GardenWatch

Right Side, Transmitter Visible
The Receiver Unit for Notifications
Back, Arduino Visible
GardenWatch Main Unit
Diagram of how GardenWatch works

Inspiration

The inspiration for this project came from my parent's aptitude and hobby for gardening. They recently had been having issues with local animals and rodents eating their hard work up. I have seen them helpless and not knowing what to do about it. So I and my partner decided to create a product that would provide their garden with the ultimate security, GardenWatch!

What it does

GardenWatch is a security device that monitors a given area, with its intended area being a garden. It uses a motion and sound sensor to detect a presence of a pest/animal. When it does, a picture is taken immediately (with a webcam but we used Ridwans tablet cause we broke) and an alarm will sound, to scare the pest away. That picture is sent to your phone with a link to the picture to see what's eating up your garden.

How we built it

Using an Arduino Mega as a center for our sensors, detection, Buzzer, tablet Camera, and SMS notifications and interconnecting them with a combination of Python, OpenCV, Twilio, and Arduino assembly.

Challenges we ran into

We initially started with a group of four. But a few hours after the start, we were down to two, so a lot of time was spent on finding an objective as well as allocating the work between the two of us, mostly on an online basis. We were also online working with physical hardware so scheduling an in-person meet was tough but doable. We had some tech issues configuring the Twilio, the radio transceivers were not working, and setting up the actual prototype but we persevered nonetheless. Our video is also not the best due to it being filmed at 6:46 am and not reaching the time limit.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Getting something done for the hackathon, creating something that works better than expected, and making something that can be used to make someone's life easier, with their garden intact.

What we learned

Teamwork and interpersonal skills between two people. Creating an initial prototype. Incorporating software and hardware and a whole lotta applicable Arduino.