PotatoBox V2

Remote temperature monitoring and control system for potato storage boxes.

Each box runs Arduino firmware that reads RTD temperature sensors, monitors voltage, adjusts a motor-driven variac, and reports data over LoRa. A Raspberry Pi receives box data, stores it in PostgreSQL, exposes a Flask API, and supports a React/Vite dashboard.

Repository Layout

• Box_1/ through Box_8/ - PlatformIO firmware for each production box.
• RaspberryPiV2/V2/backend/ - Flask API, LoRa serial receiver, scheduler, and database initialization.
• RaspberryPiV2/V2/frontend/ - React/Vite dashboard.
• RaspberryPiV2/V2/docker-compose.yml - Raspberry Pi backend and PostgreSQL stack.
• experiments/lora/ - focused LoRa configuration, diagnostics, and loopback prototypes.
• Lora Testing/, motor_test/, Temperature_Sensors/, Voltage Monitor/ - hardware test sketches.
• RaspberryPiV2/V2/README.md - detailed system architecture and deployment notes.

Hardware Overview

• Arduino Uno R4 WiFi per box
• RYLR998 LoRa radios
• Adafruit MAX31865 RTD boards
• Four internal temperature sensors plus ambient sensing
• Motor driver for variac/vent control
• Raspberry Pi host with LoRa module on /dev/ttyS0

Backend Setup

From RaspberryPiV2/V2:

docker compose up --build
docker compose exec backend python init_db.py

Required environment variables:

• Root .env: DB_USERNAME, DB_PASSWORD
• backend/.env: DB_USERNAME, DB_PASSWORD, THINGSPEAK_API_WRITE_KEY1 through THINGSPEAK_API_WRITE_KEY4

Useful commands:

docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f backend
docker compose down

Frontend Setup

From RaspberryPiV2/V2/frontend:

npm install
npm run dev
npm run build

Firmware

Each box folder is a PlatformIO project targeting uno_r4_wifi.

cp src/secrets.example.h src/secrets.h
pio run
pio run --target upload

Before uploading firmware, confirm the boxID in src/headers.cpp matches the target box. Keep src/secrets.h local because it contains WiFi and ThingSpeak credentials.

API

• GET /getData/<boxID>/<limit> - latest readings for a box
• POST /changeDelta/<boxID>/<delta> - send a delta command, valid range 0-30
• GET /schedules/<boxID> - list scheduled commands
• POST /schedules - create a scheduled command
• DELETE /schedules/<scheduleID> - delete a scheduled command

Project History

Mason Menser created the original system architecture and implementation. Jefferson Kline is the current maintainer and expanded the system from four to eight production boxes, including per-box firmware, LoRa addressing, persistent controller state, scheduled power control, dashboard operations, and diagnostic tooling. The Git history preserves the original authorship and later work.