You can not select more than 25 topics
Topics must start with a letter or number, can include dashes ('-') and can be up to 35 characters long.
29 lines
1.7 KiB
29 lines
1.7 KiB
Title: Automatic Plant Waterer |
|
Date: 2014-06-05 |
|
Category: Creations |
|
Summary: A device that automatically waters plants. |
|
short: waterer |
|
|
|
One day I decided watering my one plant was too much work, so I automated it. It's also great for when I'm on vacation. The plant is a year old now and doesn't look as good as it used to (kinda like you). So this machine is like its life support. |
|
|
|
<span class="aside">(Update: this plant died long ago)</span> |
|
|
|
![[waterer1.jpg | the device and pump on a 2L pop bottle with a tube running to a flowerpot]] |
|
|
|
## First Attempt |
|
|
|
The design was very simple and soldered together on perf board. A microcontroller turns the pump on for 20 seconds, then waits 24 hours and restarts. The pump ran way too fast so it was slowed down to 10% power. |
|
|
|
This design suffered from a fatal problem. After running, there was a chance that the tube would stay full of fluid. If the water level in the pop bottle was too high, it could siphon out. I woke up with a flower pot overflowing with water a couple of times. |
|
|
|
![[waterer2.jpg | a new version feeding into a different plant]] |
|
|
|
## Second Attempt |
|
|
|
I liked the idea so much that I made a second iteration. This one used a custom printed circuit board with a lot more features. The pumping duration could be adjusted with a screwdriver. This was useful as the plant (now a [Ming aralia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyscias_fruticosa)) grew. |
|
|
|
Another feature was the ability to run the pump backwards. This completely eliminated the siphoning problem from before. After pumping for a set duration, it would run backwards until the tube was cleared of water. |
|
|
|
<span class="aside">(Also dead)</span> |
|
|
|
![[waterer3.jpg | the new version beside a big Ming aralia plant with bushy drooping leaves and skinny stems]]
|
|
|