Overview / Usage

This project was designed in order to create a Rube Goldberg like device to water a plant. The goal was to ultimately water a plant, but through an extreme and amusing methodology. Often in a makerspace there are a myriad of tools and it is hard to find projects that encompass a majority of them. Particularly on the digital fabrication side.

The way the device works is that it monitors the moisture of the gel ball matrix that will be filled around the pod where the plant is. This pod plugs up the area where the gel balls gather. If the plant is not properly surrounded in a moist medium it will trigger the dual motors. One motor will lift the plant to drop the medium into a water bath for re-hydration while at the same time trigger the 3D printed bicycle chain and claws to bring new moist medium up and then bounce down the ramp to the plant. In addition to all this an RGB light was added for special lighting that would reach out to the the internet via an API to properly position the lighting based on the position of the sun in the sky. Specifically based on the location of the Intel Edison's time zone. Feedback such as moisture and other factors and actions were reported via LCD and later a dashboard to be designed for IoT analytics capture.

Methodology / Approach

This was a 1-2 week collaboration with myself and members of makerspace.nyc We cross collaborated where I was focused on electronics and design input while other members handled the designs themselves and the digital fabrication components in addition to artistic look and feel. We ran non-stop to get the best possible prototype for the Intel Developer Forum on behalf of and with the support from the Intel IoT innovator program. Great fun and opportunity!

As mentioned the approach to all of this was to build an inspiration project that would get attention and inspire others to take this idea and build there own to get more people making and tinkering in their communities and for the betterment of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math) based disciplines.

Technologies Used

• Intel Edison
• Arduino SDK
• RGB Led Strip
• Motor (2)
• 3D Printer
• Laser Cutter
• Moisture Sensor
• Seed Studio Grove Shield
• LCD
• Moisture absorbent gel balls
• Plastic acrylic
• Acrylic polymer adhesive
• Plant

Other links

• IDF Presentation Video