Hello everybody, I will run a kickstarter campaign soon to fund the production of a remote monitoring device that takes continuous measurements of the pH, the EC, the climate (temperature, humidity) and light intensity. It's equipped with WiFi so you can see the measurements on your smartphone. You can receive notification when a threshold is exceeded and display daily, weekly and monthly graphs. It will cost less than most of combo EC+pH meter you can find on the market. I'm an electronic engineer and I grow hydro for almost 8 years now. So I had this idea and spent the last 18 month designing the device with the help of some friends. I can't share the website here because of the forum's rules that I don't want to break, but I called it Egrowr so just type the name on Google or Facebook if you want more details. I would like to have a feedback from the community about this idea. Do you think it would be useful to receive push notifications when it's time to correct the environment? What are the other features you would want to see in this kind of device? Thanks ! FOR ADMIN : This is not an ad, I'm not representing a company and this is only a project for now, so please be understanding
I think it's a great idea for a device. I own 2 Govee remote monitors that aren't internet ready, and a Pulse device that is. Govee measures only temp and RH, Pulse measures those plus light. Govee costs about $50, and Pulse $200. For VPD chart hydro growers remote monitors are a game changer. I'll buy one.
The idea is very cool, but several questions arise: how it will be implemented in terms of the quality of the device and how accurately it will measure and produce results. And of course, how much this pleasure will cost (not at the start of sales, when people will simply be attracted, and when money will start).
Great idea about the VPD. I can add it to the mobile app, why not. With an option to calculate it with the leaf temperature that is added manually. It would be very difficult technically to add an infrared thermometer to measure the leafs' temp. Thank you for your support ! Great questions. Actually a large part of the work we have done was to achieve a great quality for the product itself and for measurements while keeping the production cost low. The climate monitoring is easy and cheap. It wasn't a big deal. For the pH measurement we have managed to cut cost just by lowering the measurement range to get rid of a very expensive amplifier. Indeed, our device have a measurement range of 3 to 11 pH instead of 0 to 14. You will agree that below 3 or above 11, your plants are dead anyway. The accuracy is the same as all non lab pH meters. For the conductivity, we limited to resolution of the lower measurement range. No need for growers to know if you nutritive solution is 513 uS/cm. 0.51 mS/cm is enough, isn't it ? Actually most of manufacturers put large measurement range and too accurate technologies in their products because they took it directly from sewage water processing, or desalination industry. That's why devices from BlueLab for instance are so expensive. For instance BlueLab Guardin Connect has WiFi connectivity, EC/pH measurement capabilities for 390$. The Egrowr will cost 250$ with probes, it provide notifications and climate measurement capabilities. During the Kickstarter campaign, it will start at 100$ to 180$.
But you must admit that BlueLab is much more credible than your device. And it's easier to pay $ 390 and you will definitely get the result, than to give $ 250 to the garbage. You need to prove to people that you will not only have a low price in comparison with competitors, but your device will be better than them. But not in words, but in deeds. For example, test results, or testing by people who have been growing plants for a long time and are doing this on a serious level. At the moment, there are a large number of questions and doubts.
Thanks for challenging me, because I will have to face this kind of doubts for sure. Tell me if I'm wrong, and no offense, but maybe people can doubt because there is a stigma (even within the community) telling that stoners are unable to run serious projects. Ok I'm not representing a big well know company however we (growers) have a better knowledge of what are the growing challenges. I worked on 11 products during my career as an electronic engineer. This is the first time I design one by myself, that's true, but I have the right experience for sure. We spend 18 month developing and testing full time. What's more, it's not rocket science, we are not talking about getting 200% more yield thanks to a new NASA growing technique. It's a quite simple and proven technology. Finally, the Kickstarter campaign is here to give people the opportunity to be the first user, but at an amazing price. I mean 100$ for this device, it's almost free. But yeah, you're totally right, we will have to show how it works in real life in the campaign video and interview the growers we gave prototypes to test.
You understand that now it’s hard to believe the words, that's why I am telling you). Saw a photo of your device on one of the forums. It looks quite normal. I agree with you, if you really create a working device and you have nothing to fear - give it to testing large stores or suppliers, after which they will write you reviews / reviews - this will be your advantage besides the price. And about $ 100 - if I'm not sure, why should I throw at least $ 1?) Money loves rationality when they spend it.
This is awesome! Just signed up for updates. I'll take 2 as soon as it launches!!! Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
This technology already exists. Apex systems for reef tanks. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
Thanks for your support ! Definitly not the same. No climate monitoring (FYI fishes don't mind about the air humidity). And I think the EC probe is missing... But yeah, the Egrowr is the same kind of device but for growers
Hello everybody, It was a lot of hard work but the Kickstarter campaign for the Egrowr has just started ! It’s on the Kickstarter website, just search for “Egrowr” (can’t share links here). You’re one of the first to be informed, so you can get the device cheaper. Sorry for my poor English accent in the video by the way To remind you, it was the idea to create a monitoring device that measures almost everything in the growtent and communicate with your smartphone. Please back the project and share the campaign. Thanks !
I'm not sure how kickstarters work. How do I purchase? Also, why isn't the pH probe included with any early bird deal on kickstarter? For what it's worth, I have a Bluelab Guardian and would love to do a side-by-side on my current grow I just started.
We sent the device with pH probes to growers for test and almost a half arrived with the electrolyte dry or malfunctioning because of the freezing temperature due to transport. So they had to buy new ones. In order to disappoint nobody, I decided to lower the amount to pledge and remove the pH probe. But it's wildly available on amazon anyway. For Kickstarter, just select the reward, set the amount and that's all. You have to create a backer account (top right corner). It's quite easy