Smart Planter

What this kit teaches

Course outline

01 Automatic watering device (Part 1): architecture and hardware (2 class periods)

Unit contents

• Project goal
• Architecture overview
• Hardware introduction
• Assembly instructions
• Measurement principles

Related article: ESP32 project (2): Smart Planter—automatic watering device (Part 1)

02 Automatic watering device (Part 2): programming and web interface (2 class periods)

Unit contents

• Program design
• Uploading the program
• Setting up Wi-Fi
• LED indicator guide
• Using the web interface

Related article: ESP32 project (2): Smart Planter—automatic watering device (Part 2)

This course outline is based on existing CIRCUS Pi tutorial articles. Class period counts are estimates and can be adjusted for your class.

M5Stack IoT Smart Planter

Hardware specifications

Control core	ESP32
Main controller CORE	• Built-in microphone, buttons, and LCD screen • Power/back button • 3-axis gyroscope • TF card slot (expandable up to 16 GB) • Built-in lithium battery • Expandable GPIO pins and interfaces • M-Bus socket and pins
Components and modules	• M5Stack Goplus2 DC motor and servo driver module • M5Stack environmental sensor module • M5Stack soil moisture sensor module • DC/3A-30V relay module (I/O) • M5Stack light intensity sensor module • Water pump • 5 V grow light • 12 V 2 A power supply
Dimensions (cm)	45 × 22 × 35 (W × D × H)

Product features

Under climate change, dwindling resources, and a growing population, global agriculture faces unprecedented pressure. As unpredictable climate factors intensify, many farmers are adopting advanced technology to improve production efficiency and crop resilience to disasters. The smart greenhouse is a good example: by bringing Internet of Things (IoT) technology into traditional farming, growers can manage a crop’s growth history with data and also adjust growing conditions to extreme weather. A smart greenhouse has the following characteristics:

1. Maintain ideal environmental parameters
Environmental sensors collect data such as greenhouse temperature, humidity, light, and air quality, and the IoT delivers this information in real time, so farmers get a full picture of how their crops are growing.

2. Improve irrigation and fertilization practices
In addition to monitoring environmental parameters, a smart greenhouse turns irrigation and fertilization systems on or off according to set values, keeping growing conditions at the state the crops need in order to reach maximum yield. For example, monitoring soil moisture shows whether a crop is short of water or too wet, and monitoring soil salinity shows whether fertilization should be turned on or off.

3. Cloud records
Big data on environmental parameters stored in the cloud can be analyzed to help farmers adjust their future planting plans and develop optimized greenhouse growing plans. This helps address problems that traditional agriculture struggles to overcome, such as preventing pests, diseases, and cold damage.

4. Prevent theft and improve security
To protect high-value crops from thieves, the IoT sensors in a smart greenhouse provide a more flexible monitoring system than traditional surveillance cameras. It costs less, and by combining different kinds of sensors it can actively monitor access, for example with automatic alarm systems and staff attendance records. The “Smart Planter” is a teaching kit developed and designed to simulate a smart greenhouse. It uses the M5Stack Core Basic as its computing core, together with various sensors (a soil moisture sensor and a light intensity sensor) that monitor the plants’ environmental data and upload it to the cloud for recording. Using the M5Stack UiFlow editor, students write Blockly programs to simulate a system that cares for plants automatically, adjusting the plants’ growing environment based on the data the sensors collect. Examples include an automatic irrigation system when water is low, a grow light that extends the plants’ light hours, and a fan that simulates controlling greenhouse temperature and humidity.

With the Smart Planter, students build information technology skills and learn the natural science behind the conditions plants need to grow. This cross-disciplinary approach develops logical thinking and has students apply and integrate what they have learned.

Video

Smart watering kit

Product features

The smart watering kit measures the current soil moisture in a potted plant and displays it on a web page. You can choose smart watering (automatic watering based on current soil moisture), scheduled watering, and manual watering, to keep the potted plant in good growing conditions.

• M5Stamp Pico: a compact module that integrates the ESP32, crystal oscillator, flash, filter capacitors, RF matching circuit, and all other peripheral components it needs.

• M5Stack soil temperature and humidity sensing and regulation module: Capacitive soil moisture sensing paired with a water pump, so measuring and watering happen in one step.

• CP2102 USB-to-TTL module: converts USB signals to TTL signals and also supplies power.

Video