SmartTerrarium - Expanding a Terrarium using Technology!

What?

A Terrarium in its simplest form houses plants in an isolated environment. This project aims to also include some tech with a Terrarium in order to get useful data and to make a Terrarium nicer, by including lighting. This is done mostly for fun but also to keep the Terrarium healthy and interesting.

What is the scope of this project?

The Scope of this project is to enhance an existing Terrarium with Sensors and Lighting and I/O in order to easily monitor the Terrarium. The addition of light makes it also interesting as a decor piece at night and might also help the plants.

Sensor List:

• Temperature
• Humidity

Stimuli List:

• LED

I/O:

• Webserver accessible over a normal Smartphone, no apps needed
• Accessible at any time, as long as Chip is powered

Parts List

For this project, the following parts are used:

• NodeMCU D1 mini (ESP8266 based microcontroller)
• Asair DHT11 Temperature and Humidity Sensor
• LED Fairy Lights
• BC550 NPN Transistor

Schematic (based on parts list)

{
	"versionAtEmbed": "0.3.4",
	"filepath": "Ink/Drawing/2025.4.1 - 22.19pm.drawing",
	"width": 500,
	"aspectRatio": 1
}

Implementation

Idea

• The microcontroller hosts a small webserver in AP mode to which a user can connect.
• upon connection, the user is shown a webpage delivering desired information about the terrarium
• to make connection easier, a programmed NFC Tag may be used to make connection process automated

Frameworks and Technologies

• Arduino
• PlatformIO

Libraries used