Aravind’s Weekly Status Report – 09/19/2026
This week I helped define and narrow down the project use case and capabilities. We finalized it and worked to figure out what we should add and remove like specific sensors and the irrigation system. I helped define the sensor requirements and tolerances for co2, o2, NPK. I researched their limitations to set realistic project requirements rather than choosing arbitrary thresholds. I developed the testing and verification plan by figuring out how each major requirement of the project can be tested later on. I defined tests for sensor accuracy, stabilization time, CO2 flux/chamber behavior, moisture calibration, irrigation, and end-to-end performance. I set quantitative metrics that we can test for each of the sensors to be evaluated.
Currently our progress is on track and next week I plan to define and design a structure for our app and help design the circuit for how all our sensors. I’ll also be designing the logic for interpreting multiple sensor readings together.
Aravind Gunasekaran Weekly Status 09/26/2026
I researched and designed a cheap irrigation system that can be automated from an ESP32 and a moisture sensor so that plants are not over- or under-watered. The ESP32 will receive data from the moisture sensor and process it to check if the plant needs to be watered. From there, it sends a signal to the pump to draw water from the reservoir bottle and push it through the tubing. The tubing will have holes at the end so that we can make a circle around the plant and easily water it from all sides. The ESP32 will set a timer and turn off the pump after about 3 minutes. The moisture level will be remeasured later, and the plant will then be watered if needed. We are on schedule and hope to build wiring diagrams and think about how we are going to place the parts in a nice arrangement for the structural design. We will also continue to build out the app framework and build API connections.
Aravind Gunasekaran Weekly Status 10/03/2026
This week I worked with Sanya to finish our Design Presentation and prepared to present it. I worked to make a finalized bill of materials for our irrigation system. It turned out to be on the more expensive side of our budget. We were still able to order the CO2 sensor since that was more than hundred dollars but I’m working to find a better design that is smaller and cheaper for our project. The main issue was that we were going to switch from a 5V to a 12V solar panels which increased our cost. We also needed a 12V battery, similar to one in a car, which is probably unnecessary since we are trying to water a plant and not a high pressure hose. If i can bring the cost down to 100 dollars before shipping then it would be a lot better. We are on schedule and will be working to map out our sensors and build the design for our dome and probe this week.
Aravind Gunasekaran Weekly Status 10/17/2026
This week I worked primarily on the system implementation of the design report. Here we really were able to finalize all out designs and think out what we were actually going to do. I made the 3D CAD model to help visualize the dome design and and how we are going to house our components. We are currently waiting on many parts for us to start full integration.