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I have it set up to run a project where a subreddit has control over the watering of a live plant in my apartment. The pi runs a reddit bot that reads the vote

I have it set up to run a project where a subreddit has control over the watering of a live plant in my apartment. The pi runs a reddit bot that reads the votes, and can switch on a pump to water. It also collects data about sunlight, moisture, temp and humidity to help inform the decision about watering. Despite many people's preconceptions about the goodness of the internet, I must admit that they do a wonderful job caring for my plant! website: http://www.takecareofmyplant.com http://www.takecareofmyplant.com subreddit w/ voting: http://old.reddit.com/r/takecareofmyplant http://old.reddit.com/r/takecareofmyplant

consumer451 7y ago
This is one of the coolest uses of reddit/community sites that I have ever seen. Out of curiosity, how did you come up with this idea?
- tylerjaywood 7y ago
  Trying to impress a girl with my plant-keeping abilities ;) --We had a collaborative message thread reminding everyone to water our plants based upon a set schedule which I was going hook up to a pump to automate, and at the time Twitch Plays Pokemon was a big thing, so I just kind of combined the two ideas. If you have interest in doing something similar, come check out the subreddit and feel free to DM me on reddit or twitter. Always happy to talk about plants and automation
  - rishiloyola 7y ago
    So finally did you impress that girl or not? :D
    - tylerjaywood 7y ago
      No... but some people on the internet thought it was cool, so I can live with that :)
      - mullen 7y ago
        You impressed the Internet and that is a greater accomplishment than impressing a girl.
        orestarod 7y ago
        Perhaps not?
        tylerjaywood 7y ago
        This is what I try to tell myself
        notwedtm 7y ago
        You okay, friend?
        deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
nullbyte 7y ago
I love it, well done!
- tylerjaywood 7y ago
  Thanks, feel free to check in and vote from time to time!
djhworld 7y ago
Just a side note, the links under "Check out some of the tools I used to build this" don't seem to render, I think they're blocked by my Pi-Hole
- tylerjaywood 7y ago
  yeah, they're Amazon affiliate links (gotta pay for hosting some how) my pihole also blackholes them
  - cube00 7y ago
    Start a side-side business taking bets on if the plant will be watered today?
    - throwawaylolx 7y ago
      Once financial incentives are added, that's when bots take over the subreddit
    - gear54rus 7y ago
      A CDO! Guess we never learn :)
      - jason_slack 7y ago
        Or a CDO made up of CDO’s.
        jason_slack 7y ago
        Why the downvote? This is a real thing that contributed towards the 2008 financial crisis and still exists today just not usually called a CDO.
iforgotpassword 7y ago
> Despite many people's preconceptions about the goodness of the internet, I must admit that they do a wonderful job caring for my plant! Maybe I should create a subreddit where people can control a bot that has access to my bank accounts so they can manage my finances, invest some, etc. ;-)
- pacoWebConsult 7y ago
  Didn't someone do this with Twitch Plays Stocks? Essentially gave them some capital and let the chat decide what trades to make. They nuked the portfolio within 24 hours.
  - tylerjaywood 7y ago
    Yeah! https://www.businessinsider.com/stockstream-twitch-amazon-stock-portfolio-2017-5 https://www.businessinsider.com/stockstream-twitch-amazon-st...
    - lifeisstillgood 7y ago
      but if you had people "invest" a dollar of their own I bet they would manage it well ..
      - frequentnapper 7y ago
        you'd be surprised...
      - seventhtiger 7y ago
        Paying a dollar for the entertainment of burning down everyone's investment would be a great deal for a troll.
  - colechristensen 7y ago
    On average (and very much more than just average) there is a negative correlation between trading frequency and portfolio performance (you are not an HFT firm, don't compare yourself to one). Set up a system like that wrong, and it doesn't matter how smart the crowd is, you're going to lose all your money. It would be interesting to play with the parameters of the game and see how results changed. (how often trades are made, max portfolio % per trade, voting mechanics, etc.)
klambda 7y ago
Did something similar. Raspberry pi is automatically uploading video of each watering to YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtl442fLi6KAOowkw_w83rA/videos https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtl442fLi6KAOowkw_w83rA/vid...) and informing me with summary (incl. watering duration, soil moisture level, temperature, humidity, light level etc.). Not that I care that much about the plant but automating it has been fun. It's been on auto pilot now for a couple of months now and the plant from the looks of it seams to be happy.
- tylerjaywood 7y ago
  That's what I'm talkin' about! You should definitely come check out the sub! I'm always happy to work with other people on new additions / functionality / ideas.
- toephu2 7y ago
  How did you guys automate watering? Any good DIY tutorials you recommend? What devices/parts do I need?
  - klambda 7y ago
    I'm using a cheap submersible water pump controlled via relay by a python script running on raspberry pi. Water pump is connected to a clear vinyl tube for water distribution to the plant. Availability of water level at source is checked by a non-contact liquid level sensor. Triggers for watering plant are defined as follows: 1. There is water in tank / source (checked by non-contact liquid level sensor) 2. Soil moisture level is below certain threshold (measured by 2 soil moisture capacity sensors embedded in the plant) 3. Watering duration is determined by current soil moisture level; Python script activates relay to run the pump for the right duration. 4. Same python script also: - activates camera to record watering (+2s buffer to have all on the video) via usb cam connected to the pi (leveraging opencv lib) - uploads recorded video automatically to youtube channel (if pi has internet connection) - summarizes watering event and sends me notification with link to the recording and other helpful stats (temp, humidity, moisture level etc.) - saves all metrics to sqllite db for future reference Key parts I ended up using for the project: 1. Water pump: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LWXV7DE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LWXV7DE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b... 2. Non-contact Liquid Level Sensor -XKC-Y25-NPN: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D3246BH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D3246BH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b... 3. Gikfun Capacitive Soil Moisture Sensor: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H3P1NRM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H3P1NRM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b... 4. Relay: https://www.amazon.com/KeeYees-Channel-Indicator-Arduino-Raspberry/dp/B07L6J6FHH/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=pi+relay&qid=1561439704&s=electronics&sr=1-8 https://www.amazon.com/KeeYees-Channel-Indicator-Arduino-Ras... (though I just bought my when visiting Fry's) Primary motivation to do the project was so that wife can have pice of mind knowing plants are taken care of while we are away on longer trips. Hope this helps.
jameslk 7y ago
It would be interesting to create a live feed of plants taken care of by remote botanists at an industrial scale. Maybe to train an ML model. Of course I know next to nothing about botany so this probably wouldn't work for some reason.
- 7373737373 7y ago
  The website letsrobot.tv lets you do this. Many people on there use raspbis to receive commands from the crowd, control the motors, and stream back a video feed to the site. If you write something into the chat, the robots say it. I interfaced a toy excavator remote with an Arduino and also put a small Cozmo robot online from time to time. Some people took their robots outside even :)
BanazirGalbasi 7y ago
You're back! I remember joining to help take care of the original plant, but I left when there was a big gap in coverage. Did you get a new plant? It seems that the name has changed.

consumer451 7y ago

This is one of the coolest uses of reddit/community sites that I have ever seen. Out of curiosity, how did you come up with this idea?

tylerjaywood 7y ago
Trying to impress a girl with my plant-keeping abilities ;) --We had a collaborative message thread reminding everyone to water our plants based upon a set schedule which I was going hook up to a pump to automate, and at the time Twitch Plays Pokemon was a big thing, so I just kind of combined the two ideas. If you have interest in doing something similar, come check out the subreddit and feel free to DM me on reddit or twitter. Always happy to talk about plants and automation
- rishiloyola 7y ago
  So finally did you impress that girl or not? :D
  - tylerjaywood 7y ago
    No... but some people on the internet thought it was cool, so I can live with that :)
    - mullen 7y ago
      You impressed the Internet and that is a greater accomplishment than impressing a girl.
      - orestarod 7y ago
        Perhaps not?
      - tylerjaywood 7y ago
        This is what I try to tell myself
        notwedtm 7y ago
        You okay, friend?
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]

nullbyte 7y ago

I love it, well done!

tylerjaywood 7y ago
Thanks, feel free to check in and vote from time to time!

djhworld 7y ago

Just a side note, the links under "Check out some of the tools I used to build this" don't seem to render, I think they're blocked by my Pi-Hole

tylerjaywood 7y ago
yeah, they're Amazon affiliate links (gotta pay for hosting some how) my pihole also blackholes them
- cube00 7y ago
  Start a side-side business taking bets on if the plant will be watered today?
  - throwawaylolx 7y ago
    Once financial incentives are added, that's when bots take over the subreddit
  - gear54rus 7y ago
    A CDO! Guess we never learn :)
    - jason_slack 7y ago
      Or a CDO made up of CDO’s.
      - jason_slack 7y ago
        Why the downvote? This is a real thing that contributed towards the 2008 financial crisis and still exists today just not usually called a CDO.

iforgotpassword 7y ago

> Despite many people's preconceptions about the goodness of the internet, I must admit that they do a wonderful job caring for my plant! Maybe I should create a subreddit where people can control a bot that has access to my bank accounts so they can manage my finances, invest some, etc. ;-)

pacoWebConsult 7y ago
Didn't someone do this with Twitch Plays Stocks? Essentially gave them some capital and let the chat decide what trades to make. They nuked the portfolio within 24 hours.
- tylerjaywood 7y ago
  Yeah! https://www.businessinsider.com/stockstream-twitch-amazon-stock-portfolio-2017-5 https://www.businessinsider.com/stockstream-twitch-amazon-st...
  - lifeisstillgood 7y ago
    but if you had people "invest" a dollar of their own I bet they would manage it well ..
    - frequentnapper 7y ago
      you'd be surprised...
    - seventhtiger 7y ago
      Paying a dollar for the entertainment of burning down everyone's investment would be a great deal for a troll.
- colechristensen 7y ago
  On average (and very much more than just average) there is a negative correlation between trading frequency and portfolio performance (you are not an HFT firm, don't compare yourself to one). Set up a system like that wrong, and it doesn't matter how smart the crowd is, you're going to lose all your money. It would be interesting to play with the parameters of the game and see how results changed. (how often trades are made, max portfolio % per trade, voting mechanics, etc.)

klambda 7y ago

Did something similar. Raspberry pi is automatically uploading video of each watering to YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtl442fLi6KAOowkw_w83rA/videos https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtl442fLi6KAOowkw_w83rA/vid...) and informing me with summary (incl. watering duration, soil moisture level, temperature, humidity, light level etc.). Not that I care that much about the plant but automating it has been fun. It's been on auto pilot now for a couple of months now and the plant from the looks of it seams to be happy.

tylerjaywood 7y ago
That's what I'm talkin' about! You should definitely come check out the sub! I'm always happy to work with other people on new additions / functionality / ideas.
toephu2 7y ago
How did you guys automate watering? Any good DIY tutorials you recommend? What devices/parts do I need?
- klambda 7y ago
  I'm using a cheap submersible water pump controlled via relay by a python script running on raspberry pi. Water pump is connected to a clear vinyl tube for water distribution to the plant. Availability of water level at source is checked by a non-contact liquid level sensor. Triggers for watering plant are defined as follows: 1. There is water in tank / source (checked by non-contact liquid level sensor) 2. Soil moisture level is below certain threshold (measured by 2 soil moisture capacity sensors embedded in the plant) 3. Watering duration is determined by current soil moisture level; Python script activates relay to run the pump for the right duration. 4. Same python script also: - activates camera to record watering (+2s buffer to have all on the video) via usb cam connected to the pi (leveraging opencv lib) - uploads recorded video automatically to youtube channel (if pi has internet connection) - summarizes watering event and sends me notification with link to the recording and other helpful stats (temp, humidity, moisture level etc.) - saves all metrics to sqllite db for future reference Key parts I ended up using for the project: 1. Water pump: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LWXV7DE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LWXV7DE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b... 2. Non-contact Liquid Level Sensor -XKC-Y25-NPN: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D3246BH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D3246BH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b... 3. Gikfun Capacitive Soil Moisture Sensor: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H3P1NRM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H3P1NRM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b... 4. Relay: https://www.amazon.com/KeeYees-Channel-Indicator-Arduino-Raspberry/dp/B07L6J6FHH/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=pi+relay&qid=1561439704&s=electronics&sr=1-8 https://www.amazon.com/KeeYees-Channel-Indicator-Arduino-Ras... (though I just bought my when visiting Fry's) Primary motivation to do the project was so that wife can have pice of mind knowing plants are taken care of while we are away on longer trips. Hope this helps.

jameslk 7y ago

It would be interesting to create a live feed of plants taken care of by remote botanists at an industrial scale. Maybe to train an ML model. Of course I know next to nothing about botany so this probably wouldn't work for some reason.

7373737373 7y ago
The website letsrobot.tv lets you do this. Many people on there use raspbis to receive commands from the crowd, control the motors, and stream back a video feed to the site. If you write something into the chat, the robots say it. I interfaced a toy excavator remote with an Arduino and also put a small Cozmo robot online from time to time. Some people took their robots outside even :)

BanazirGalbasi 7y ago

You're back! I remember joining to help take care of the original plant, but I left when there was a big gap in coverage. Did you get a new plant? It seems that the name has changed.