Course:
Prototyping 3rd Semester

Project: Plantarium  
Added value: Reduce water usage and the long ways of transportation
Group:
with Ligia Dietze, Maximilian Becht, Noah Mantel

my focus : UI design, construction, concept and graphics

responsibility:Collaboration, Communication, Planning

Reflection

After working on a water crisis project the semester before, I was inspired to create a new solution that combined new technologies, sustainability, and user experience design. In the course Prototyping/Redesign, I learned how to redesign existing systems with new technologies to improve efficiency. We conducted interviews with experts to understand the problem and identify user needs. With a somewhat explorative approach at the start, I learned a lot about team management during the concept phase, which helped us to complete the prototype on time. This project offers a simple use case that brings together these different elements in a meaningful way.

Plantarium

In a hydroponic system, you can save up to 90% water and 55 to 85% fertilizer. Our system is unique because of its modular construction, concept, and automation. Planetarium is supported by an app that provides information about the status of individual modules or the whole system, no matter where you are. Our current prototype, which we built to prove the concept, is fully functional, and our app has the necessary features to retrieve real data from the system.

Modules

1. Basic Module: includes controls, wind shaft and basic framework. The size has been adapted to the standard kitchen norm. There five levels for your plants ( 10 slots)
2. Herb or Vegetable Modul: (Herbarium or Vegetarium) which can differ in height depending on the size of the plant.  
3. Light modules: Hang them on the desired level to adapt to the growth of the plants.
4. Fertilizer Module: provides all vegetables and herb modules with the individual amount of nutritions for them to grow two times faster.

APP

The app lets you set up your home garden and provides you with different levels of information about the Planetarium wherever you are.

Setup: Create a garden, modules, and configure which plants are in the related module with an easy barcode scan on the seed packet provided by us.

Home: Overview of water usage and planting levels of your individual garden. A garden defines your whole system.

Module: Detailed view showing you the individual information about one module (water level, EC/PH values, and current status). A module consists of a plant container and an individual light unit.

Calendar: Overview of the growth stage of the plants and when they are ready to harvest.

Settings: Add modules, change and set sleeping time to your own sleep rhythm.