Plantr

qnx hardware system
web app

Inspiration

The inspiration for Plantr came from a simple love for plants and a bit of frustration with forgetting to water them. We wanted to create a solution that helps plant owners keep their green friends alive and thriving, no matter how busy they are.

What it does

Plantr is an AI-powered app that monitors your plant's health remotely. It tracks environmental factors like soil moisture, light, and temperature, providing real-time feedback and personalized care recommendations to keep your plants in peak condition.

How we built it

We combined QNX for its robust and real-time operating system capabilities with machine learning to analyze plant health data. We also integrated sensors to gather important metrics like soil moisture and light levels, allowing our AI to make accurate recommendations.

Challenges we ran into

Oh boy, where to start? The biggest challenge we ran into was with QNX and the I2C sensors we chose. QNX’s support for these sensors was… let’s just say, not what we expected. The library we needed wasn’t great, and even the wiki openly said the specific sensor we got wasn’t supported — and it was the very sensor they provided! We spent more time trying to get these sensors to play nice with QNX than we care to admit. It was a real rollercoaster of debugging and prayer.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re especially proud of the AI’s accuracy in plant health predictions! We’ve also managed to build a solid user interface that’s both easy to use and informative. Plus, we haven't killed a plant in months (we’re looking at you, cactus).

What we learned

We learned that building a successful plant care app isn’t just about tech — it’s about understanding plant biology and user needs. Also, we learned that people will name their plants anything from “Sir Leaf” to “Basil the Great.”

What's next for Plantr

We’re aiming for the stars! We’re working on expanding Plantr to support even more plant species, integrating with smart home devices, and maybe even launching a version for people who don’t have a green thumb (yet). To the moon!