Personal Project

My Experience

When I decided what I wanted to do, I knew that it was going to be very ambitious. These projects did have a due date, and that included writing the 4000-word report. I was nervous, and knew that I would have to put almost all of my freetime into it. The first thing I did was create a timeline and research what I would need to do. While it would take me a long time to build and assemble it, it would take even longer if I didn't choose the right hydroponics method or programming method. I created a mindmap that encompassed all of the information I would need to know. Starting the project, I already knew the basics of programming. It was hydroponics that was new to me, so I spent much more time researching and learning about different hydroponics systems. I had never really grown plants in any special system of sorts; the most I had done in terms of growing plants had been in helping water the individually potted house plants we had. Learning about the different types of hydroponics systems helped me to expand my view of the many ways people use to grow their plants. After assessing the numerous different hydroponic growing techniques, I decided to settle on the "aeroponic" method. It's a technique that uses a water pump to push water into a sprinkler system that would water the roots of the plants being grown. It's similar to the sprinklers most people use in their yards; the only difference is that the plants being grown are above the sprinkler.

As I was researching, I also started to grow my plants. I decided to grow mine from seeds, because I felt it would be more fulfilling and feel more like I was doing everything myself than if I used plants that were already grown. From my hydroponics research, I knew that most people started growing the plants before putting them in the system. This is so that they are more likely to survive throughout the growing process. So, I started growing the plants in a substrate, watering them often and tracking their growth. See the photo gallery below for pictures of my plant's development. I decided to grow herbs, because I didn't have much experience in growing plants and had heard that herbs were relatively easier. Also, my mom said that she would use the herbs I grew, so they seemed like the best type of plant to grow.

Meanwhile, I ordered materials. Below is a screenshot of the sheet that I used to track my expenses. For the main boxes, I used an old fish tank and a clear plastic box that we had laying around. I decided to have two boxes, one where I would keep the water for the plants and the plants themselves, and another to catch any spillage from the watering system and support all of my technology away from the water. One of the first things I did was cut holes into the top of the smaller box. Since I would be putting the plants on top of it, I needed places for the net pots to sit inside. First, I traced the widest end of the net pots onto the top with a sharpie. I tried to fit as many as possible while maintaining an orderly grid format. Next, I used a pocket knife my dad had to cut them out. Everything went well, and after checking to make sure all the net pots fit, the first step in the construction was complete.

Next, I started working on the watering system. First, we went to Lowe's to get PVC pipes, different connectors, and a rubber addhesive. Next, I measured the smallest box (where the watering system would have to fit inside) and used a hand-saw to cut the PVC pipe into the required lengths. After assembling everything without glue to make sure it all fit together properly, I took it back apart and started gluing. I managed to not make too big of a mess, and after I finished, I let it rest over-night to dry. The next day, I took it out to the garage and drilled a few holes in it. This is because I needed holes to put the sprinkler in-sets in. After I finished drilling, I noticed that I had drilled everything on the wrong side, so my dad helped me to use caulk to patch up the holes. Then, I drilled the holes into the correct side and used the same rubber addhesive to seal the sprinkler in-sets into the pipes. Once that was done, I let it dry overnight. Next, I took the smaller box I was going to be using and filled it with some tap water. I went outside, plugged in the water pump, and tested it. It took a few tries and messing with the settings a little, but I got it to work eventually. It was really cool to see that all my hard work on it had paid off, especially since the watering system was the hardest part of the hydroponic aspect of the project

Once the individual sections of the hydroponics aspect were completed, I decided to start working on the computing aspect. I had worked with Arduinos in the past, but it had been a year or two, so I decided to do a few easier wiring tests just to remind myself how everything worked. Once I had refreshed myself on Arduinos, the Arduino IDE, and wiring, I got to working on the code. For the most part, I worked on the software in parallel with the hardware. After I had coded the section for a certain sensor or transformer, I plugged it in and checked to make sure it was working. This was the part where I ran into the most small issues, but these were also issues that took the least time to fix. I worked on the computer aspect whenever I had the time, and I managed to finish it before the plants were mature enough to be transferred into the system.

The next order of business was actually assembling everything. Since I was working with some high-voltage open wires, my dad helped me to make I wired all of the transformers safely before plugging in anything. It took a few days and a lot of accidentally disconnected and reconnected wires, but we managed to assemble everything. After it was all assembled and everything was in working order, I transferred the plants in. When I moved them into the system, they were abou 8-13 cm (3-5 in) tall. I still checked on the plants often, but once everything was running smoothly, I tended to just check in on everything once a week. The real test of my system was when my family went on vacation that winter break. We left everything plugged in for the system itself and let it run for the week and a half we were out of the house. Once we had come back, I was ecstatic to find that the herbs had grown a lot and that none of them had died while we were out. My system was working and had succeeded (in the "Development of my plants throughout the project" section of the photo gallery, you can see how much they grew while we were gone. Before we left, the plants were about the size of those shown in the in the picture from when they are inside the net pots. After we left, they were the size of those in the last two pictures.)

Personal Project

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