Okay, here’s my take on the “Florida Tech Senior Design” project, written in a casual, blog-style format:
Alright, so senior design project. Man, where do I even begin? This thing was a BEAST. At Florida Tech, they really throw you into the deep end, and for good reason. It’s supposed to be this culmination of everything you’ve learned, and let me tell you, it tests you.
First, we formed a group. That’s step one, and honestly, it can be a bit of a crapshoot. I got lucky – ended up with some solid teammates who were actually willing to pull their weight. We brainstormed a bunch of ideas, went back and forth, and finally settled on building a… (drumroll please) …a smart irrigation system.
Sounds kinda lame, right? But trust me, there was some cool tech involved. We wanted something that could not only water plants automatically but also adjust based on real-time weather data and soil moisture levels. Basically, making it super efficient and water-saving.
The Design Phase
This is where the real work began. We spent weeks just researching different sensors, microcontrollers, and wireless communication methods. We looked at things like ESP32s, Arduinos, various soil moisture sensors (capacitive, resistive), and different ways to get weather data (APIs, scraping websites, you name it).
- Sensor Selection: We ended up going with capacitive soil moisture sensors because they seemed more durable and less prone to corrosion.
- Microcontroller: The ESP32 won out because of its built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities, making it easy to connect to the internet.
- Weather Data: We decided to use a free weather API – less hassle than trying to scrape data ourselves.
Then came the schematic design. We used some free online software. It’s not that good, but it’s free, you know? We drew up all the connections, made sure everything was talking to everything else (at least on paper!), and double-checked for any obvious errors.
Prototyping and Coding
With the design (mostly) finalized, we started building a prototype. This involved a LOT of breadboarding, wiring, and soldering. There were definitely some sparks flying (literally) and a few choice words uttered, but we eventually got a working prototype together.
The coding part was a whole other ballgame. We split it up – one person focused on the sensor readings, another on the weather API integration, and I handled the main control logic and the user interface (which was just a simple web page served by the ESP32). We used the Arduino IDE for coding, which made things a bit easier, but it still involved a ton of debugging and head-scratching.
Testing and Iteration
Once we had a somewhat functional prototype, we started testing. And testing. And testing some more. We planted some actual plants (poor things!), stuck our sensors in the soil, and let the system run. We monitored everything closely, tweaked the code, and iterated on the design based on the results.
There were definitely setbacks. Sensors failed, the Wi-Fi connection dropped out, the weather API gave us wonky data… you name it, it probably happened. But with each failure, we learned something new and improved the system.
The Final Product
After months of hard work, late nights, and way too much caffeine, we finally had a working, (mostly) reliable smart irrigation system. It wasn’t perfect, but it was ours. We presented it to the faculty, demonstrated its capabilities, and (thankfully) passed!
It was truly a good experience.
Looking back, it was a crazy, stressful, but ultimately rewarding experience. I learned a ton about hardware, software, project management, and teamwork. Would I do it again? Probably not anytime soon, but I’m definitely glad I went through it. Now time to relax.
