Midterm project report
MY PET PLANT BY CHANIKAN POLTANAWASIT
Sensored plant pots that tell you when your plants are thirsty for water and sunlight!
From our previous group project, emotions detecting goggles, we were inspired to create a plant box that is equipped with a plant pot and sensors that indicate when the levels of moisture and exposure to sunlight are less than optimal for the plants. From our research, we are facing some environmental problems including global warming, climate change, and air pollution, which can be mitigated by having more plants that produce oxygen into the atmosphere. Also, the use of sensors in our previous project has influenced us to implement sensors into this project as well. We were also inspired by the use of cardboard box as the material from our previous project as it is a customizable and affordable material. In this project, we have combined coding with handmade equipment that will function efficiently not only to help with the environmental problem but also play a role in successful plant growing even for those who have no specific knowledge in keeping plants. Even though plant meters and sensors already exist on the market, this invention combines two types of sensors (light and moisture) into one along with the addition of a plastic pot in the plant box as well as customized sounds for low light and moisture detection via coding. This invention is for those who may lack specific knowledge and experience in plant growing but wish to start growing and keeping plants since this invention will make it easier for people to grow plants even if they do not know when to water the plants or how much water and sunlight the plants need. Lastly, it will be a great tool to help combat the aforementioned environmental problems.
Based on our research, our potential users will have a few points of interactions with the invention which affect our design decisions. First of all, they will need to access the plant pot in order to put in the soil and the plant, so we designed the plant pot to be in the most visible area which is in front of the box so that it can provide easier access to the plants when users engage in plant care. Moreover, the customers will need to use the USB connected to the device in order to plug it into their computer for full readings of the moisture and sunlight levels. However, because this plant box is likely to be placed in the homes of the users, we took into account the aesthetics of the design, so we added the area for which all cords and wires as well as the USB are stored. This will make the plant box more aesthetically pleasing. In terms of the materials, the plant box is entirely made of cardboard since it meets the criteria of being lightweight and customizable. Thus, we can cut it into the exact size and shape that we want and assemble as well as decorate it easily. This is more plausible than using plastic since it would be harder to cut and assemble. In addition, we used a plastic cup as the plant pot since it is light enough for the cardboard box to hold and waterproof, so it will perform the job well as the plant pot. By contrast, using a traditional clay pot would be too heavy for the cardboard box to hold.
During the production process, the most significant steps involve writing the codes and building the structure of the plant box. Despite a lot of brainstorming and preparation, we did run into some challenges which resulted in a design failure. This happened when we assembled some wheels under the box to make the plant box wheelable. However, this design failed because the codes were unable to work with the structure of the design. Therefore, we decided to remove the wheels, and the codes worked. Another successful step was when we connected both light and moisture sensors to the code. Thus, the sensors function normally and successfully together. As for my responsibilities, I was involved in brainstorming the ideas with my partner, along with selecting the materials and sketching the designs. I also helped build the structure, especially the decoration and hiding the wires. Lastly, I co-wrote the codes with my partner every step of the way. In our project, we first brainstormed ideas together and chose the most suitable one that we both liked. Theyiin, we allocated the work that could be completed individually and finished it in the given time period. Finally, we assembled the invention together and performed user testing. During the user testing process, we had some users come in to test the plant box in its entirety and gained some useful and insightful feedback from them. The users stated that the plant box and the sensors work very well under all circumstances i.e. low light, adequate light, low moisture, and adequate moisture. However, they did make a suggestion that we should make our plant box more aesthetically pleasing. This influenced our production decision as we decided to position the plant to be more visible, hide the wires in an enclosed space, and decorate the box more. These adaptations proved to be very effective as the plant box ended up looking more appealing and functioning better with the plant pot relocation.
Since the World has come to the realization that global warming is really affecting our planet, there are some things we can do to help reduce the issue and by having more plants to produce oxygen into the atmosphere can help reduce this problem. The result of my project aligns with my own definition of interaction because I get to see the interaction between each object to another. In this case, I got to build and view how two or more sensors combine and produce my expectation of my own goal for the project. I believe that there is also a misalignment of my project to my definition of interaction. I believe that my project could have been better if I can involve more handmade structure to the code by building other structures that I could add more sensors to for it to be able to perform more functions. The interaction that I got from my audience when they were testing my project is that they suggested that I can represent more of what each sensor is by writing down their names next to the sensors, so that the audience would be able to have a better understanding of what to do. If I were given more time, I would definitely add more interaction to my project so that it would be interesting for people to try out my project. As well as labeling what each sensor is so that my audience would be able to test the project out. What I learned from my failure is to spend more time working on the project and think carefully about what input is required for the project. I would test the object beforehand just in case incidents occur, and by that I would be able to have more time to adjust my mistakes.
