SmartPlanter
SCAD Industrial Design M.A. class project
Team:
Ricardo Echeverria - Concept development, 3D modeling, rendering
Jiaqian Lin - Concept development, 3D print
Research:
There has been an steady rise in indoor plants sales, specially since the pandemic began. This market is growing globally, surpassing the 1.7 billion in the USA.
According to our research, the majority of people have a bond with their plants, which vary from talking to them, to naming them and treating them like pets. But there’s also the problem that most don’t know how to take proper care of them, killing them in a short period of time. This happens because of the lack of care and also because of over-caring for the plants. We set out to design a device that can address this problem in a way that it also creates an stronger bond with the plant.
According to our research, the majority of people have a bond with their plants, which vary from talking to them, to naming them and treating them like pets. But there’s also the problem that most don’t know how to take proper care of them, killing them in a short period of time. This happens because of the lack of care and also because of over-caring for the plants. We set out to design a device that can address this problem in a way that it also creates an stronger bond with the plant.
Development
Design Language and Guidelines
Initial concepts
Final Concept
What does it do?
Reads plant's humidity levels by electrodes hidden in below the soil.
External electrodes allow us to read the plant's bio-electric changes that cause varying sounds. They change if they are touched, healthy or unhealthy.
The base contains the electronics inside and outside it shows an OLED touchscreen to change functions, control volume and display varied information about the plant. It can be turned on or off.
The light in the middle gives a fast indication of the plant's water needs. Red for low on water, yellow for medium and blue for well hydrated.
The sound that the plant makes comes from the speaker located at the base of the planter.
External electrodes allow us to read the plant's bio-electric changes that cause varying sounds. They change if they are touched, healthy or unhealthy.
The base contains the electronics inside and outside it shows an OLED touchscreen to change functions, control volume and display varied information about the plant. It can be turned on or off.
The light in the middle gives a fast indication of the plant's water needs. Red for low on water, yellow for medium and blue for well hydrated.
The sound that the plant makes comes from the speaker located at the base of the planter.
Light displays water level
Scaled-down 3D Printed model
*This project was selected from all the student work in the same course by a SCAD committee to be entered to 4 design contests in 2022*
