The Internet of Things continues to dominate new technology breakthroughs around the home and office. But how about the “Internet of Plants?” With sensor-controlled Edyn, you can even get connected to your garden.
Edyn takes the guesswork out of gardening. By placing the solar-powered Edyn Garden Sensor in the soil, it keeps continuous tabs on environmental conditions such as soil condition, light, moisture, humidity, and more. Here’s where things get really interesting: The sensor connects to Wi-Fi and sends real-time guidance and updates to your phone and the Edyn app. On top of that, the Edyn Water Valve will provide water only when it’s needed, helping to prevent over- or under-watering.
It has begged a question though — will gardeners lose that special, personal connection with growing?
“A lot of people said to us, ‘Would technology get in the way of gardening?’” said Jason Aramburu, CEO and founder of Edyn, in a video on the product. “It really hasn’t. People like getting a deeper connection to their garden. The technology when it’s done right and when it’s deployed properly enhances the connection.”
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Bigger Than Your Backyard.
But don’t let the simplicity of its garden provenance fool you. Edyn was first conceived with sustainability in mind… and it’s bigger than just your own backyard.
After graduating from Princeton University with studies in ecology and evolutionary biology, Aramburu first started researching biomass gasification and biochar systems for rural development at the university’s Carbon Mitigation Initiative. He went on to found re:char, an organization funded by Echoing Green, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Doen Foundation that has helped thousands of small farmers in East Africa to boost crop yield and combat climate change.
With Edyn, Aramburu wanted to take all of his experiences and technology to change the food system, cultivate healthier plants, and encourage more sustainable living. According to an article on the Autodesk Gallery exhibit, “his belief that understanding our environment is the first step toward conserving it… that in the future, connected technology will be the key to managing our limited resources more efficiently.”
Designing Edyn
While much of the Internet of Things has focused on items inside a home or office, the design of Edyn took a bold new path in the great outdoors. It was designed using AutoCAD, 3ds Max, and Alias at legendary designer Yves Behar’s Fuseproject.
“In our design process we start with sketches and drawings and mock ups,” Behar said in a recent video. “Once there is a direction that we like, we use Autodesk software in order to take those rough ideas and turn them into something we can look at… machine… translate to engineering and manufacturing. It becomes a very collaborative 3D environment that we work from.”
According to Behar, the design itself is revolutionary.
“The notion of taking technology and sensors to the outdoors was completely new,” Behar said. “We had worked on technology on the body. We’re working a lot on technology in the environment, in your home environment. To take technology in the outdoors made a lot of sense because people have a real emotional connection with their garden. They have a real emotional connection with what they’re growing. The design of the Edyn sensor was always based on it being a tool . . . having its own presence growing out of the soil.”
Your tomato plants never had it so good.
Source: Autodesk
