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Plant Buddy

Team members

Lee Jia Juen (EPD), Wee Jian Hui Kevin (EPD), Marc Choo Jun Jie (EPD), Ang You Shan (EPD), Lim Ping An Benjamin (ISTD), Lee Hang Wee (ISTD), Chok Hao Ze (ISTD)

Instructors:

Lu Zhuo Ming Kenny, Kwan Wei Lek

Writing Instructors:

Wong Yoke Chee Susan

Teaching Assistant:

Anirudh Maruvada

Aim

This project aims to develop a consumer product to educate and engage children in urban farming, exposing them to sustainability and food security

Background

With over 90% of our food supply imported, Singapore is vulnerable to food supply disruptions. In order to promote self-sufficiency, Singapore has plans to improve food sustainability by leveraging technology. It is becoming increasingly important to educate people about how their food is grown and we see the government launching initiatives to do so. In particular, it is important to educate children they will be most affected in the future.

Riding on the shift in preferences towards growing crops in urban spaces and the increasing need to educate children on the use of technology in food production, our team looked at how might we enable parents and educators to educate and engage children in hydroponics urban farming through technology.

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Introducing Plant Buddy

Plant Buddy is a smart interactive plant pot with a companion mobile app that educates and engages children in hydroponics urban farming. The product gamifies the entire plant growing process and provides step-by-step tutorials and guidance while tailoring learning to a child's ability level.

Over the past 8 months, our team worked closely with educators, parents, and children to develop 5 Plant Buddy units which were handed to various children for 8 days as part of a beta trial that yielded stellar results. Users rated the product 4.56/ 5, providing strong validation for the solution.

   

Hear From Our Partners, Parents and Children

 

 

Key Product Highlights

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Plant Buddy Trailer

1. Safe and easy to use - Kids can easily grow healthy plants with minimal effort from parents due to clear guidance provided to the app.

2. Highly educational - Tailors learning to a child's ability to keep them challenged and provides tutorials to guide them to grow plants hydroponically.

3. Intelligent - Has IoT connectivity as well as the ability to give smart and dynamic feedback that is easy for children to understand.

4. Engaging - Gamification has been embedded in every part of the product to make it exciting for children every step of the way.

Overall Product Design

 

  

Smart Plant Pot

 

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Smart Plant Pot Features:

 

1. Plug & play design that is easy to clean and maintain

2. Integrated sensors that monitor growth parameters

3. Aeration, airflow and high-intensity lights for optimal growth conditions

4. Wifi connected

5. Tracks plant growth

6. Real-time feedback

7. Automatically turn on and off

Small Product, Packed with Big Technology

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The mobile application is designed to be easy to use for children. Users receive updates of the plants, conditions and are guided on how to care for plants and make adjustments based on the actual conditions

Children are also provided with educational materials and quizzes suited to their ability levels, allowing them to have a highly effective learning experience
 

To enable bi-directional communications within the IoT cloud architecture, WebSocket Network Protocols were implemented to allow the smart plant pot and mobile application to send and receive updates in real-time, providing interactive and instant feedback to the users

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A built-in camera takes photos of the plants at regular intervals, which is fed into our backend server, where computer vision is used to accurately track the plants' health and determine their stages of growth

Ag-Tech sensors and actuators have been integrated to promote optimal and accelerated plant growth

The custom grow lights provide optimal wavelength of light to expedite plant growth, the air pump aerates the nutrient solution to promote healthier plant growth and the EC sensor measures the concentration of nutrients available

Companion Mobile App

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Companion App Features:

 

1. Seamless IoT Connectivity

2. Step by step guides and tutorials

3. Customizable avatar

4. Coins and experience rewards system

5. Dynamic plant care tasks

6. Track plant growth stages with computer vision

7. Monitor growth conditions like temperature and nutrients

8. In-App shop with unlockable add-ons

9. Tailored quizzes with video lessons catered to a user's ability level

10. Daily check-ins

Testing 4 Products with 4 Children over 8 Days

  

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"Engaging and age-appropriate... Important that children know that food takes time to grow"

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"I like the customizability and that we can earn coins by doing quizzes!"

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"Very good idea for the younger generation to learn to harvest and grow plants"

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"The process is easy and fun!"

    

     

1Teng, P. (2020). Assuring food security in Singapore, a small island state facing COVID-19. Food Security, 1-4. doi:10.1007/s12571-020-01077-0
2Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore. (2016, October 14). Urban food security in an urbanising world: lessons from Singapore. https://agrifood.net/images/cfs43/CFS43%20Side-event%20background%20document%20-%20Lessons%20from%20Singapore.pdf
3Ng, W. K. (2021, February 23). 7 urban farm sites on HDB rooftops launched for public tender in Bukit Panjang, Woodlands, Sembawang. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/hdb-rooftops-to-get-more-urban-farms

Proudly Completed in Collaboration with

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FEEDBACK

TEAM MEMBERS

student Lee Jia Juen Engineering Product Development
student Wee Jian Hui Kevin Engineering Product Development
student Marc Choo Jun Jie Engineering Product Development
student Ang You Shan Engineering Product Development
student Lim Ping An Benjamin Information Systems Technology and Design
student Lee Hang Wee Information Systems Technology and Design
student Chok Hao Ze Information Systems Technology and Design

© 2021 SUTD

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