This story is part of the #PlanetChampions project run by New Horizons Foundation (FNO), Romania. We publish the story with the FNO’s permission and with the support of Norsensus Mediaforum’s volunteers who translated the story for the SDGs Youth Media Allies project.
“My name is Simion Anamaria Laura, I am fifteen years old and I am a ninth-grade student. By participating in this contest we learned more about sustainable communities, about the objectives of the 2030 Agenda and about how we can change the realities of today’s world. I am passionate about computer science, robotics, reading and astrophysics.
Being a member of the coding and robotics club “Wizards Code Club Pietrari”, I learned at the Pietrari Library, through the Code Kids project, both to program and to use the Arduino Uno board kit to carry out various STEM projects. The first project I did using the Arduino Uno kit was simple- a traffic light that was presented to the mayor of the town in order to convince him of the need for this device when pedestrians cross in front of our school. I then made a harp with light sensors. The last project, the one I want to present to you, initially started from the construction of a weather station.
Along the way, as we developed the project, we managed to create a monitoring system for environmental factors. It contains the following components: a gas sensor (CO), a temperature sensor, a soil humidity sensor, a relay drop module, a motion sensor, 3 yellow LEDs and 1 blue LED with which we can follow the phases of the moon. The system I made will monitor the temperature, soil moisture, will signal the presence of a person inside, will “feel” the first drops of rain and will display the phases of the Moon.
This system can be used to monitor a vegetable greenhouse. The temperature sensor will help us to check the temperature in the greenhouse in such a way that the plants benefit from optimal thermal conditions. It can also be connected to a fan to cool the enclosure or to a motor to open the greenhouse door. The gas sensor can warn us if it detects changes in air quality or if a fire occurs.
The soil moisture sensor will check the humidity and determine the start of the irrigation system in our greenhouse. The fact that the irrigation system is turned on can be verified by the drop sensor installed on the system. The motion sensor can alert us if someone enters the greenhouse “by burglary”. Highlighting the phases of the Moon is also related to the growth rate of our plants. Also, the system can be mounted on the programmable drone we have at the club to monitor the weather in different parts of the town.”
Translated to English: George-Alexandru Mureșan and Eduard-Emanuel Perdevară
