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Category: Prototyping

Prototyping

Our first quality test of the new multi-spectral LED imaging setup

Our first quality test of the new multi-spectral LED imaging setup

 We have designed the PlantHive Smart Garden to be a state-of-the-art indoor farming chamber/personal food computer, which allows end-users to grow plants under optimized growth conditions, and thus get maximal yield and product quality. We are striving to transcends its initial purpose as an indoor farming appliance by adding imaging capabilities. Our team has implemented a multi-color LED panel and a suitable multi-spectral camera to optimize light quality for plant growth. Temperature, humidity, light intensity, spectral light composition and day…

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Production update #3

Production update #3

Dear PlantHive enthusiasts and IndieGogo backers, As of today, it has been 4 months since the original shipping target for the Beta and Gamma units. This delay was not our intention, but the time to develop and produce a product of quality was longer than initially estimated. As of now, we already had to put forth twice as much work as originally planned, to iterate on our application, our electronics, as well as our mechanical structure, before we produce the…

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Production update #2

Production update #2

Dear PlantHive enthusiasts and Indiegogo backers, We are taking the final development steps before ordering the spare parts of our Smart Gardens for assembly and shipping. We still though need some more time to work on the last details of our electronic components. Our LED panel has been fully revised, and we are proud to announce that it will be much more efficient and versatile than our previous model! We’re also getting close to the finishing line of our mechanical…

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Remote-sensing technology : the Hive-Vision Module!

Remote-sensing technology : the Hive-Vision Module!

When deep learning algorithms meet plant agriculture to produce a new domain of application in the ever expanding field of machine learning, we knew that we came across something that couldn’t just be ignore and sweep somewhere in our favorite Sci-Fi video collection. Yes, we are talking about taking a further leap in the merging of electronic printed circuit boards with vegetal multi-cellular life. How? It’s called HiveVision. The problem of perception Being primate animals, humans are a highly visual…

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More Alpha test results coming in: Testing the PlantHive in soil!

More Alpha test results coming in: Testing the PlantHive in soil!

Results of our alpha test are still coming in! Our alpha testers Olivier and Martine decided to use the PlantHive in a very controversial way! They completely neglected the slots and filled their container with soil ’till the top. They then planted various leafy greens and herbs in lines, such as basil, mint and lettuce, much like one would do in one’s garden. Our water/soil container was not initially intended to be used that way, but the results are amazing!…

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Testing the PlantHive Alphas

Testing the PlantHive Alphas

Last summer, we decided to launch our first PlantHive batch, dedicated exclusively to our Alpha testers. After roughly 100kg of printing filament and 500 hours of 3D printing, the first results came-in! While our Alpha testers started with soil, we decided to test the PlantHive’s hydroponic capabilities. Our smart garden has proven itself an excellent tool for very quick growth cycles of leafy greens and micro-greens. The leafy greens we tested were ready for consumption in less than 30 days…

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3D printing our Alpha units

3D printing our Alpha units

3D printing is a very interesting technology that offers rapid prototyping capabilities to start-up projects, and enables DIYers to build their own tools and toys! But be aware, 3D printing is not an easy nor a cheap hobby! Usually 3d printer represents an investment of €1000 – €2000, but if you seriously get into it, you will be able to build your own mind-blowing customized objects at home! For our 3D printer we went for the BCN3D Sigma from the…

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Prototyping Raspberry Pi – What we learned so far !

Prototyping Raspberry Pi – What we learned so far !

Since we used the Raspberry Pi for the first few iterations of our prototyping, we thought it would be nice to talk about the background of the device and share what we learned so far, especially for those among you who are not familiar with it.   The Raspberry pi is a series of single board computers developed in the early 2010s’. The first generation of RPis, the legendary model B, was released by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in 2012….

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Our feasibility study with Sirris

Our feasibility study with Sirris

Hello everybody! We are proud to announce that we collaborated with the research center Sirris on the feasibility study of our Internet of Things greenhouse. Sirris is the leading research center of the Belgian industry, that helps companies develop and effectively implement technological innovations. We were offered the possibility to collaborate with their experts and engineers, as well as have access to their state-of-the-art infrastructure. We have been maintaining very good relations with Sirris since the very beginning of our…

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