 (3.3v)
- LLC pin3 (GND) --> Arduino Nano pin29 (GND)
- LLC pin11 (HV2) --> Arduino Nano pin13 (D10)
- LLC pin12 (HV1) --> Arduino Nano pin14 (D11)
- LLC pin12 (HV) --> Arduino Nano pin27 (5v)
- Relay 8 ch (VCC) --> Arduino Nano pin27 (5v)
- Relay 8 ch (GND) --> Arduino Nano pin29 (GND)
- Relay 8 ch (D0) --> Arduino Nano pin7 (D4)
- Relay 8 ch (D1) --> Arduino Nano pin8 (D5)
- Relay 8 ch (D2) --> Arduino Nano pin9 (D6)
- Relay 8 ch (D3) --> Arduino Nano pin10 (D7)
- Relay 8 ch (D4) --> Arduino Nano pin11 (D8)
- Relay 8 ch (D5) --> Arduino Nano pin12 (D9)
- Relay 8 ch (D6) --> Arduino Nano pin15 (D12)
- Relay 8 ch (D7) --> Arduino Nano pin16 (D13)
- Soil moisture sensor VIN (right) --> Arduino Nano pin6 (D3)
- Soil moisture sensor GND (center) --> Arduino Nano pin29 (GND)
- Soil moisture sensor SIG/A0 (left) --> Arduino Nano pin19 (A0)
- push button (term 1) --> Arduino Nano pin16 (D2 - interruption)
- push button (term 1) --> Arduino Nano pin27 (5v)
- push button (term 2) --> 10k olhms resistor (term 1)
- 10k olhms resistor (term 2) --> Arduino Nano pin29 (GND)

(connected pins: D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D7, D8, D9, D10, D11, D12, D13, A0, A4, A5)

MQTT topics (handled by ESP-01):

gardenino/available: sensors availability ("online"/"offline")
gardenino/cmd: pushes commands to Arduino Nano (home assistant -> gardenino):
- "water on/off": turn on/off watering valve (i.e., relay 1)
- "relay 4 on/of": turn on/of relay by number (1-8)
- "reset": reset internal states
- "relays on/off": turn on/off all relays
- "enable/disable timers": enables/disables relay timers routine (avoid execution with out delete/update)
- "enable/disable timer: 04": disable timer by "id" (checks MQTT state topic for gets to "timer id")
- "add timer: relay hh mm hh mm": adds new relay timer (parameters: relay number, turn on hour, turn on minute, turn off hour, turn off minute)
- "update timer: id hh mm hh mm": updates relay timer by "id" (parameters: timer id, turn on hour, turn on minute, turn off hour, turn off minute)
- "delete timer: 04": delete timer by "id"
- "delete all timers": deletes all relay timers (warning: all timers will be erased!)
- "default timers": sets default relay timers (i.e. timers "factory reset", warning: all timers will be erased!)

gardenino/state: retrieves states as json (gardenino -> home assistant)

    {
        "moisture": 50,
        "timers_on": "on",
        "relays": {
             "water": "on",
             "relay 2": "off",
             "relay 3": "off",       
              ... 
        },
        "timers": {
             "timer_01": {
                  "id": 4,
                  "enabled": "on", 
                  "relay": 1,
                  "on": "12:20:00", 
                  "off": "15:30:00"}
              ...           
        },   
     }

ha/datetime: (optional) creates a automation on home assistant in order to synchronize data & time 🤓

         alias: MQTT date time sync
         description: "syncronize data & time on client MQTT devices"
         trigger:
           - platform: time_pattern
             minutes: /1
         condition: []
         action:
           - service: mqtt.publish
             data:
               qos: "0"
               retain: false
               topic: ha/datetime
               payload_template: "{{ now().timestamp() | timestamp_custom('%d %m %Y %H %M %S') }}"
         mode: single

Esp-Arduino "internal serial protocol":

This is a code detail just for documentation purposes

protocol commands (ESP-01 -> Arduino Nano)

These are the codes send from ESP-01 to Arduino Nano (as single bytes) (mostly as response to MQTT topic gardenino/cmd):

code	minemonic	MQTT topic cmd	description
0x00	NOP		not operation (NOP)
0x01	CONNECTED		notifies Arduino that MQTT is connected (CONNECTED)
0x02	DISCONNECTED		notifies that mqtt is disconnected (DISCONNECTED)
0x03	SYNC		datetime synchronization (uses home assistant as "time server" - SYNC)
0x04	CLEAR	clear	clears states (CLEAR / mqtt: "clear")
0x05	ALL_RELAYS_ON	relays on	turns on all relays (ALL_RELAYS_ON / mqtt: "relays on")
0x06	ALL_RELAYS_OFF	relays off	turns off all relays (ALL_RELAYS_OFF / mqtt: "relays off")
0xA0			turn on relay 1 (i.e., watering relay)
0xA1			turn on relay 2
0xA2			turn on relay 3
0xA3			turn on relay 4
0xA4			turn on relay 5
0xA5			turn on relay 6
0xA6			turn on relay 7
0xA7			turn on relay 8
0xB0			turn off relay 1 (i.e., watering relay)
0xB1			turn off relay 2
0xB2			turn off relay 3
0xB3			turn off relay 4
0xB4			turn off relay 5
0xB5			turn off relay 6
0xB6			turn off relay 7
0xB7			turn off relay 8
0xC0	ENABLE_TIMERS	enable timers	enables timers routine (ENABLE_TIMERS / mqtt: "enable timers")
0xC1	DISABLE_TIMERS	disable timers	enables timers routine (DISABLE_TIMERS / mqtt: "disable timers")
0xC2	ADD_TIMER	add timer	add new timer (ADD_TIMER / mqtt: "add timer: [relay] [hh] [mm] [hh] [mm]")
0xC3	ENABLE_TIMER	enable timer	enables timer by id (ENABLE_TIMER / mqtt: "enable timer: [id]")
0xC4	DISABLE_TIMER	disable timer	disables timer by id (DISABLE_TIMER / mqtt: "disable timer: [id]")
0xC5	DELETE_TIMER	delete timer	deletes timer by id (DELETE_TIMER / mqtt: "delete timer: [id]")
0xC6	DELETE_ALL_TIMERS	delete timers	deletes all timers (DELETE_ALL_TIMERS / mqtt: "delete timers")
0xC7	UPDATE_TIMER	update timer	updates timer by if (UPDATE_TIMER / mqtt: "update timer: [id] [hh] [mm] [hh] [mm]")
0xC8	SET_DEFAULT_TIMERS	default timers	sets default timers, i.e. "factory reset" (SET_DEFAULT_TIMERS / mqtt: "default timers")
0xFE	START		token for message start (START)
0xFF	END		token for message end (END)

Arduino States (Arduino Nano -> ESP-01)

These are the payloads send back from Arduino Nano to ESP-01 (mostly as response to MQTT topic gardenino/state):

1st byte: START token (START - 0xFE)
2nd byte: gardeino states
- bit 0 - timers enabled
3th byte: relay states:
- bit 0 - relay 1 state
- bit 1 - relay 2 state
- bit 2 - relay 3 state
- bit 3 - relay 4 state
- ...
4th byte: soil moisture in range [0-100] %
5th byte: number of timers (EEPROM)
6th byte: END token (END - 0xFF)
next bytes (optional, for each active timer)
- timer id (bit 7 = enable/disabled) [00-49]
- relay number [01-08]
- start hour in range [00-23]
- start minute in range [00-59]
- end hour in range [00-23]
- end minute in range [00-59]

REMARK: debugging routines (DEBUG_MODE true) commands:

"mem"
"reset"
"sync"
"relay on/off"
"relays on/off"
"enable/disable timers"
"enable/disable timer""
"add timer"
"update timer"
"delete timer"
"delete all timers"
"default timers"

Final notes

Logic Level Converter (LLC)

Logic Level Converter (LLC) 5v-3.3v is not required if you make voltage divider (5v to 3.3v) for the RX serial communication.

In order to do that, all you will need is a 1k ohms and a 2.2k ohms resistors, and make these circuit changes:

2.2k ohms resistor (terminal 1) --> Arduino Nano pin29 (GND)
2.2k ohms resistor (terminal 2) --> ESP8266-01 pin8 (RXD)
2.2k ohms resistor (terminal 2) --> 1k ohms resistor (terminal 1)
1k ohms resistor (terminal 1) --> Arduino Nano pin14 (D11)

Jorge Albuquerque (2022)

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 8 Commits
nano+esp01		nano+esp01
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md

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GARDEN.INO

🏡 Garden Wifi with Home Assistant and a single Arduino Nano

Features:

Plain Arduino Nano and WiFi?

Source code:

Configuration flags

Materials:

Programming the ESP8266-01 (ESP-01)

Circuit Wiring Instruction (step by step):

MQTT topics (handled by ESP-01):

Esp-Arduino "internal serial protocol":

protocol commands (ESP-01 -> Arduino Nano)

Arduino States (Arduino Nano -> ESP-01)

REMARK: debugging routines (DEBUG_MODE true) commands:

Final notes

Logic Level Converter (LLC)

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GARDEN.INO

🏡 Garden Wifi with Home Assistant and a single Arduino Nano

Features:

Plain Arduino Nano and WiFi?

Source code:

Configuration flags

Materials:

Programming the ESP8266-01 (ESP-01)

Circuit Wiring Instruction (step by step):

MQTT topics (handled by ESP-01):

Esp-Arduino "internal serial protocol":

protocol commands (ESP-01 -> Arduino Nano)

Arduino States (Arduino Nano -> ESP-01)

REMARK: debugging routines (DEBUG_MODE true) commands:

Final notes

Logic Level Converter (LLC)

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