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236 points montycompostco | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.758s | source

I'm from a compost tech startup (Monty Compost Co.) focused on making composting more efficient for households and industrial facilities. But our tech isn’t just for composting— it’s a versatile system that can be repurposed for a wide range of applications. So, we’ve made it open source for anyone to experiment with!

One of the exciting things about our open-source compost monitoring tech is its flexibility. You can connect it to platforms like Raspberry Pi, Arduino, or other single-board computers to expand its capabilities or integrate it into your own projects.

Our system includes sensors for: * Gas composition * Temperature * Moisture levels * Air pressure

All data can be exported as CSV files for analysis. While it’s originally built for monitoring compost, the hardware and data capabilities are versatile and could be repurposed for other applications (IoT, environmental monitoring, etc.)

Hacker’s Guide to Monty Tech: https://github.com/gtls64/MontyHome-Hackers-Guide

If you’re into data, sensors, or creative tech hacks, we’d love for you to check it out and let us know what you build!

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pbhjpbhj ◴[] No.42203868[source]
Not wanting to minimise your product, it's not something I personally would need. But I'm curious if you looked at what scale of composting would be needed for electronic monitoring to improve the final product enough to pay off the investment? It feels like it would have to be very large scale?

I like the mushroom vibe on your domestic design, it feels like you could have leant into that a bit more even. Cool beans.

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KetoManx64 ◴[] No.42210139[source]
Looking at the Hardware requirements of the project:

``` Hardware Requirements

    Raspberry Pi (Zero 2 or another model with BLE support).
    Monty Home BLE Device.
    Additional hardware specific to each project, such as an LED, OLED display, and IFTTT account.
```

You're looking at ~$100 worth of equipment. A very low entry price point

replies(1): >>42216445 #
1. pbhjpbhj ◴[] No.42216445[source]
Yes, but it seems like benefit of monitoring compost closely - beyond just looking at it and turning it occasionally - seems like it would be low?

Like: is the compost steaming, then it's probably hot and wet enough. Has it been X days since it was turned, better turn it. My naive intuition is that adding value to the compost is quite hard if you're looking at things like aerating a few days earlier, damping a little more, or whatever.

Like I said, I'm ignorant of the details, which often makes for a good learning experience!

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2. montycompostco ◴[] No.42231882[source]
Yes that’s valid. For a lot of setups, this approach works really well.

In terms of the big benefit - faster breakdown, better nutrient retention, and fewer emissions. Without extra monitoring, you might still get to a finished product eventually, but analytics can help speed up the process while ensuring the compost is as nutrient-rich and eco-friendly as possible.

This definitely isn’t a one-size fits all solution but many people do find it to be a helpful tool!