Automated Succulent Pot
I designed and machined an automated self-watering succulent pot. The pot was milled from a solid block of aluminum by hand and paired with a moisture and temperature sensing pump system built around an Arduino.
Starting the Project
I had my girlfriend’s birthday coming up alongside a class project I was given to create a prototype using an Ardunio kit. With all of that in mind I came up with the idea to create an automated plant pot for my girlfriend who loves succulents.
I selected a block of aluminum scrap my solar team had in our shop and designed a pot that could be milled from the scrap I had on hand. I then chose a two-in-one moisture and temperature sensor that I had in my kit, a DC water pump, an LCD to give info to the user, and an Ardunio to run it all.
After getting the requirements down and the parts picked out, it was time for to begin with design. I began, once again, with the plant pot itself. It measured the aluminum block I had selected and then used SolidWorks to model the plant pot I would end up machining. Once it was modeled I made a detailed drawing, printed it off, and got to work in the machine shop. It took me a full afternoon, but in the end I had the plant pot completed.
As my next step I worked on getting the breadboard circuit set up. Once the circuitry was plotted out, I integrated the components together and began working on programming the Arduino to command them all.
Putting it together
Results and Lessons Learned
The end result ended up being two seperate items as opposed to one seamless creation. I had the plant pot as a stand alone object and then I had the watering system as a device that could be integrated in with it.
In hindsight, I wish I had put more thought into the form factor for the watering system. My girlfriend ended up only using the plant pot without the watering system as the two systems didn’t have the greatest look when combined together.
I would say this taught me the importance of appearance as well as planning ahead on integrating systems together so they have a seamless look.