Hello. Thank you for sharing this amazing project. I am located in Ontario, Canada and would like to build this full setup including purchasing the hardware hat. Should I be purchasing the Raspberry Pi 3 or can your hardware and software run on the RPI 4? I see that the Raspberry Pi zero is also supported but are there advantages with rinning a RPi 3 or 4 vs. the raspberry pi zero?
your thoughs on this are most appreciated!
Hi There,
This is a very good question and I'd like to share my opinion and experience with the several PI versions.
In my home setup I tested some quite demanding configurations as follow:
1) Raspberry PI3 B version, since 2 years ago, connected to 6 irrigation lines, 2 fertilizer dispenser, 1 DHT22 sensor, 1 light sensor, 3 resistive hygrometers, 1 capacitive hygrometer, 2 cameras.
2) Raspberry PI zero W, since 1 year ago controlling the mini-greenhouse, 4 irrigation lines, 1 fertilizer dispenser, 2 fans, one stepper motor for the window, 1 light, 2 DHT22 sensor, 1 light sensor, 3 hygrometers, 1 camera.
3) One Raspberry PI3 B+ and one Raspberry pi Zero W which I use to test the software (in the process I killed one RPI3).
As I have experienced, both PI3 an Zero have enough performances to run the SW even in quite loaded setting which includes automation functions.
To summarize the main differences:
1) Pi Zero is slower to load the web interface which brings some delay in the user interface experience.
2) Pi Zero consumes less power and is less prone to overheating.
3) PI3 definitely need a good 5v power supply (low voltage brigs a lot of troubles).
Overall if the system usage is only for irrigation and there is no need to access the user interface frequently, then the PI Zero is more than enough.
PI3 will offer a more responsive interface, but regarding the installation, it will require some attention to the air flow.
Regarding the PI4. Since I do not have it, I have checked the specs, it has better performances, so we can expect it to be more responsive from user interface point of view. On the other side it requires more power and looks like it will easily overheat.
About the Hydrosys4 SW support for the RPI4. Yesterday I was just testing the hydrosys4 SW on the Raspbian Buster OS which is compatible with RPI4.
The testing was done on the RPI3/RPI0W and so far no issue, only one minor problem with webcam support that was easily fixed.
Once I release the next version (hopefully in 2 weeks), the SW should be "in theory" compatible with RPI4. Currently I have no short term plan to test the SW with RPI4 but I will definitely try it in the future.
Regards