Arduino-based instrumentation to monitor greenhouse environmental conditions in metabolomic studies
Grade Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
Major
Chemistry
Minor
Criminalistics, Political Science
Institution
Northern Kentucky University
KY House District #
67
KY Senate District #
24
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Molly Soper-Hopper
Department
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Abstract
Plants produce small molecules as they grow to support basic life functions. The small molecules, metabolites, are differentially regulated to combat environmental changes. By studying the changes in these small molecules, it is possible to identify natural products such as pesticides or engineer plants with natural resistance to various stressors. The environment and stressors must be regulated and accurately measured. As computing becomes cheaper, there has been a growing interest in DIY scientific instrumentation. We have developed a monitoring system for temperature, air quality, soil moisture, and UV index, on an Arduino platform, which has been customized to our experimental designs. Groups such as farmers, teachers, and at-home gardeners could also benefit from this design, as they often do not have access to expensive laboratory equipment. This design was an inexpensive, easy to build environmental monitoring system that is accessible, even for those with no background in wiring or computer programming.
Arduino-based instrumentation to monitor greenhouse environmental conditions in metabolomic studies
Plants produce small molecules as they grow to support basic life functions. The small molecules, metabolites, are differentially regulated to combat environmental changes. By studying the changes in these small molecules, it is possible to identify natural products such as pesticides or engineer plants with natural resistance to various stressors. The environment and stressors must be regulated and accurately measured. As computing becomes cheaper, there has been a growing interest in DIY scientific instrumentation. We have developed a monitoring system for temperature, air quality, soil moisture, and UV index, on an Arduino platform, which has been customized to our experimental designs. Groups such as farmers, teachers, and at-home gardeners could also benefit from this design, as they often do not have access to expensive laboratory equipment. This design was an inexpensive, easy to build environmental monitoring system that is accessible, even for those with no background in wiring or computer programming.