Inspiration
We wanted to create something that encouraged people to have an appreciation for plants. In this case, we wanted to have the watering pot be something that people could use to identify certain plants in the wild, while also being able to interact with them through watering.
What it does
Our smart watering pot automatically activates to water plants for a specific amount of time so that you don't have to watch over it.
How we built it
We used the Arduino Uno Q as our microcontroller to control our servos to rotate our water can back and forth. We then 3D printed a base to hold our watering can and servos and implemented a button to control the angles at which our watering can is oriented.
Challenges we ran into
We ran into challenges regarding the time and implementing all of our ideas because we originally wanted a plant detection system using machine learning, but we spent too much time working with our servos that we didn't have the resources to accomplish this goal. It was also a challenge to learn how to use the LCD display as it was our first time, so finding the right libraries and implementing the right functions was difficult.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Able to build a prototype for the automatic watering can function. The servos worked and it was some of our first times using servos, so it was fulfilling to see them do what they were supposed to.
What we learned
We learned how to utilize servos, use an LCD display, and use different libraries in our code.
What's next for WaTTer
We want to implement a camera feature where WaTTer can identify dry/dehydrated plants and automatically water the plant based on that scan. It will skip over plants that are already well watered.
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.