Prototype 2
The Baskets
Since we had running water and working lights it was time to try and make our system habitable for plants. We hoped to avoid long lasting hiccups like that of our u-shaped pipe fiasco but had been smart in standardizing the size of the holes we cut into our full pipe. In about a week I had designed, tested, and printed 30 baskets.
Automation
We were fairly certain our system could provide enough light, nutrients, and water for our plants, it had to be automated. That way the system could sustain itself with people only adding water as it evaporated, add food when necessary, and check sensors to ensure everything was running as it should.
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This did provide many challenges. Powering our arduinos, wiring relays to outlets that ran off of wall power without creating a fire hazard. Pulling those wires through conduit without destroying either of those things. Mounting it on our shelf in a way that kept water from being a risk. All of these were difficult in their own way, and some took longer than others.
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However, those challenges led to a system that was completely automated, only needing to have water and plant food be added to the tank when necessary.
Code
Final Additions
Shortly before the expo we did some final glueing of pipes, got cilantro plants to grow, and prepared code to show off our automation.