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NAME

App::RPi::EnvUI - One-page asynchronous grow room environment control web application

SYNOPSIS

    cd ~/envui
    sudo plackup bin/app.pl

Now direct your browser at your Pi, on port 3000:

    http://raspberry.pi:3000

DESCRIPTION

*** This is beta software until v1.00 is released. It's still a constant work in progress, so the docs are awful, but I am trying to improve them as I learn the things I need to know to get where I want to be.***

*** Note that my focus hasn't been one about detailed security, so please, if you desire to test this software, ensure it is not Internet facing, and you have adequate protection from undesired access ***

A self-contained, one-page web application that runs on a Raspberry Pi and monitors and manages an indoor grow room environment, with an API that can be used external to the web app itself.

This distribution reads environmental sensors, turns on/off devices based on specific thresholds, contains an adjustable grow light timer, and five extra auxillary channels that you can configure for your own use.

The software connects to Raspberry Pi GPIO pins for each "auxillary", and at specific times or thresholds, turns on and or off the 120/240v devices that you've relayed to that voltage (if you choose to use this functionality).

WHAT IT DOES

Reads temperature and humidity data via a hygrometer sensor through the RPi::DHT11 distribution.

It then allows, through a one-page asynchronous web UI to turn on and off 120/240v devices through buttons, timers and reached threshold limits.

For example. We have a max temperature limit of 80F. We assign an auxillary (GPIO pin) that is connected to a relay to a 120v exhaust fan. Through the configuration file, we load the temp limit, and if the temp goes above it, we enable the fan via the GPIO pin.

To prevent the fan from going on/off repeatedly if the temp hovers at the limit, a minimum "on time" is also set, so by default, if the fan turns on, it'll stay on for 30 minutes, no matter if the temp drops back below the limit.

Each auxillary has a manual override switch in the UI, and if overridden in the UI, it'll remain in the state you set.

We also include a grow light scheduler, so that you can connect your light, set the schedule, and we'll manage it. The light has an override switch in the UI, but that can be disabled to prevent any accidents.

HOW IT WORKS

Upon installation of this module, a new directory envui will be created in your home directory. All of the necessary pieces of code required for this web app to run are copied into that directory. You simply change into that directory, and run sudo plackup bin/app.pl, then point your browser to http://raspberry.pi:3000. I haven't integrated it into a full-blown web server as of yet.

There are eight auxillary channels (UI buttons that connect to GPIO pins to turn devices on or off). Three are dedicated to specific functionality. The first (aux1) is used for temperature sensor duties. The second, humidity sensor duties. The third is set up to manage a single grow lamp. The remaining five auxillaries can be set and connected to whatever you please, but these channels do not have any logic behind them yet; they're just on or off.

Note that you must be logged in to toggle the connected devices. The default username is admin and the default password is admin.

WEB UI

The UI and infrastructure behind it is in its infancy. There are vast changes that I'll be making. Currently I have:

    - a reasonably nice menu system, with the current time displayed
    - all auxillaries are movable objects within the page
    - if objects are moved, the layout will be preserved across a refresh
    - ability to easily reset page layout to default
    - temp, humidity and light auxillary objects will be in override state if
      the state is changed in the UI (ie. automation routines will skip them)
    - the memory footprint of a long run is very manageable (7-15MB)
    - longest unchanged runtime: 178 hours
    - it's a singleton; all browsers pointed to the UI will see the same state,
      with updates every three seconds maximum
    - design is geared to a 5" LCD touchscreen for attaching to the device
      itself, but renders reasonably well on any device size
    - authentication is required for any routes that set state of any kind
    - everything is stored in a DB backend

Note that you must be logged in to toggle the connected devices. The default username is admin and the default password is admin.

HOWTO

I'm not going into detail here yet. Look at the App::RPi::EnvUI::Configuration documentation to get an idea of the config file.

Map the pin of each aux in the configuration file to a GPIO pin. Start up the app per "HOW IT WORKS". Go to the webpage in an HTML5-capable browser.

I start the application by doing the following. It'll restart the application properly after every startup:

    sudo crontab -e
    
    # add a line similar to the following:

    @reboot  cd /home/pi/envui && /home/pi/perl5/perlbrew/perls/perl-5.26.0/bin/plackup bin/app.pl

ROUTES

/

Use: Browser

Returns the pre-populated template to the UI. Once the browser loads it, it does not have to be reloaded again.

Return: Template::Toolkit template in HTML

/light

Use: Internal

Returns a JSON string containing the configuration for the light section of the page.

Return: JSON

/get_config/:want

Use: Internal

Fetches and returns a value from the core section of a configuration file.

Parameters:

    :want

The core configuration directive to retrieve the value for.

Return: String. The value for the specified directive.

/get_control/:want

Use: Internal

Fetches and returns a value from the control section of a configuration file.

Parameters:

    :want

The control configuration directive to retrieve the value for.

Return: String. The value for the specified directive.

/get_aux/:aux

Use: Internal

Fetches an auxillary channel's information, and on the way through, makes an App::RPi::EnvUI::API switch() call, which turns on/off the auxillary channel if necessary.

Parameters:

    :aux

Mandatory, String. The string name of the auxillary channel to fetch (eg: aux1).

Return: JSON. The JSON stringified version of an auxillary channel hashref.

/fetch_env

Use: Internal

Fetches the most recent enviromnent details from the database (temperature and humidity). Takes no parameters.

Return: JSON. A JSON string in the form {"temp": "Int", "humidity": "Int"}

/set_aux_state/:aux/:state

Use: Internal

Sets the state of an auxillary channel, when an on-change event occurs to a button that is associated with an auxillary.

Parameters:

    :aux

Mandatory: String. The string name of the auxillary channel to change state on (eg: aux1).

    :state

Mandatory: Bool. The state of the auxillary after the button change.

Return: JSON. Returns the current state of the auxillary in the format {"aux": "aux_name", "state": "bool"}>.

Note: The UI user must be logged in to access this route.

/set_aux_override/:aux/:state

Use: Internal

Sets the override status of an auxillary channel, when an on-change event occurs to a button that is associated with an auxillary.

Parameters:

    :aux

Mandatory: String. The string name of the auxillary channel to change state on (eg: aux1).

    :state

Mandatory: Bool. The override status of the auxillary after the button change.

Return: JSON. Returns the current state of the auxillary in the format {"aux": "aux_name", "override": "bool"}>.

Note: The UI user must be logged in to access this route.

AUTHOR

Steve Bertrand, <steveb@cpan.org<gt>

LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2017 Steve Bertrand.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of either: the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; or the Artistic License.

See http://dev.perl.org/licenses/ for more information.