The project students; Max Harvey,Tom Mottram and Sunil Seshadri, have created a prototype of an integrated device that allows the users to monitor house-plants remotely through a web-enabled device (such as mobile phones, laptops and desktop computers). The prototype device contains a soil moisture sensor, a light sensor, temperature and air humidity sensor. It is also connected to a water pump, which will automatically water the plan when the soil moisture is below a set threshold. Furthermore, the device is connected wirelessly (through WIFI) to the internet, which allows users to view data with their smart phones or computers.
The project team is now collaborating with Prof Chris Atkinson at Greenwich, who is interested in sustainable agriculture in developing worlds. The team is very keen to further develop this technology to provide low cost solutions to improve efficiency of irrigation, and improve agricultural yields; for this purpose, an application to EPSRC for funding has been launched.