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Smart sensing / Planned workshop

Smart plant monitoring workshop

Read soil moisture and light conditions around a houseplant, calibrate the sensors, and use the results to track changes over time. The planned hardware also includes a compact water pump and driver for exploring controlled watering. The final monitoring interface and watering behaviour remain TBD.

Generated ESP32 illustration with a capacitive soil moisture sensor, light sensor, DC water pump, clear tubing, colourful wires, and a potted pothos.
Generated illustration of selected proposed electronics. Final kit contents TBD. Project photography will replace this image.

LEARNING TOPICS

Planned activities

  1. 01Connect a capacitive soil moisture sensor and light sensor to a microcontroller.
  2. 02Calibrate readings and identify measurement limitations.
  3. 03Display measurements and test pump control for a watering extension.

HARDWARE

Proposed components

Proposed electronics: ESP32 development board, capacitive soil moisture sensor, light sensor, compact DC water pump, pump driver, clear tubing, Dupont jumper wires, and JST connectors, alongside a potted houseplant. Final kit contents TBD.

Possible extensions

A future TinyML extension could identify patterns in sensor readings. The core monitoring project uses standard sensor processing.

Experience requirements, supplied equipment, kit contents, and take-home arrangements TBD.

Project inspiration

Reference videos for the concept. The final Botspot build may differ.

Watch reference 1 on YouTube Watch reference 2 on YouTube Watch reference 3 on YouTube Watch reference 4 on YouTube
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