A new human-machine interaction of smart plants

In this paper, we present a new human-machine interaction of smart plant based wireless communication and mobile computing. We develop an integrated solution, including an embedded system, soil sensors and Android APP to monitor the status of potted plant, control the watering, and interact with users. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is employed in this application to sense and collect the environmental information of the target plant, deliver the collected information to user mobile devices through a Bluetooth network. The logged data regarded as a plant history is helpful to the raising of the same plant and will be shared with others on social network. The developed sensor network is verified in practices and the measured data is compared with the real data from Central Weather Bureau (CWB), Taiwan. The experimental results show that the proposed approach offers an acceptable measurement scheme in low cost. That is suitable for potted plants. The functions of the developed user interface are (1) moisture notification (2) temperature alarm (3) Illumination accumulation and caution and (4) Log of measurement and activation. The designed human-machine interaction is a new style for favoring users. This implementation eases the burden of raising a plant in home, office and city. Even not an agriculture expert can easily follow up and enjoy the fun of cultivating a good plant. ? 2015 The authors and IOS Press. All rights reserved.EI