Inspiration
My father is a gardener, however, he's not very good at maintaining them. As such, I wanted to make something that could help him grow plants successfully.
What it does
The CompoSTAT using its sensors, will give back real time monitoring for your compost or soil. The CompoSTAT has 2 modes, for the user to either track their compost health or the soil health of their plants. The device will return the temperature, humidity, moisture, water level, and gas level to the user displayed on the LCD screen.
Using the 3 buttons, they can navigate to the next page using the button in the middle, toggle between plant/ compost mode, and turn on and off using the first button. The LED will signal the overall general health of the compost/ soil. Green = Good shape, Yellow = Some issues, and Red = There is something wrong.
How we built it
Using the sensors provided, we decided to use them to make something with agricultural monitoring and green sustainability in mind. Using ESP 32s, we were able to make the system wireless, and simulating a tube similar to aerating crops, the sensors are attached to it. After that, we display the information from the sensors onto the LCD screen.
Challenges we ran into
I2C protocol between Arduino and ESP 32, getting correct delays, using unfamiliar software to 3d model as well as finding the parameters for the casing.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We were able to help each each other to fully create a device together, and learned a lot from machinery and tools we were previously unfamiliar to us.
What we learned
How to use a new software with laser cutting, how to program ESP 32s to communicate with each other, and how to solder
What's next for CompoSTAT
To make companion app where notifications can be sent to the user in case something happens (ex: gas levels too high, too much water intake, too dry, etc.) Also in the app could be a plant database where it informs the user of what the ideal conditions are for each plant.
Other things would include a screen update as well as a camera that could also be accessed via app.
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