LeafKeeper: Smart Plant Care Game
Project Introduction
LeafKeeper is a gamified smart plant monitoring system that makes plant care a more enjoyable and rewarding experience. Plants are often forgotten to water due to busy schedules, making them difficult to manage. LeafKeeper combines sensor-based monitoring and game elements to encourage users to take care of their plants consistently.
Project Inspiration
This project started from the awareness that maintaining the health of companion plants is not easy. Many people are interested in growing plants, but they often do not know how to properly care for them or forget to water them. To solve this problem, we wanted to incorporate game elements to make plant care more fun.
In addition, we found an opportunity to use smart IoT technology and sensors to provide an interactive experience where users can interact with their plants, rather than just a simple monitoring tool.
How was it developed?
LeafKeeper is built on the following core hardware and software components:
Main Hardware
- Arduino Nano – Core controller of the system
- OLED Display – Displays plant health status and game data
- DHT11 Temperature and Humidity Sensor – Measures indoor temperature and humidity
- Photoresistor – Measures the amount of light received by the plant
- DFROBOTS V2 Soil Moisture Sensor – Detects soil moisture status
- RGB LED – Provides visual feedback according to plant health status
Main Software and Logic
- Calculate plant health and XP (experience points) based on sensor data
- Visually display plant health, XP, status, etc. via OLED display
- Game elements:
- Reward XP when sensor values remain within the optimal range
- Provide instant health status feedback via RGB LED color changes
- Increase motivation with leaderboard and Multiplayer score comparison system
Problems to solve
Sensor data accuracy issues
The soil moisture sensor initially provided irregular values, and the light sensor was very sensitive to environmental changes. To solve this, we introduced a method of taking multiple measurements and applying the average value.
Game Balance Adjustments
It was difficult to balance the XP rewards. If the XP was accumulated too quickly, the game became too easy, and if it was too slow, the user's interest was reduced. We adjusted the XP to be awarded only when the sensor values were maintained in the optimal range for a certain period of time, and added NPC competition elements to increase motivation.
OLED Display Update Issues
Frequent display updates resulted in screen flickering and blank screens. This was caused by unnecessary excessive refreshes in the code, and the issue was resolved by optimizing the update frequency.
Lessons Learned
- Balancing Hardware and Software: When designing game elements utilizing sensor data, you should consider the limitations of the hardware. - Enhancing user experience: It is important to encourage users to actively participate in plant management, rather than simply providing a monitoring system.
- Effectiveness of gamification: Rather than simply providing data, elements such as leaderboards, XP systems, and rewards greatly increased user engagement.
Future plans
- Adding a plant quest system (e.g., "Water 3 days in a row" mission)
- Improving data accuracy by improving sensor calibration function
- Implementing a multiplayer mode (Compare XP with friends)
- Exploring remote monitoring functions using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth
Conclusion
LeafKeeper is an interactive game that helps users develop a closer relationship with their plants. Through this project, we learned that even simple sensor data can be transformed into a powerful motivational tool when gamified.
We want to continue to develop LeafKeeper in the future to make it intuitive and fun for anyone to manage plants.
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