Introduction
After completing my model for whitetail age prediction, I wanted to take on a challenge that simultaneously satisfied a number of conditions. Namely, the experiment must:
- Be reproducible
- Be capable of producing unique data
- Incorporate an aspect of electronics and circuits
- Cost less than $500 to build and operate
- Remain modular, easily movable from location to location
But what kind of experiments could I build that satisfy all these conditions? Despite my background in Physics, I enjoy dabbling in different fields, including biology and optics. One field I’ve never taken part in (but one which has always interested me) is botany. And within the field of botany, the papers that have caught my attention the most are those discussing the sounds emitted by plants.
FIELD roots
The basis of the problem of plant stress is to understand how they (and other living organisms) act under different environments. The basis of my Frequency & Intensity Experiments on Living Development (FIELD) project is to build reproducible environments in which I can test different environment parameters.
Still in its planning stages, here’s the general idea:
- Develop / validate a thermodynamically insulated environment
- Each environment contains a modular container system
- The container system comprises multiple unit cells
- Each unit cell will contain one plant specimen
- All unit cells will be placed within the container, and will be allowed to grow for a limited amount of time, in which:
- Parameters like temperature and soil moisture will be held constant
- Plant height will be assessed via laser ranging devices
- Data will be regularly streamed outside the container to a server
- An internal camera system will be used to monitor plant growth
Parts List
The shopping list for my first experiment rig consists of the following items. Cost To Date: $380.64
- Environment container ($35)
- Stackable unit cell containers ($10 each)
- Data processing / control unit ($203)
- Sensors / sensor driver kit ($84)
- Upgraded laser ranging sensor modules ($22)
- Resistive heating elements ($10)
Build plan
A sketch of the MVP is illustrated below:
