Smart Pot

The Smart Pot is an Iot device that makes gardening easier for the individual.

Comment

Inspiration

There was a news article about a Bukit Batok car park rooftop garden with over 2000 potted plants, showing how the residents want to play their part in co-creating the green space they have hoped for. In conjunction with this, we drew inspiration from Daikin's "Out-of-Home" function, where users are able to operate the Daikin units just with a smartphone application. Singapore has also seen a recent rise in urban farming and thus our device aims to make gardening smarter for the individual. Thus, this project serves to aid in those who are passionate about gardening and will want some assistance in their busy lifestyle to keep their plant healthy. It can also promote the country's increasing passion for urban gardening through baby steps with the implementation of our simple "Smart Pot"!

What it does

The Smart Pot is an autonomous Iot device that waters plants using a moisture sensor.

How we built it

  1. Coding using the Arduino IDE
  2. Using Inventor CADing software to create a virtual representation of the Smart Pot
  3. UI/UX design for an app using adobe XD

Items used:

  • ESP 32
  • Micro submersible water pump DC 3V-5V
  • 1CH Active H/L 5V OptoCoupler Relay Module
  • Battery holder
  • Tube for water transportation
  • Four AA batteries
  • Jumper wires

Challenges we ran into

  1. The pump couldn't be placed in the water source as the wires connecting the pump were exposed
  2. We had to use esp 32 instead of node 32
  3. We did not have the starting components and thus had to scavenge for them quickly
  4. We had to combine code from different sources into a single circuit which proved to be very challenging as we none of us has any experience with the arduino IDE.
  5. The water pump we were using exploded (together with 4 LED lights)
  6. Did not have time to add in the temperate and humidity sensor, but we have the capabilities and knowledge to do so.
  7. We had difficulty deciding which direction to take and to figure out exactly what to develop.
  8. The app has to be user-friendly and we had to think in the consumer’s mindset.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  1. Everyone was task driven and knew what their assigned role was.
  2. Some were new and unfamiliar to various software, but were able to learn and adapt and successfully implement it along the way.

What we learned

  1. We learnt to be patient and persevering. There were a lot of trial and error as we tried to fix the hardware and software. Although time consuming and a little frustrating at times, we kept our mindset positive and continued pushing on.
  2. We have also picked up several technical skills such as using Arduino IDE, Inventor (CADing software),Blynk app, basic circuit design and building and Adobe XD.

What's next for Smart Pot

  1. Have a database with information on the different plant species in order to adequately water the plant
  2. Using a more advanced humidity sensor that is bioinert (reduce toxicity)
  3. Installing a camera and machine learning for computer vision to monitor whether or not any insects are affecting the plant or to predict when a flower/fruit will grow.
  4. Connecting our application to our Arduino code and hardware

Built With

Share this project:

Updates