Final Project

First step : the idea

The very first idea

Just before the beginning of the FabAcademy, I was thinking about my final project with a mix of dread and fascination. After a very short brainstorming, I have decided to go for an electric skateboard with remote controle

Time flies and here I am, somewhere in April with almost no progress for my final project and for several reasons :

The project is really expensive between the brushless motors and the huge battery

There are not many diffent ways to move a board on 4 wheels so it's difficult to make really fun or news

And the most important, I'm not feeling it : I don't feel any passion for it, it's just a nice idea

So after a good talk with Thomas and Marco, my instructors from the FabAcademy, I have started from scratch, looking for a new idea

The second (and final) idea

After the talk with my instructors, I spoke briefly with a friend about greehouse and few days later, I have began looking on the web about them

As I have moved recently from a house to an appartment, the idea to bring some green inside was refreshing. After investigation, I have found that "greenhouse" covers a very large panel of furniture from very small to industrial, simple or complex, with or without connectivity so I have room to explore and do something interesting.

So, Greenhouse it is!

Connected Greenhouse

For the final project, we have the most of the technique seen in the assignments so a simple Greenhouse will not cut it. I want to make it cheap, modular, easy to reproduce in another lab and connected
It will have a battery of sensors, wireless or bluetooth communication and some motor for sure.
You can see below the first drafts and sketches on paper

I will make a fixed "base" and roof and the middle part shoul be a module that you can stak. The design as to be parametric so you can adapt the size for your place and the number of desired module

The temperatur, humidity and luminosity are must have information for me. So I have to find and put in the greenhouse sereral kind of sensors and find a way to uppgrade that numbers of senors according to the number of module

Ventilation is important and in case of scorching heat, the greenhouse need to be able to cool down at least a little. A door with a motor for aeration and maybe a ventilator should do the trick.

Communication with the user is important so it should be wireless and the user should receive information and take action in remote control.

Material and improvements

I was thinking wood at the beginning but it's really not the best for the greenhouse, maybe for decoration or support. I will try with these elements first :

Plexiglass for the structure

Temperatur sensors

Humidity sensors

Luminosity sensors

Motors

Remote connectivity (Bluetooth or Wi-Fi)

I'm sure that I can add plenty of features such as :

More interaction with the user

More relevant sensors

A more elegant design

The list can go on and on but I have to start somewhere and see how far I can go!

Next step : Design

Date: June 2017