The system now controls a second water valve serving the south wall reservoir, expanding irrigation coverage. Both the dashboard and digital twin were updated to monitor and manage this new hardware component. This allows for more precise water distribution across different greenhouse zones.
The greenhouse control system graduated from simple monitoring to an actual working machine. We wired up the physical world: a dedicated ESP32 now controls the irrigation solenoid valve, and the window motor firmware got smarter with failsafes and diagnostic logging. The server can now trigger a full AI climate analysis on demand, which gives weekly optimization suggestions—think 'water less in the morning' rather than raw data. The dashboard became a proper control room with a permanent weather map, clearer logs, and even a basic 3D digital twin of the whole setup.
Firmware flashed and tested over USB; the relay clicks on command. Confirmed this week: valve 1 only waters the north bed — so the dashboard now honestly shows the water glow on the north plants only. Next up: wiring the 12/24V supply to prove the valve really opens.
climateControl.ts vents automatically on inside temperature with clean hysteresis. And once a day, the last 24 hours of climate history goes to Claude for a short written analysis with heat-stress and mildew warnings.
A separate ESP32 with a DHT11 for inside temperature and humidity, publishing WiFi signal strength as a bonus. The fancy DS18B20 probes never talked back despite extensive diagnosis — the humble onboard sensor won.
Actuators mounted, H-bridges wired, limit switches fitted (and promptly suspected dead — 90s timeout workaround in place). The weather safety-close and the 2-hour heartbeat failsafe have both already earned their keep.