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Continued Design Work Outside of University:
After the completion of this project, further work was done on getting the design to the first envisaged design of having more compact and more developed internals to make the overall size smaller and functional to house a small plant. While also exploring new techniques in Keyshot rendering and using Adafruit RGB LEDs and Featherwing Circuit Boards. To see more about this project, click on the image to the side.
Skills in this Project:
Solidworks/Rendering
Arduino/Coding
Photoshop/Illustrator
3D Printing
Designing a UX Product
The Overall Project:
This was an individual project that lasted 5 weeks where I was given the opportunity and flexibility to create my own interactive experience. This project was very personal to me as there were fewer design constraints than usual projects, so I took this opportunity to evolve my skills further in terms of the design process, and visual skills. The final interactive experience was described by my unit coordinator as going above and beyond in the timeframe we were given. I really enjoyed the research and development side of the project, being able to find a problem in my current life, to improve the overall experience of the experience for others as well.
What is 'eVe':
This product is an interactive plant pot that was inspired by the character ‘Evie’ in the movie Wall-E. This product was also based on a current issue that is faced by amateur gardeners, where it's hard to identify when the plant needs watering during the day. Being able to know when the plant needs watering will help guide amateur gardeners when to water the plant.
The 'eVe' also encompasses the interaction of taking care of your pot plants as if they were a human being. This is using the notion of 'water me' to make the user water then plant when it's mad. This product can showcase the future of plant pots for users who would need guidance when taking care of their plant for all ages.
'eVe' Features:
Plant Health Tracking
Soil Moisture Tracking
RGB LED Alerts
Pot Vibration System
A view of context the product render, which was created in KeyShot 9
An alternative view of context the product render, which was created in KeyShot 9
How It Works:
The ‘eVe’ requires little education to understand its purpose as it displays when it does or doesn’t need to be watered. It does require a small house plant to be planted in it, as a large plant would obstruct the sensors within it.
Located internally is a moisture sensor that measures current soil moisture levels in the pot within will measure how much moisture is currently in the pot. The front of the pot is designed to showcase 3 ‘emoji’ faces to let the user know how it feels. If the moisture level is good, the pot will light up green and display the happy emoji to indicate happiness towards the user. However, when the sensor measures that there are low amounts of moisture, the pot will light up yellow, along with the sad emoji face, to signal that it requires water soon. When there's no water, the pot will become mad, where it’ll light up red and vibrate/shake as if it was having a tantrum, while displaying the crying emoji.
Using a moisture sensor allows the user to dictate the right amount of water needed when watering
Incorporating an ultrasonic sensor allows the user to check the plant's mood through LED lights.
Having an internal motor allows the pot to shake when moisture levels are critical to make the user water the plant
Where It's Located:
The pot can be left anywhere within the house where sunlight is available. This system is designed to be able to alert the user when the plant needs to be watered, or when the plant has plenty of water. Using ultrasonic sensors allows for the product to sense when the user is nearby so it can alert/notify them for attention.
Material Composition:
The pot is made of a ceramic material on the exterior to offer a modern but durable design for the user to touch and experience.
Internal Lights and Technology:
The pot offers internal LED lights to showcase the mood of the plant while having accessible switches at the exterior.
Suitable for Night Use:
The pot with its exterior lighting allows it to still be seen by the user at night or when in dark areas around the house.
Assembly of 'eVe':
Below is an animation on the assembly of the pot with the corresponding parts.
An animation of the pot created in KeyShot 9
The Design Process
The Research:
This project was quite personal as I wanted to improve an interaction that i experience in my daily life. Which is taking care of plants, and knowing when to water them when they don't have enough moisture in their soil. When researching further into this notion, I also found that people have the same problem. This is where I found the problem that unexperienced gardeners need to have an easier solution to being able to take care of their plants when in pots. Inspiration for this project was from the movie Wall-E, where the form of the design can be of similar aesthetics to the character 'eve', to establish a connection of similarity for the user.
The Development:
In developing the idea further, I sketched out the ides with the concept of creating a design that allows for more streamlined use for the end-user. While resembling the same aesthetics of an ordinary pot plant and 'eve'. The illustrations below showcase the design thinking.
Sketching Time-lapse
The Prototyping:
From the initial idea, I CAD modeled the design for it to be 3D printed, so I would be able to make a realistic model for the final presentation. After the model was 3D printed, I created an electronic circuit comprised of LED lights, an RGB strip, an Ultrasonic sensor, a soil moisture sensor, and a vibration motor. I want 'eVe' to showcase emotions as if it would be a human being. This is in terms of, if the soil moisture is really low, the pot would glow red and vibrate vigorously to show that its mad for not being watered. Then light green when it's been taken care of. The illustrations below showcase this process going from the CAD model to a working solution.
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Pot Exploded Parts
Wiring Pot to Function
Assembled Pot View (CAD Render)
Exploded View of Pot
(Parts Render CAD)
Wiring 3D Print
Prototype Circuit for Plant Pot
The Final Design:
The final design for the 'eVe' encompasses the interaction of taking care of your pot plants as if they were a human being. This is using the notion of 'water me' to make the user water then plant when it's mad. This product can showcase the future of plant pots for users who would need guidance when taking care of their plant for all ages.
Working Model With Electronics Inside
Presentation Model
What I Learnt:
I was really passionate about this project through how it solely relied on research and development for the design to succeed, from rapid prototyping to proposing new ways of integrating this idea for futuristic use. Learned new ways of using Arduino to be able to create a realistic and functional model.
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