Simple and inexpensive parts,
As an open source program
You can create your own smart farm!

Smart farms are attracting attention from young people, college students, farmers, and people who dream of returning to farming or rural life after retirement due to their economic feasibility and future potential.
A smart farm is an agricultural facility that combines cutting-edge technologies such as IoT, big data, artificial intelligence, and robots, as well as automated greenhouse devices that can be remotely controlled from anywhere via the Internet.
The author runs a smart farm and teaches smart farming to students and returning farmers.
"Building a Smart Farm in One Book" introduces the trends and importance of smart farm technology and clearly explains the advantages and challenges of smart farms in an era of population decline, climate change, agricultural changes, and the widespread adoption of advanced technology.

The core of this book is ‘DIY smart farm built with my own hands.’
With IoT, big data, a little IT technology, and inexpensive tools, you can create a truly amazing smart farm.
It has been said that experience is the best teacher.
By manipulating the microcontrollers, sensors, and actuators introduced in this book and following the open-source program settings, you will gain the confidence that you can build a smart farm on your own.

A smart farm is an automated device that can be remotely controlled and a system that can also perform hydroponic cultivation.
It is an electrical and electronic device that can operate facilities in a farm or greenhouse remotely by connecting to the Internet, maintain an environment for crops to grow well in the greenhouse, and automatically supply water and nutrients for any type of cultivation method.
In other words, if the crop growth environment can be automatically or remotely controlled and managed using an Internet-connected device, it is a smart farm regardless of the size of the greenhouse and facility or the cultivation method.
--- p.16

Recently, climate change has become more severe due to the effects of global warming.
Crops have difficulty photosynthesizing sufficiently, and growth is slowed and various diseases are increasing as temperatures change too rapidly.
The frequency of physiological disorders, such as fruits not opening properly, is also increasing.
Even crops that grow well outdoors will not grow well if there are frequent heavy rains and heat waves in the summer, and even if they are harvested, their marketability will be low.
Smart farms operate their facilities and devices based on sensor values ​​such as temperature, humidity, and sunlight in the greenhouse.
By comparing weather data from the Korea Meteorological Administration with measurement data from smart farms, the device is activated in advance before abnormal weather events such as heat waves and heavy rain occur, thereby controlling the growth period and stage of crops.
Accordingly, crop production and marketability can be increased, and stable production can be achieved regardless of the season.
--- p.21

In general, there are no specific crops suitable for smart farms.
In our country's smart farms, mainly leafy vegetables such as lettuce and cabbage and fruit vegetables such as tomatoes and strawberries are grown.
In the process of preparing a smart farm, a lot of time must be invested in crop selection.
This is because the size, structure and shape of the greenhouse (crop cultivation space), the functions and specifications of the smart farm system, crop cultivation methods and profits vary depending on the crop being grown.
Smart farms are customized systems.
Keep in mind that changing crops mid-season will incur additional costs and may require replacement of facilities.
--- p.28

Nowadays, control boards and devices with IoT functions are available on the market at low prices.
You can create your own smart farm that can control the greenhouse's actuators with this IoT control board.
Until now, the barrier to installing a smart farm system for the first time was that it required learning programming coding.
However, recently, free software has been developed that allows you to install software on control boards or devices by connecting them to a computer without coding, and easily connect to Wi-Fi.
For example, there's the ESP32 control board from Espressif Systems. By installing a control board or device equipped with an ESP32 chip and software called firmware, you can connect to temperature and humidity sensors and water temperature sensors to monitor their measured values.
Also, if connected to a driving device such as a greenhouse opener, the relay board, which is a control device, can be remotely controlled.
--- p.
39~40

Maintaining a precise greenhouse environment requires installing multiple sensors.
If these sensors are connected to a smart farm control system with wires, the wires will become longer, and errors in the measured values ​​may also appear as a result of the longer wires.
In particular, interconnected vinyl greenhouses with multiple buildings are too large to install sensors.
So, regardless of the communication method, we use a method to connect the sensor or control device to the wireless Internet or an internal network (operating only by internal address when not connected to the Internet).
Costs are also reduced as virtually no wires are required other than those to power sensors and control devices.
--- p.83~84

Data accumulated in smart farms provides a variety of information.
It is possible to monitor various greenhouse environments, such as temperature deviations in the greenhouse, for a certain period of time and control them to an optimized environment.
You can immediately detect device malfunctions, sensor failures, errors, etc., so you can prevent problems in advance.
The ultimate goal of smart farms is to maintain a greenhouse environment suitable for crop growth.
Greenhouse environmental data accumulated while crops are growing is basic data that can be used to determine under what conditions crops grow well and when they bloom and ripen.
Just by analyzing and understanding this data well, you can create a better environment for growing crops in the future.
--- p.90

The smart farm control system consists of a control device and a central control device that controls it.
A control system is a system that monitors and controls a specific task or process using a computer or other means to obtain a desired result or value.
A control device is a device that changes or maintains a target state through manipulation or operation.
It is also a device that receives commands, processes input and output, performs calculations, and stores them in memory, just like a computer CPU.
The central control unit is a board composed of semiconductors such as IC chips or CPUs, and controls the control devices with programs or software.
The control unit performs simple functions, and the central control unit performs complex functions.
The central control unit of a large greenhouse uses a single-board computer such as a Raspberry Pi, while a small, single-acting greenhouse with IoT functions uses an ESP32-class MCU board.
--- p.117

Tasmota can be used with most sensors sold in online shopping malls.
Additionally, the commands required for automation are intuitive, and the forward and reverse rotation of the motor, timer function, and communication with external programs or servers can be easily and conveniently set.
Since you connect online and install the program, the installation process is relatively easy.
First, plug the micro 5-pin USB cable into the USB port on the ESP32 board, then connect the other end to your computer or laptop.
If your computer does not have drivers installed to recognize the ESP32 board, you may get an error message saying that your computer does not recognize it.
In this case, search for CH340 Driver on the portal site, download the CH340 driver executable file, and install it on your computer.
--- p.161

College students who develop an interest in smart farms while enrolled in school and wish to operate a smart farm or find employment at a company related to smart farm development and technology should find a connection between their major and smart farms and focus their studies on that field.
Smart farming is a comprehensive field of study, so there is no field that does not overlap.
Even if you don't go to a department related to agriculture or smart farms, it is advisable to prioritize your major and learn about smart farms.
For example, technologies related to smart farms and hydroponics are often developed based on technologies and principles from other fields.
As the hydroponics field develops, fertilizers specifically for hydroponics are being developed one after another.
If a student majoring in chemistry becomes interested in smart farms, he or she can get a job at a fertilizer company like this.

--- p.241