Ridemaster – Motorcycle Communication
Design 1st Portfolio Case Studies Ridemaster - Motorcycle Communication Device Device for safe communication between motorcyclists on the road Turn...
Modgarden - Indoor Smart Gardening
IoT Connected Modular Urban Gardening System
An Inside Glimpse Into the Product Development of Modgarden's Indoor Smart Garden
Product Design Requirements
Tiny Farm approached Design 1st with a proof-of-concept prototype for a modular indoor gardening system and list of new design requirements. The idea was simple: create a connected indoor gardening system for health-conscious urban dwellers that could be monitored from a smartphone anywhere in the world.
- Make this system modular and reproduce outdoor soil, light, and water conditions inside
- Integrate sensors for monitoring light, humidity, temperature and water that sync with a phone app
- Correct size and soil conditions to grow over a dozen types of "micro-greens"
Design and Engineering Challenges
Implementing Design 1st’s proven process, the team was able to overcome several obstacles to:
- Conduct early-stage testing to replicate humidity, light, soil, and water conditions within an indoor environment.
- Testing of breathable wicking material to optimize water uptake and retention.
- Simplify electronics by developing an all-in-one modular sensor solution.
Product Concept Results
Through creativity and technical understanding, the Design 1st team developed an award-winning product that:
- Built fully-functional prototype with connected phone app to test multiple growing conditions and materials
- ModGarden partner with Dalhousie University for soil feature and got multiple mainstream media mentions
- Setup custom global supply chain for manufacturing, assembly, and logistic support
Move from product concept idea to fully-function prototype in 9 months
“The breadth of expertise Design 1st has in-house to experiment with configurations and sensors data use helped transform my vision into reality.”
Aamar Khwaja
Founder, Modgarden Inc.
Related Case Studies
