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content/plant-waterer.md

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+Title: Automatic Plant Waterer
+Date: 2014-06-05
+Category: Projects
+Summary: A device that automatically waters plants.
+
+One day I decided watering my lone plant was too much work, so I automated it.
+It's also great for when I'm on vacation. The plant is a year old now and
+doesn't look as good as when it was younger (kinda like you). So this machine is
+like its life support.
+
+Update: this plant died long ago.
+
+![the device and pump on a 2L pop bottle with a tube running to a flowerpot]({static}/images/plant-waterer/waterer1.jpg)
+
+## First Attempt
+
+The design was very simple and soldered together on perf board. A
+microcontroller turns the pump on for 20 seconds, then waits 24 hours and
+restarts. The pump ran way too fast so it was slowed down to 10% power.
+
+This design suffered from a fatal problem. After running, there was a chance
+that the tube would stay full of fluid. If the water level in the pop bottle was
+too high, it could siphon out. I woke up with a flower pot overflowing with
+water a couple of times.
+
+![a new version feeding into a different plant]({static}/images/plant-waterer/waterer2.jpg)
+
+## Second Attempt
+
+I liked the idea so much that I made a second iteration. This one used a custom
+printed circuit board with a lot more features. The pumping duration could be
+adjusted with a screwdriver. This was useful as the plant (now a
+[Ming aralia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyscias_fruticosa)) grew.
+
+Another feature was the ability to run the pump backwards. This completely
+eliminated the siphoning problem from before. After pumping for a set duration,
+it would run backwards until the tube was cleared of water.
+
+![the new version beside a big Min aralia plant]({static}/images/plant-waterer/waterer3.jpg)