Window Farm

This window farm uses various sensors and a microcontroller to sense its environment and adapt accordingly.

Window Farm Controller by an App

Initial Situation

A vertical farm is a hydroponic gardening system where a pump is used to water a few vertically aligned flowerpots at once. There are many window farm concepts out there and even more instructions on how to build a vertical garden. Unfortunately, all of them seem to work in a magical way. There is no scientific data on how the environment influences the farm. Almost every system uses time switches to control the water pumps, but microcontrolers are rarely seen.

Concept

The concept is rather simple: if an indoor growing system is able to sense its environment, it can optimise itself. Additionally, the data can be used to design a more effective system in the next step.

Widow Farm Spark.io Electronics

Product Design

There are some design decisions based on iteration and a “just do it” approach that are quite mentionable. The most obvious is probably the 3D printed bottle cage with its voronoi diagram, which is perfectly suited for the topic of growing. Combined with drop rods instead of the typical cords, it makes a very robust system. Furthermore, it is possible to adjust the distance between the cages simply by moving screw-nuts. Perforated drinking cups hold the plants so they are easily changeable.

3D Printed Window Farm