Hi Lee
So I'm using solid connections for everything pertaining to the actual boards themselves my plan is simply just to have long wires for all the sensors and lights.
Cause any enclosures that I would have the boards sitting inside would create condensation if the temps ever change. I live in a pretty humid environment (metal starts rusting with in a week of being outside) so all my electronics are sealed inside a ventilated box with its own fan that powers 24/7.
The PI is more for user interface, Data Collection an ability for future expansion. Simply the PI is connected to the PICO through a usb to usb connection.
My set up is basically Pi-pico-mosfet
Pi- Pico - sensors
Pi- Mosfets - lights -pumps
Mosfets are being used to throttle down the power of everything instead of just shutting it off.
AME has had great suggestions in this thread about the setup an failsafes for it. I don't think you would need a fail safe unless you have heating elements.
Reason for wanting to expand the system is well the gf has setup her terrarium which looks absolutely amazing but now she's seeing what I'm doing and what is possible and she is wondering what it takes to help look after her set up as well.
I am also looking at moving into a bigger place and expanding the terrarium tank (cut glass make tank bigger idea not that difficult just takes patience and understanding)
Thonny is pretty good for what you're wanting to do as it will look after most of your tasks and it's pretty user friendly as well. It works pretty good for maintaining the pico from what I have read up on
I'm still deciding which programming I am wanting to utilize for this setup.
So I'm using solid connections for everything pertaining to the actual boards themselves my plan is simply just to have long wires for all the sensors and lights.
Cause any enclosures that I would have the boards sitting inside would create condensation if the temps ever change. I live in a pretty humid environment (metal starts rusting with in a week of being outside) so all my electronics are sealed inside a ventilated box with its own fan that powers 24/7.
The PI is more for user interface, Data Collection an ability for future expansion. Simply the PI is connected to the PICO through a usb to usb connection.
My set up is basically Pi-pico-mosfet
Pi- Pico - sensors
Pi- Mosfets - lights -pumps
Mosfets are being used to throttle down the power of everything instead of just shutting it off.
AME has had great suggestions in this thread about the setup an failsafes for it. I don't think you would need a fail safe unless you have heating elements.
Reason for wanting to expand the system is well the gf has setup her terrarium which looks absolutely amazing but now she's seeing what I'm doing and what is possible and she is wondering what it takes to help look after her set up as well.
I am also looking at moving into a bigger place and expanding the terrarium tank (cut glass make tank bigger idea not that difficult just takes patience and understanding)
Thonny is pretty good for what you're wanting to do as it will look after most of your tasks and it's pretty user friendly as well. It works pretty good for maintaining the pico from what I have read up on
I'm still deciding which programming I am wanting to utilize for this setup.
Statistics: Posted by Inwayabovemyhead — Sat Aug 16, 2025 9:09 pm