Vertical farming is defined as the process of cultivating plant life within a skyscraper greenhouse or on vertically inclined surfaces. While urban warehouses and rundown buildings may be among the last places you’d expect to find sustainable agriculture, farms in these spaces are now sprouting throughout the U.S. and the world. By 2050, an estimated 80% of the world’s population will live in urban […]
Roberts Farm in Maine is currently testing an inexpensive Arduino-powered agricultural system that automatically monitors and waters crops. As Scott Taylor of the Lewiston-Auburn Sun Journal reports, the system has already proven itself by allowing Earl Morse, a retired teacher and volunteer at the Roberts Farm project, to successfully harvest a crop of spinach grown […]
We recently took a close look at how an organic aquaponic farmer living in South Carolina uses custom-built sensors based on Arduino boards to monitor the delicate balance between water and soil. Living in West Oakland, Eric Maundu may be quite a distance from the Carolinas, but he is also a farmer, albeit in a […]
Meet HUI! — the virtual garden assistant that’ll help your garden thrive with real-time environment condition updates and care instructions. In the movement towards a more green and sustainable future, urban farming has become a growing trend in cities. However, these environments differ greatly from that of farm land tended by skilled farmers, and not everyone […]
Hackaday reveals the 100 semi-finalists who are one step closer to a trip into space. After nine months of tinkering, developing and building, submissions for the 2015 Hackaday Prize have come to a close. In total, there were just shy of 1,000 entries from Makers all across the world, each sharing the common goal of moving humanity forward. And now, […]
Watch as the Temboo team reveals how a smart architecture app can be used to improve urban agriculture. With urban populations expected to continue rising for the foreseeable future, this will lead to an increase in demand for access to nutritious food in cities. As recent Maker projects have demonstrated, not only does urban farming offer an ideal alternative to satisfy this demand, it has a […]
Cooking Hacks, the open hardware division of Libelium, has launched two new sensor platforms that automate control and maintenance tasks in aquariums and in gardens through wireless connectivity and using open-source APIs. Designed for Makers, the new IoT solutions are based on Arduino, and include specialized sensors to measure parameters vital to aquatic life in ponds and […]
It was 1974 when tech pioneer Ted Nelson first asked a nascent industry to hand over “computer power to the people.” A few years later, Commodore founder Jack Tramiel expressed similar sentiments, proclaiming that “we need to build computers for the masses, not the classes.” As we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, empowering individuals […]
Cooking Hacks, the the open hardware division of Libelium, has debuted a new Open Garden hardware platform. Powered by Atmel’s ATtiny84 microcontroller (MCU), the platform consists of three separate kits equipped with sensors to maintain healthy growth, whether plants are located indoors or outside. “All kits measure parameters such as temperature, humidity and light; soil moisture […]
Students at the Kennebunk High School in Maine have successfully constructed and maintained an off-the-grid greenhouse using Atmel-based Arduino boards, solar panels and a sprinkler system. According to Alex Acquisto of the Kennebunk Post, Arduino Uno boards (ATmega328 MCU) are deployed in the greenhouse as soil moisture sensors. “If the soil is too dry, the […]
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