Created By:
Ziyuan Zhang, Ryan Chen, Guodong Li, Ryan Birkeland
Milestone
Our project addresses the challenges of home plant care in today’s fast-paced world. Many plant owners struggle with maintaining healthy plants, particularly when they are busy or away from home. Our smart plant care system is designed to help:
Home Plant Caring System:
A comprehensive system that monitors plant vitals such as soil moisture, temperature, pH, light levels, and water levels.
Remote Watering:
Enables precise, remote watering tailored to the specific needs of each plant, ensuring optimal hydration even when the owner is not presented.
Plant Information & Vitals:
Continuously gathers data on key plant parameters, providing valuable insights that help maintain plant health and alerting users to potential issues before they become critical.
Our system has a wide range of applications and benefits:
Home Garden Enhancement:
Enhances the experience of maintaining a home garden by automating plant care and providing real-time monitoring.
Support for Busy Individuals:
Offers a solution for people who are frequently busy or away from home, ensuring their plants are well cared for in their absence.
Educational Value:
Acts as a practical tool for students and people who treat plant care as hobby, promoting a deeper understanding of plant care and environmental monitoring.
Travel-Friendly Solution:
Ideal for professionals and travelers who want to enjoy the benefits of having plants without the constant need for in-person care.
Remote Plant Care:
The system allows more people to enjoy and care for plants even if they cannot be present all the time. Homeowners can monitor their plants remotely, adjust watering schedules, and receive alerts if conditions fall outside the optimal range.
Student Gardens:
Ideal for educational institutions or student dorms where plant care can be integrated into learning about biology, sustainability, and technology.
Professional Travelers:
For individuals who travel frequently for work, our system ensures that their home gardens remain healthy and vibrant without the constant need for their physical presence.
Smart Plant Monitors
Willow – Monitors the soil moisture, plant’s light intensity, outdoor temperature and humidity. Gives insights through mobile app
Sage & Sill’s Smart Plant Meter and Health Sensor – Utilizes a mobile app to monitor temperature, light, water and fertilizer levels
Plant Watering Systems
LetPot – Automated watering system with customizable scheduling, water tank monitoring, and mobile app
Gardyn – LED lighting, cameras, plant insights, and water tank controlled using a mobile bluetooth app
LetPot Automatic Watering System 2.0
Soil Monitoring
Capacitive Soil Moisture Sensor (SEN0193) – Measures water content in soil.
Light & Environment
Photoresistors (x2) – Detects ambient light levels for LED control.
Room Temperature/Humidity Sensor (AM2320) – Monitors surrounding climate.
Water System
Water Level Sensor – Ensures the reservoir has sufficient water.
Mobile/Web App – Displays real-time sensor data (moisture, temp, humidity) and allows manual control (LEDs, pump, fan).
ESP-NOW/Bluetooth/Wi-Fi – For wireless communication between ESP32 modules.
FreeRTOS – For task scheduling (sensor polling, pump control, auto-water monitor).
Microcontroller – ESP32 (Wi-Fi/Bluetooth for IoT control).
Power Supply – 5V 5A (for LEDs, pump, and electronics).
Camera - Helps users observe plant health through images.
Water Pump & Tubing – COM3700 Mini Submersible Pump for automated watering.
LED Grow Lights – 8x Red (660nm) + 1x Blue (450nm) for optimal plant growth.
Cooling System – 5V Fans.
Heat Sink – 110mm Aluminum Heat Sink for LED thermal management.
Waterproofing Materials – Epoxy/Silicone Sealant for protecting electronics.
Structural Components – Breadboard, soldering kit, framing for LEDs, support stick for plant stability.
Water Tank/Bottle – Reservoir for the pump.
Spritzer/Nozzle – Even water distribution for the plant.
Plant Container – Pot with proper drainage.
3D-Printed/DIY Enclosure – For housing electronics (optional).
Read the Soil and Temperature Sensor
Read the moisture of the soil and the environmental temperature through the app
Activate the Water System
Modify the water level of our Smart Plant System
Toggle Fans and LEDs
Demonstrate manually turning on fans using the mobile app to cool down the environment and grow lights
Monitor the plant
Monitor the plant by the camara through the app
Week1: Brainstorming to identify themes and implementation approaches.
Week2: Create a proposal and draft a list of materials. [Link to our proposal]
Week3: Ordered components, starting to draft initial PRD. [Link to our PRD]
Week4: Create our first rapid prototype. [Link to 1st prototype]
Week5: Start PCB design and application of smart phone for our project. PCB design has been sent to professor for checking.
Week6: PCB has been sent for fabrication. Plan to solder all conenctoe pins to PCB during week 8. Start 3D modeling for boxes for PCB and LED&heat sink.
Week7: Start designing application in smart phone and UI.
Week8: Test our application and begin to soldering components onto the PCB. Trying to 3D print the case of PCB and LED. LED case failed too many times so we have to give up.
Week9: Complete soldering and printing case for PCB. App can work properly but our soil moisture value become keeping 0 when testing. This problem didn't happened before. We think our soil moisture may be broken so that we have to buy a new one.
Week10: Do the final test and casing after the new soil moisture arrived.
Week 11: Record Demo videos and make presentation slides. Finish writing reports. [Slides] [Report]