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IoT Connected Modular Urban Gardening System

Turn Your Idea Into Reality
White Modgarden indoor smart garden unit with herbs and greens on a wooden kitchen table

An Inside Glimpse Into the Product Development of Modgarden's Indoor Smart Garden

Concept Design for Modular Growth Units

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"
3D CAD and Product Architecture

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.
UI Design for Mobile App Feedback

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
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Modgarden indoor garden prototype with grow light on, growing greens on a kitchen counter

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.

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