Elecrow has finally launched its forthcoming automatic smart watering kit on Kickstarter come Wednesday, Apr. 13. The GrowCube boasts a plethora of amazing internals alongside a handy mobile application that will alleviate all of the stress and time in-home plants can provide.
The invention itself dates all the way back to 2012 when it was initially designed as a mere DIY project following the foresight of its creator. Following a return trip from vacation, this designer would be welcomed by a house full of dead and neglected plants. The memory stirred in him a need to redefine in-home irrigation. Thus the first automatic watering device was born.
The inventor explains the evolution of the product as first hitting various DIY project forums, where it would find immense fame and ultimate enhancements for the future. It would not be until 2015 when this initial creator then turned the GrowCube into its own All-in-One Kit, which would only later become even more streamlined as a full-on team of engineers would form by 2017.
The GrowCube has since experienced a wide range of necessary improvements and design reworkings, but the fundamental process behind the product remains the same: Arduino. The sophistication behind the overall process itself led the team behind the device to eventually turn it into a consumer product, as Arduino programming itself is rather complex for the everyday plant enthusiast.
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Its Kickstarter page, which showcases the GrowCube at an $80 price point, or 619 Hong Kong dollars, is packed with incredible detail behind the overall device's coming of age story and its newfound features. Alongside the GrowCube app, the device becomes an automated plant waterer, but it's got much more packed into it.
Elecrow's GrowCube boasts a soil moisture sensor, which will test the reliability and structure of the plant's soil for growth outlook data. The device also uses this information to gauge how much and how frequently to deliver water into the pot. In addition, GrowCube can do this for up to four individual pots of plants, utilizing its four-channel sensor interface.
The app also comes equipped with valuable information regarding everything from the most worthwhile environment intended for the best possible results for your plant growth and key details on well over 3,000 different plants via its extensive internal database. Users must do nothing more than choose the specific plant they intend to grow on the app, place the sensors within the soil, and fill the reservoir up. Then it's all good to go. It's really that simple.
The GrowCube likewise comes equipped with an external water inlet for users with multiple plants, allowing customers to attach yet another reservoir for expanded potential. The app will also alert users of any unintended mishaps in the overall process, locking the GrowCube into its self-protection mechanism to avoid anomalies.
As of right now, Elecrow is offering the automatic smart watering kit in a variety of different formats, the first of which was mentioned previously as $80 with a future retail price of $120. As supplies last, customers can also get two devices at $155 and even four GrowCubes at $309. Prices go up as stock depletes. Thus the early bird special is the best option.
Elecrow has already smashed through its intended Kickstarter target of $9,986, taking in over $11,000 as of writing. With 75 total backers on the board and a whopping 43 days left remaining before the campaign is closed, it's a safe bet that GrowCube will be growing in exponential form.
