Nutrition & Health: Coding and Building an Automated Hydroponics and Vertical Garden

Part 2 of 2 of a presentation by speakers Olivia Auclair (McGill Nutrition student) & Christian Auclair (Computer Science / IT Integrator at Lower Canada College)

1. Hands-on Nutritional Education With a Dab of Fab Lab
Automated (coded) Hydroponic & Vertical Gardens in the Classroom
Christian Auclair & Olivia Auclair
Student contributors: Lorenzo Furfaro, Jonah Koifman, Jackson Labell-Nevard, Evan
Monk, Cynthia Qin, Ben Schweighauser
A Review Of the Process, Results & Objectives
@Chrisauclair @OliveAuclair www.education.ca/nutrition

2. Class Discussions on Automation:
How Big Will the Impact Be
Education.ca/nutrition

3. Historical Reactions to Automation
“The Luddites smashed machinery at times, but mostly in the cause of workers who
were increasingly finding their jobs replaced by the rise of factory automation.”
Sabotage: deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity or corporation through
subversion, obstruction, disruption or destruction.

http://www.signature-reads.com/2015/07/ned-ludd-the-luddites-and-a-response-to-robot-alarmism/
http://alorthographe.unblog.fr/2014/01/31/sabotage-origine/
http://wikivisually.com/wiki/Sabotage Education.ca/nutrition

4. Positive Trend#2: Cheap, Renewable Solar Energy
•Solar energy costs declining rapidly
•-25% in 2016?
•Increase presence of all-electric cars
•government subsidies
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/the-price-of-solar-is-declining-to-unprecedented-lows/
https://electrek.co/2016/09/26/solar-power-cost-down-25-in-five-months-theres-no-reason-why-the-
cost-of-solar-will-ever-increase-again/
Education.ca/nutrition

5. Some Hypothetical Discussions for Students
Physics & Biology
Light is the source of all energy on our planet (including fossil fuels)
Energy is required to sustain all forms of life
A binary universe?
Economics
Industrialization pulled people away from small communities to centralized cities
If industry is automating, will that trend reverse?
Why buy an 800,000 home in the city when you can 3D print a home for 10% of that in
the country
Will people will seek savings through energy (off the grid)
Work remotely from home using modern communications
Will freely accessible energy make growing food commonplace once again
Education.ca/nutrition

6. Automated Hydroponic Gardening
•The objective for
students was to figure
out the most energy
efficient way to
automate the growth
of food
•The task was posted
on Google Classroom
•Students researched
different systems and
proposed various
designs using Google
Docs
Assignment
Sample of Student Proposal
Education.ca/nutrition

7. Automated Hydroponic Gardening
•They settled upon an experimental design (8x3)
–Hydroponics with and without LED lighting
–Vertical soil based garden with and without LED lighting
–Outdoor versions
•Necessary materials were provided to students based upon
their designs

8. Automated Hydroponic Gardening
•Students experimented with different seeding tools
•They also used the school’s fablab to cut and assemble
plumbing
Education.ca/nutrition

9. Automated Hydroponic Gardening
•They custom designed valves, LED lighting bars, and
irrigations systems for the soil based gardens
Education.ca/nutrition

10. Automated Hydroponic Gardening
•They prepared the hydroponic nutrient solution

11. Automated Hydroponic Gardening
•Vernier ph sensors were used to monitor the ph levels of the
hydroponic solution
•They also developed a ph- dispenser for the hydroponic
garden
Education.ca/nutrition

12. Automated Hydroponic Gardening
•These components were interfaced with Lego computer
bricks, sensors & motors
Education.ca/nutritionEducation.ca/nutrition

13. Automated Hydroponic Gardening
•Students used Labview to program the robots to manage the
entire system

14. Automated Hydroponic Gardening
•I built a replica of their system in my backyard so students
would have more experimental groups to compare with
(outdoor hydroponics and soil based gardens)
Education.ca/nutrition

15. Automated Hydroponic Gardening
•Students measured plants in each numbered pod and posted
the date on a Google spreadsheet
Education.ca/nutrition

16. Automated
Hydroponic
Gardening
•The data was fairly significant.
Indoor soiled based plants
grew 2x faster. The
hydroponic system was the
most efficient growing 3x
faster than outdoor plants
•Students were very happy
with the results of their
efforts.
•One student is building an
outdoor system as her
summer project with her
parents.
Education.ca/nutrition

17. Automated Hydroponic Gardening
•The objective is to now spread the word and get other
schools, students & even their families, to build simple
vertical or hydroponic gardens (DIY)
•Every little % of domestic gardening is a step in the right
direction
Education.ca/nutrition

18. Automated Hydroponic Gardening
•Word spread and we have several
science and math teachers who have
expressed interest in integrating this
project into their curriculum.
•This project embeds chemistry (ph,
nutrient mix, physics (volume
controls), photosynthesis, coding,
fablab DIY, etc.
•AND, it can be integrated schoolwide.
People love the idea.
•Next year we will be using Arduino &
solar panels?
•2% target of school’s food
consumption??
Education.ca/nutrition

19. Highlights
Education.ca/nutrition

20. http://www.cbc.ca/news/thenational/automation-entering-white-collar-work-
1.4005967
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=10&v=xktwDfasPGQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb0Kzb3haK8
Education.ca/nutrition