The Hydro-Plant

Inspiration

Many people forget to water their indoor plants, and the plants end up dying. We wanted to make a machine that solves that problem.

What it does

The HydroPlant waters your plants on a schedule, preventing them from drying up.

How we built it

We used an Archimedes screw to transfer water from a storage area into a custom plant pot. The screw is powered by a servo, providing high torque.

Challenges we ran into

During the process of making the HydroPlant, we ran into many problems. For example, the original Archimedes screw we used did not work. Water flowed down through the edges of the screw. To fix it, we reprinted it with a 0.15mm clearance, providing enough gap to spin but small enough so water doesn't fall through. Another major challenge was coding the app. The app would not connect to the servo, but after many failed attempts, we finally got it to work.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We learned some C++ while doing this project, and we are definitely proud of that.

What we learned

When you make an Archimedes screw, it must be tilted at an angle around 45 deg, or it doesn't transfer enough water.

What's next for The HydroPlant

In the future, the HydroPlant will be available for all plant sizes, and it will have multiple sensors to change the schedule based on soil humidity and how the plant looks.