There is a lot of technological interest over the past few years around growth of lettuce and other hydroponic greenhouse plants, as well as fish in aquaria. Managing the health of hydroponic gardens and aquariums are important to a number of agricultural and fishing industries as well as universities, schools and communities for educational and gaming purposes. The proposed product is an innovative mobile and web-based App which connects to real plants and provides gardening/farming intelligence at one's fingertips.
Today data collection, management, and analysis of plant and fish health is very inefficient for smaller growers, hobbyists and schools, and very costly for the larger agricultural and fishing industries. The team has created a data collection portal and social media platform to collect and share information hydroponic and aquaponic farmers which should improve sustainable monitoring for greenhouse foods and aquaria. The platform leverages a hydroponic sensor developed at University of Akron that can detect hydrology, pH, electrical conductivity, nutrient levels, and temperature of hydroponic plants and aquaponic systems. The platform couples sensor data with computer simulations and end-user applications to allow information access and guidance in real-time. The platform developed includes social media connectivity over the web, where users can network with other growers can share information and ask each other questions. The platform will also generate visualizations of raw data to help users track and analyze their hydroponic and aquaponic systems.
