Plant Bot | Automate Plant Care

As the "Plant Bot" project progresses, we've reached pivotal stages: the final design testing and the initiation of a bulk order. Our comprehensive testing phase was instrumental in validating Plant Bot's capabilities and efficiency. Here are the key takeaways:

• Moisture Sensing: The corrosion-resistant capacitive moisture sensor accurately gauges soil conditions, with an intuitive LED color spectrum ranging from red (dry) to blue (moist).
• Ease of Setup: The user-friendly design allows for a hassle-free setup, with the moisture sensor stake easily inserted into any pot.
• Integrated Features: Plant Bot boasts an integrated pump driver and multi-color LED control, enhancing its functionality.
• Connectivity: With both WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities, Plant Bot ensures seamless data transmission, as demonstrated by its integration with platforms like Thingspeak.
• Battery Efficiency: Designed as a low-power IoT device, Plant Bot's battery life is impressive. With the ESP32's minimal power consumption during deep sleep, a single coin cell battery can last up to a week with daily updates.

With the successful conclusion of our testing phase, we're excited to announce that preparations are underway for a bulk order of Plant Bot. This move signifies our confidence in the product and its potential in the market.

A special shoutout to JLCPCB for their unwavering support and expertise. Their role in rapid prototyping without compromising on quality has been invaluable. For those embarking on board design and assembly, JLCPCB is a top recommendation for their exceptional quality, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency.

As we move forward, a big thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey. Your feedback, support, and enthusiasm have been the backbone of Plant Bot's success. Stay connected for more updates on this innovative journey!

ANNOUNCEMENT 

Thank you all for the support I have received over the past year. 

I really appreciate the comments and feedback through this forum and I fully intend to update my content here frequently with useful content as soon as they become available. However due to the format of this platform, it is quite difficult to present small yet important updates, therefore I am creating an Instagram page where I will post my content more regularly and also demonstrate more of the "behind-the-scenes" work that goes into creating my projects. 

You can access my Instagram page here, elektroThing (@elektrothing) • Instagram photos and videos.  For those of you who do not want to use Instagram, I am also launching my website, elektrothing.com, which will serve as the landing page for all things elektroThing. :) 

PROJECT UPDATE

Plant-Bot has been invaluable in my household despite that, I plan to make some improvements to both the hardware and software before making it available to you.

1. Make Plant-Bot production ready to lower costs.
2. Write firmware to allow setup and control over BLE. 
3. Move the Temp and Hum sensor away from "warm" electronics. 
4. Selling it on Kickstarter or Tindie. The former allows for cheaper products due to the benefits of bulk orders vs Tindie where I will only be ordered in small batches. Would appreciate any feedback on this! 

Do reach out if there is something on this list that you would like to help with. I am more than happy to send over a board and in return get some work off my shoulders.

FUTURE PLANS

I have been thinking of making an "outdoor" version that will be solar-powered and turn on every 1 or 2 days to measure and turn on a pump /valve when required. Still working out the power budgets to see if this is feasible in the form factor I have in mind.

Thank you all so much for your interest and support in this project so far. 

I am happy to report that I have been using some of these boards to look after my plants these past few weeks and am quite pleased with how the board is holding up. On that note, I am listing the Plant Bot on Tindie for now just to keep track of interest in the hardware, once there is sufficient interest I will get them made and shipped out to you! :) 

Here's the link to the product page. https://www.tindie.com/products/26776/

Do let me know if you have any questions or suggestions as always!