Capstone:Indoor Irrigation

Bradyn Raiber 2020
House	STEM
Advisor	Erin Wilkins
Plans	OSU, Mechanical Engineering
Advice	HAVE A BACKUP PLAN!! And a backup plan for that. But remember there is a such thing as too safe. Let loose but be prepared for failures and lessons.
Type	Video
Subject	Engineering, 3D Printing, Plants
Discipline	Science

My original capstone project was to create an irrigation system for the plants in the Commons on top of the bookshelf. I designed the dropper, the base, end caps, the hose splitter, and connectors. I have my irrigation system put together on a metal shelf that I bought to finish the project. My irrigation system is set up with the pump on the bottom rack, my water source on the middle rack, and the plants on the top rack. The pump takes water from the water source and pumps it up to the plants.

How It Began

My capstone project was an indoor irrigation system for the plants on top of the book shelves in the Commons. The irrigation system was to be automated and would only need for the reservoir to be filled every so often; everything else would be taken care of by the system. The system would run off of 2 separate motors and flow to approximately 20 plants. there are 3 different types of plants, one needing to be watered twice a week and the other two only needing to be watered once a week.

How It Changed

It felt like I had to completely change my project. I had to downsize everything and almost start over. I lost the capability to set up the system how I had originally designed it. In order for the new system to work I had to completely change the way that the water was going to flow to the plants.

Reflection

I did the best that I could with the time that I had. I made a system that worked and that watered my plants. It is not nearly as fancy or sophisticated as I had originally planned on it being, but I still made it happen and I am proud of it. It was a struggle and a half to completely spin and start new with 10 days to complete it!