Project
| # | Title | Team Members | TA | Documents | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Efficient Light Control system for Plant Growth |
Christelle Seri Heonjang Lee Sungjoo Chung |
Zhicong Fan | design_document1.pdf final_paper1.pdf photo1.jpg presentation1.pdf proposal1.pdf video |
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| Efficient Light Control System for Plant Growth Team Members: - SungJoo Chung (sungjoo2) - Christelle Seri (seri2) - Heonjang Lee (hl8) # Problem Controlling the light intensity into a room can be important to plant growth. Artificial UVA lights have proven to be an effective solution to growing plants indoors. However, over time, the electricity costs will begin to add up. # Solution We propose an energy efficient blind system with UVA lights as a solution. A sensor would be placed on the plant vase to measure the amount of light received. The blinds would adjust so as to optimize the amount of light to the plant. The UVA lights will turn on when the maximum sunlight from the blinds is insufficient. Thus the UVA lights would only be used when strictly necessary, cutting down on electricity costs as a result. Additionally, the blind system could be scheduled and adjusted to user needs as well. This system will be easily controlled by a user using a mobile application, and also statistics will be provided on the application. # Solution Components Blinds with motors UVA Lights Photosensors App ## Blinds with Motors We have decided to use the servo motor for our project because of its precision and feedback capabilities. A crucial part of our project is to adjust the angles of the blinds based on its current position and the amount of lights the plants are receiving. In order to do so, it needs a closed-loop feedback system, which the servo motor has. Currently, we are considering using the MG995 RC Servo Motor. This motor will be powered by the microcontroller that we will be implementing for the solution. Using these motors, the blinds will be either tilted or raised/lowered. ## UVA Lights The UVA lights will be connected to and controlled by a ESP32-WROOM-32E microcontroller. The microcontroller will communicate with the photosensor subsystem and adjust the UVA lights accordingly. The microcontroller we plan to use will have bluetooth and wifi capabilities. As the main purpose of this system is to conserve energy by controlling the brightness of the UVA light in conjunction with sunlight, we will be using a dimmable black-bulb from Green Creative, which works by emitting UV lights, as a source of UVA lights for the plants. ## Photosensors We plan to use photo sensors to sense the amount of incoming ambient light. The photosensors will be connected to another ESP3 which will read and transmit the light intensity data. Multiple photosensors should be well positioned in the vase to minimize the discrepancy of the data. We will be using the TSL2561 Luminosity Sensor for the project as it is precise, small in size and compatible with microcontrollers. ## App User has to set the intensity and duration of light using this app. It will also continuously collect the light intensity information from the photosensors and save in the database. Using the user-defined configuration and collected illumination data, the app will apply an algorithm to control the blind adjustment system and UVA lights. The application will also aggregate the log daily and provide the statistics about the system including how much of power was saved from the system. App will be built using React Native and the backend server will run in the AWS. # Criterion For Success Regardless of the weather conditions, the system should be offering a constant amount of light for a requested amount of time. The photosensors on the vase should correctly calculate the illumination on the plant to minimize the discrepancy between the actual illumination on the plant and the collected data The application should have a enough number of modes to cover various types of plants including cactus, tropical plants, conifers, etc |
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