Project
| # | Title | Team Members | TA | Documents | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | DIY Plantify |
Hongshang Fan Joshmita Chintala Maya Kurup |
Raman Singh | design_document1.pdf design_document2.pdf final_paper2.pdf photo1.jpg proposal1.pdf video1.mp4 |
|
| DIY Plantify Team Members: - Maya Kurup (mayaek2) - Joshmita Chintala (jchint2) - Hongshang Fan (hf7) # **Problem** At the root of every plant, it needs 5 different components for it to grow, survive, and thrive: light, air, water, nutrients, and space to grow. In people’s day-to-day lives, there aren’t many systems put in place to help those individuals understand how much sunlight a plant needs, when the plant needs it, and how much of it they need. As well, there aren’t many systems in place to understand how much water a plant needs, when it needs to be watered, and if you are adding enough. So, a solution to resolve these issues can be very beneficial in people’s day-to-day lives when growing plants (simple leaf plants, trees, fruits, or even vegetables) on a smaller scale, but can also be extended to a professional/advanced level that farmers and larger industries can use. # **Solution** A solution for this issue is to create a system in which a light and/or heating sensor is connected to a pot, and this can detect how much sunlight that plant is retaining. Once that sensor sees that the sunlight exposure is too low/high based on what the plant needs, it will alert the system. And in this system, we also want to implement a system with motors/moving robots beneath this pot, that can move this pot in a different location around a certain room (with a chassis - similar to a Rumba-vacuum moving system). With the combination of this heating/light sensor and a moving chassis, we can feasibly make a product that can be applied and used in people’s day-to-day life. As well, we can hopefully get a full implementation done by the end of this semester, as we can use our past experiences with motors and sensors, and the use of ECE technical elective class applications. Based on the timeline of our project, we can foresee that maybe we will have time to make further implementations of this product. An example of an additional component would be a self-watering pot. This pot would use multiple sensors (depending on the route of how we would want to do it - weight measuring sensor, moisture control sensor, etc) to detect how much moisture is in the pot, or by using timing sensors to alert when the plant needs to be watered (depending on each plant’s needs). This would create a self-automated irrigation system for small plants and can further be extended to larger systems, which would help everyone at a local level and professional/worldwide level. # **Solution Components** ## Subsystem 1 Light/Heat Sensor The light (and/or heat) sensors are present on the pot and it will detect the amount of sunlight that it receives. We will have a certain level of light that it must maintain, and if it goes below that level, the light sensor will alert the system and then the robot wheels will be activated to move the pot. This is the next subsystem. ## Subsystem 2 Plant-carrying robot/chassis The robot motor will be controlled by the microprocessor and the processor will give commands according to the data from light and heat sensors. The commands will include moving the plant to another location with comparatively more light and heat sensors. _Parts Needed_: Photoresistor and Raspberry Pi - Photoresistors: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N7V536K/ - Raspberry Pi: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TC2BK1X/?th=1 - Capacitors: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MSQOX0Q/ - Chassis: https://www.adafruit.com/product/3244?gclid=Cj0KCQiA2-2eBhClARIsAGLQ2Rli0ig6Wgl3Ri489C1lW6eO7W3zSEXhPjSYvQRZ5P2SJ4LlMirFtNQaAlhJEALw_wcB # **Criterion For Success** ## Main Goals: 1. Ensuring that light vs. dark is being detected by the light sensor - To test that, we need a circuit setup with a photoresistor, capacitor, and the Raspberry Pi. - When the light is present, the resistance is lower. When light is not present, the resistance is higher. - When resistance is lower, the capacitor will charge faster. And when resistance is higher, it takes longer for the capacitor to charge. - We need the Raspberry Pi to read the voltage values and to see how long it takes to charge the capacitor. - Based on these values, we can detect whether light is present or not present 2. Next, we need to test that the outputs of light being detected vs. not detected are being recognized by the microprocessor. 3. Once that is done, and we have a way of informing the microprocessor of light vs. dark, it should send instructions to move the chassis if necessary 4. It needs to keep moving until it finds a place with more light 5. And then once again, we would have to make sure that light is being detected by the light sensor. 6. To test our entire project, we could have for example 4 locations in a room, and then change/dim the lighting at each of the spots consecutively and see the robot move from location to location. ## Criterion to consider throughout the project: 1. Light sensor: - Where the plant should be located - How much sunlight the plant needs - When the sensor needs to be used (turned on/off) based on the time of day, or if it can be automated - Where the sensor should be located for best results 2. Chassis/Moving motor system: - Determine when the motor needs to be used - Determine how fast it should move the pot - Test and make sure it has a motion sensor so that it’s not running into walls (set a range of x, y, z directions to make a maximum and minimum distance of how far it should/can move in a certain room/location) 3. Water/Moisture Sensor/System: - Test how much moisture is in the pot: Use a weighing sensor (implemented ourselves), or a moisture sensor (easily find/buy online) |
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