WaterMe

Inspiration

Many of us love having plants in our homes, both for decor and to feel closer to nature. However, sometimes we forget to water them. So in an attempt to save the plants, we created WaterIt, to remind people to water their plants at the right times.

What it does

WaterMe was created to ensure that plant owners stay responsible and remember to take good care of their plants. The app runs a customized timer for each plant, depending on the plant's water needs (i.e. tomatoes need to be watered every day, succulents once a week, and so on). When it's time to water the plant, a pop-up notification reminds the owner to give their plants proper care.

How we built it

WaterMe is a mobile app that runs on the Android platform. We used Android Studio and Android APIs, programming in Java and XML, in order to create the app. We built a plant class to create a plant object for each plant the user adds, and created pages for user-friendly GUI. In addition, we in incorporated notifications and countdown timers in order to provide the functionality we desired. Finally, we created original art pieces to give the app a greater ambiance.

Challenges we ran into

We did not actually begin working on WaterMe until 7:00AM of Saturday, September 9. Before that, we had been working first on a calendar functionality we later realized had already been created, and then were unable to make progress on our next idea. We finally came across inspiration while taking a break in our dorm rooms and admiring our plants. From there, we knew we had to make WaterMe a reality for the sake of the plants.

A second challenge we ran into was implementing the functionality of the notifications. On Android platform, there is no explicit way to set what time a notification is sent by the app to the user. We tried to research and implement methods that had been successful previously. However due to the structural differences of our program needed to implement our functionality correctly, we were unable to run these methods. Eventually, after much struggling, determination, and a moment of eureka, we found a work-around to this problem.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of our flexibility during this Hackathon, despite how many things were not going the way we wanted. In the end, our tenacity and adaptability allowed us to still complete a project that we feel is important and useful. Finally, we are proud of making it through our first Hackathon of college and the experience we gained along the way (without pulling an all-nighter!)

What we learned

During the Hackathon, we learned more about the Android platform and API, such as how to implement notifications, connect all the parts of the app into one, and to think from both the developer's and user's sides. We learned the value of being flexible and determination, as even when things looked bleak for us during the Hackathon, we still didn't give up. We learned to appreciate and care for the small things that give us inspiration in life.

What's next for WaterMe

We plan to expand the database to include a wider variety of plants, as the ones used in this prototype were just for demonstration purposes. In addition, we would like to expand the number of factors that the app can take into account to make watering plants smarter. For example, implementation of whether a plant is indoor or outdoor, the local weather of the user (heat and rain affecting watering rates), and so on. In the end, the most important thing is to ensure that the users Sprinkle It!