Aqueduct

Inspiration

Water is too often wasted due to inefficient irrigation methods, and a lot of home gardeners are uncertain about the watering schedules. We wanted to build a simple, automated system to solve this problem and eventually expand.

What it does

Aqueduct is a small robot that detects soil moisture and waters plants automatically using a drip irrigation system. It ensures plants get just the right amount of water without as much waste and effort.

How we built it

We used moisture sensors, a microservo, a plastic container, a straw and tube to create our project. The sensors measure soil moisture, the plastic container holds to water and sends it down the tube and is passed into the straw. The microcontroller controls the water flow through the straw based on the data it receives.

Challenges we ran into

One of the more specific challenges we ran into was cutting a precise slit into the pump and attaching the straw securely. The hot glue kept getting messy and we had to restart a few times. Furthermore we had to find creative ways to properly support the straw.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We were able to build a working prototype within a limited time-frame that combined both hardware and software. We were also able to identify an issue within our community and find a scalable solution that could be scaled for larger applications.

What we learned

An important thing we learned was to be more detailed in our planning. There were some unexpected issues we ran into when designing the hardware of the project that could have been avoided if we had foreseen the possible issues of such an implementation.

What's next for Aqueduct

We plan to polish off the appearance and functionality by making it more sturdy, adding remote monitoring, and testing it on larger setups. We currently have a smaller version of our project but we plan to scale it and make smart irrigation more accessible.