Ex Post Hackathon Facto

Is my Latin wrong? Missing from the previous post about the TechCamp hackathon were some of the details about our progress and what the next steps are. So here’s what we did:

• Programmed and wired the Arduino to read 3 sensor values
• Packaged data as JSON
• Created a database to handle the data
• Created a website to display the data
• Stiff-armed the Drexel proxy server
• Began testing the Arduino-Ethernet connection

At the conclusion of TechCamp, the website looked like this (no time for spellcheck, btw):

As you can see, it’s just a skeletal version of a website. The important thing is the transmission of the data values. But we came away with a definite to-do list:

Improve Functionality:

• Sleep mode to conserve battery
• Average sensor values to discard noise
• Store data to send later when wifi becomes unavailable
• Calibrate sensors to specific soil types
• Refine web interface to include real-time graphs
• Create a wifi connection using the Wifi shield

Construct the housing and sunflower:

• Waterproof plastic case for electronics
• If using PVC, may need to sand blast for painting
• Determine optimal height, placement, way to secure the sunflower in the garden