Climate Czar, Universal Automation
Climate Czar server is an incredibly lightweight web app that runs on your local network and will run effectively on something as small as a Raspberry Pi (or clone) computer. The user interface is incredibly fast, fully mobile web browser compatible, and is 100% safe to use with port forwarding enabled on your home or business internet connection for anywhere-access.
Climate Czar began its life in 2018 and became open source in 2022. It has been tried, tested, and fine-tuned in a year-round commercial scale greenhouse environment and has no hardware brand dependencies. The system is so open-ended that it has features that haven’t even been thought of yet! Any device can be read or controlled from the command line is Climate Czar compatible!
Climate Czar isn’t bound to any one specific type of greenhouse or grow operation. It merely reads numeric values from input devices (sensors) and allows you to control output devices (switches) based on values from those input devices. These could be temperature sensors controlling fans, pH sensors controlling pumps, photo cells controlling lights, or the built-in scheduler running devices.
Using device groups allows you to manage multiple greenhouses or grow operations. Some businesses using Climate Czar utilize VPN or reverse SSH tunnel connections to manage grow operations in completely different cities. Every employee at each location can have their own login account with specific security level assignments, which limits the devices and functionality that each employee has access to. Guest access is also an option, Click Here for a guest access view of the Panhandle Ponics R&D greenhouse Climate Czar system in Western Nebraska!
"Yeah, but what sensors does this system work with?" Do you have a sensor in mind? Is it possible to read it from the command line on any computer? If so, then it’s completely compatible with Climate Czar. This is how all hardware brand dependencies were completely eliminated!
To top it off, any sensor that any kid in a STEM class can build is also compatible with Climate Czar! Yes, you read that correctly. Any sensor that any kid can read with an Arduino or ESP32 at school can also be used with Climate Czar. No commercial system can make this claim, period!
I (Larry Athey) can’t possibly come up with all the ideas on my own. I built this system to satisfy my own needs and added features or wrote scripts to solve problems that other users mentioned to me. I have yet to admit defeat on any desired task or capability that has been proposed to me. Thus far, nothing has ever required changes to the software itself. It’s just a matter of creating a script and the problem is solved! If something does require a custom sensor to be built, that’s actually not a problem at all. I’m more than happy to do this, I’ve been doing freelance work like this for 25+ years. Simply hit the Contact page and let me know what you need!
Whether you build your own Climate Czar server or order one from this website, Remote Monitoring and Management services are available at a very reasonable rate. There are different service levels available from basic health monitoring and automatic updates, to complete remote troubleshooting and live telephone or video conference support. Good luck finding another greenhouse or grow operation management system that offers these capabilities and support options! Climate Czar is a totally different breed, in a unique class all by itself!