uPlant Allows Users to Monitor Soil and Receive Telegram Messages From Plants
The sensor is designed around an nRF52832 SoC and monitors soil and environmental conditions, which can then be relayed via Telegram.
There are plenty of devices and DIY kits that allow users to monitor their plants, whether they have enough water or not enough sunlight, but none allow plants to express themselves via Telegram Messenger like the uPlant sensor. The sensor can monitor soil and environmental conditions, then report them using freeform basic text messages. The team at Ultimate Robotics started working on the uPlant project at the onset of the pandemic to keep track of different kinds of plants and their specific requirements for healthy growth.
The design process wasn’t as simple as it may seem, as the team had specific requirements that needed to be implemented. It needed to have a thin probe that wouldn’t cut plant roots, grab accurate measurements no matter the pot size, collect the maximum amount of data, and communicate those findings in a fun way.
“We changed the board design three times during the development process. First prototype was based on ATmega328, resistive measurement and had only an LED as an indicator”, the Ultimate Robotics team notes on their project page. “Second one was also ATmega328-based, but had an IR LED — IR receiver pair for communication and was capacitive. In the third one, we finally gave up and put our trusty BLE on it (nRF52832). It also became smaller and much more low power.”
The nRF52832 sits on a custom PCB with an attachable probe suited for most pots. It packs an LED, a VEML6040 optical sensor, a small tact button, and a CR2032 battery holder, all housed inside a 3D-printed enclosure. Additionally, the system features a USB-powered ESP32 device for receiving the data from each sensor and running the Telegram bot.
Communicating soil and environmental data (soil moisture, sunlight) is done via the bot using several preprogrammed phrases, such as “water level is super, and watering interval is good!” Each probe can be programmed with a unique name and can answer simple questions, but each can send detailed information if requested. Ultimate Robotics is currently working to give each plant its own character, each with its own language style.