I am currently doing a Research Fellowship at Terreform One working on their project Plug In Ecology: http://www.terreform.org/projects_habitat_Plug_In_Ecology.html
I am working with Jimmy Tang (http://siuhim.com/) to construct a networked plant system on the surface of the Urban Farm Pod. I will be concentrating on the software and collaborating with Jimmy on the hardware implementation.
Urban Farm Pod:
" The Plug-In Ecology; Urban Farm Pod is a “living” room for individuals and urban nuclear families to grow and provide for their daily vegetable needs. It is an interface with the city, potentially touching upon urban farming, air quality levels, agronomy techniques in test tubes, algal energy production, and bioluminescent light sources, to name a few possibilities. It can be outfitted with a number of optional systems to adapt to different locations, lighting conditions, and
habitation requirements. While agricultural food sources are usually invisible in cities such as New York, the pod archetype turns the food system itself into a visible artifact, a bio-informatic message system, and a functional space. The Plug-In Ecology sphere prototype uses a robotic milled rotegrity ball for the under-grid structure made of reclaimed flat packed materials. A fully operablesub irrigation system and a shaped foam panels serve as sleeves for the potting elements and agronomy tissue culture for micropropagation. A digital monitoring platform relays information about specific plant health to the web. Our vision for future iterations of the pod is to naturally grow structures over time, within a new form of mediated arboreal culture, to integrate the biological and mechanical elements
more closely, to transform the object into one that grows and changes symbiotically. The Plug-In Ecology project sets out a direction for healthy biological exchanges with urban inhabitants, and to contribution to the life of urban ecosystems that mediate between autonomy and community." -- Terreform One
Image Credit: Terreform One
Image Credit: Terreform One
Concept Development:
omputational Ideas
- computational plant modeling / simulation
- computational design for networked systems
- algorithmic to digital fabrication
- plant communication: networked and cooperative systems / signal exchange
Urban farming ideas
- hydroponic farm
- networked sprinkler system
- solar monitoring
- sensors: humidity, light, air quality, temperature,
environmental ideas
- soil remediation
- bio remediation
- rhizo remediation
