Augmented Hydroponics for an Automated World
Pocket 'Ponics is a semi-automated hydroponic greenhouse, with an integrated app that allows users to grow fresh fruits and vegetables from the comfort of their own home. With no technical knowledge or agricultural experience, users can set up the greenhouse in a few easy steps, and then allow our automated servers to take care of all the finicky details, like nutrient and water levels. The Pocket 'Ponics app will alert users whenever water needs to be refilled or plants are ready to harvest, so users can enjoy all the benefits of a personal vegetable garden without having to worry about keeping track of it!
By providing easy to use hydroponics that can be grown in a very small space, Pocket 'Ponics hopes to alleviate some of the problems of food insecurity. Because a single greenhouse takes up about the same amount of space as a bookshelf, Pocket 'Ponics allows food to be grown in small spaces such as apartments. As a low-cost, low-effort solution to hydroponic growing, Pocket 'Ponics could provide food desserts with much needed vegetables and fruits, all grown within the comfort of people's homes.
Currently, users can grow tomatoes, green beans, turnips and spinach in any Pocket 'Ponics greenhouse. Although our software currently only supports a limited array of plants, we are working to expand our selection, and will have a wide selection of growable fruits and vegetables when Pocket 'Ponics leaves beta development.
Pocket 'Ponics is currently in the alpha development cycle. We plan to have a closed beta available starting in February 2020, and then begin the production cycle in May 2020. Developers can contribute to the project on our GitHub, or view a demo version through Expo.
Pocket 'Ponics was developed by a group of undergraduate students at the University of Central Florida. We had four computer science students: Elli Howard, our team lead, Rohan Patel, Catherine Abruzzese, and Alex Cusell. We also had two ECE students: Matthew Bonsignore and Graham Hill. For more information on our team, go to Our Designers