considering materials for planter

*material considerations: enamel, wood, ceramic, plastic, metal, aluminium- final decision and why

Indoor Garden - Development

Self Watering Planter- Development

Throughout the above three pages I was exploring how form, colour and material could express function and use.

During group discussion we came up with the idea of a reinforced wire wick for the self watering system. This solves usability issues we were having with the 'string wick' self watering system we discovered through research. The reinforced wick enables the user to easily detach and reattach the water reservoir and plant holder components and eliminates the need to fiddle round keeping a string wick in the right place while potting the plant.

 

-Yvette

Indoor Garden - Variations

We did a few material variations on the original black plastic design to test a few ideas.

 This design uses a white plastic or ceramic rather than black, it is a cleaner look and much more traditional.

This design removes the idea of having just a light strip and instead illuminates the water reservoir itself while using a wooden section for the plant to sit in. The wood relates to plant being a natural material but does pose issues such as getting waterlogged. If a plant were to be in there for a long period of time the roots could even grow into the wood itself.

The final variation is an all wooden design with an LED strip indicator for the water level. The wood here again poses functional issues but the material does relate to the plant that is growing in it.

For the wooden designs to work they would have to be lined with a material that will block direct contact between wood and the plant or water to ensure longevity. The wood will also increase the price of the product taking it away from our target market which is people that do not have enough space to garden including students who do not have a lot of money to spend on pot plants.

-TOM, JORDAN & YVETTE

Battery Pack Covers

The battery cover in the base of our pot plant design is very important, we want to make it as easy as possible to remove whilst also being secure. The ergonomics of the latch will ensure that the product is as easy as possible to use. I have found a few previous options:

I think an option like this is the best as it does not have any potential breaking points. It consists of a simple sliding switch that locks or unlocks the cover. This style (although less of a requirement than something like a remote) means that less fiddling will be done which will reduce the chance of breakage from over use.

 

TOM

LED's

I have done a bit of research into Light Emitting Diodes. LED's require very little energy to run so we will be able to power them with aaa batteries which is good for space. If we wire them in series off triple a batteries, we will only be able to run 3 or 4 but in parallel we will be able to run upto 30 or 40. LED's strictly speaking cant change colour but you can buy LED's with three small LED's incorporated into them so that it would look as though it changes colour.

Would be very helpful to talk to someone from an electronics store to find out more.

TOM

Indoor Garden - CAD concept 2

I have continued development into the plant pot, fiddled with making the overall shape more rectangular. I feel as though this gives the design a more modern look. It also takes away from the pot looking very similar to a cup.

TOM