Life in Silicon Valley can be hectic; some of us barely remember to feed and water ourselves let alone our thirsty houseplants. But, thanks to open-sourced Botanicalls and San Francisco-based Twitter, our plants can send us SOS tweets and follow up thank you messages.
The April 2011 issue of Wired, focuses on DIY projects (How to Make Stuff: 25 Awesome Projects) but not the usual kind where you use scraps of wood or items from the local crafts store. Some of these quirky to seriously fun projects may require safety goggles and all require some geek know-how. Number one on the beginner level list is the Botanicalls moisture sensor.
The original idea of the leaf-shaped printed circuit board which is inserted into your plant, is that your ficus would place phone calls to let you know they needed water. Now they can send you tweets via mobile phone or online.
With the latest kit, you need a wired network connection, a plant and and an electrical outlet (all instructions are online, of course). And it’s compatible with the latest Twitter version plus after being assembled it connects to a Twitter test site.
For plant lovers who routinely kill plants through neglect, Botanicalls may be your plant’s best friend. You can upload the plant's photo and even follow other plants. Who knows -- your ficus' messages could end up on Top Tweets.
Currently, the kit is available only from SparkFun Electronics but the Botanicalls inventors promise there will be more online retailers soon.
If you’re really handy, you might try one of the magazine's advanced level projects: a remote-controlled lawnmower which Wired describes as an "RC funmobile."
The Wired April issue is in stores now. Look for Limor Fried, MIT-educated electrical engineer and open source DIY projects expert on the cover.
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