Senior Co-Op: 2021

HTHMA Senior Co-Op Project Skeleton Name: Aaron Petelo

Overview: Describe what it is that you hope to do for your senior project. What skill do you hope
to develop during this time?

For my senior project, I want to create an automated watering system for my garden. I hope that
with this project I will learn about the designing process and how to garden and code.

Learning Goals:
Concepts: What are 3 “grade-level appropriate” learning goals aligned with the discipline
(humanities, engineering, science, mathematics, sociology, etc.) in which you are working?

1. What do you want to learn?

How to take care of a garden
How do you hope to demonstrate this learning?
Conducting research of maintaining a healthy garden

2. What do you want to learn?

How to design machines
How do you hope to demonstrate this learning?
Going through the engineering design process and creating a contraption that will
automatically water plants when they need it.

3. What do you want to learn?

How to code
How do you hope to demonstrate this learning?
Learn how to code in C++ and use it to program my machine.

Essential Question: What is the Essential Question your senior project is seeking to answer?

How can I maintain a healthy garden with as little human interaction possible?

Research: A Sources Document will assist you in the early stages of research gathering. By taking
the time to write a brief summary and reflection on each source you locate on your topic, you
create a knowledge base that will guide future learning and steps in your project.
Below, list the resources related to the skill you are developing that you want to read and/or
watch. Explain why.

Articles/Books:

1. What is the title of this resource?

https://www.tutorialspoint.com/cplusplus/cpp_basic_syntax.htm
Why do you think this resource will help you?
This website will teach me the basic syntax behind C++ and basic terms so it will be easier
for me to write code from scratch.

2. What is the title of this resource?

https://www.gardenfactoryny.com/outdoor-plant-care
Why do you think this resource will help you?
This site gives me a basic idea of growing a garden that I will keep in mind of designing my

3. What is the title of this resource?

https://www.ladyada.net/learn/arduino/index.html
https://www.makerspaces.com/arduino-uno-tutorial-beginners/
Why do you think this resource will help you?
These resources will help me figure out how to create arduino circuits.

Videos/Movies

1. What is the title of this resource?

https://youtu.be/9Fx9zQJe3H4
Why do you think this resource will help you?
From this video I’m trying to take away the idea of a user friendly product and try to
incorporate that into my project.

2. What is the title of this resource?

https://youtu.be/MBIYebUgVVI
Why do you think this resource will help you?
This video tells me the ins and outs for creating a garden bed.

3. What is the title of this resource?

https://youtu.be/O_Q1WKCtWiA
Why do you think this resource will help you?
For this video, I will take inspiration with what he is doing with his code and include it into
my program.

Culmination of Learning: What do you hope you’re able to do by the end of this senior project?
What evidence will you have to demonstrate you’ve developed this skill.
I hope to show perseverance by the end of this project. I’m going to be in a field where I haven’t
dabbled in much, so if even if I fail to finish this project, I’ll be happy to know that I tried my best
till the end.
Weekly Goals: What are the major goals you will need to reach to achieve this project? Think of
these as the stages of your project or the major deliverables that you will create along the way.

May 24 - 28 (Week 1):

Create website/brainstorm what I’m doing

June 1 - 4 (Week 2):

Researching on what materials I need and creating a garden bed and importing plants into it.

June 7 - 11 (Week 3):

Getting supplies and working on designing the robot

June 14 - 18 (week 4):

Building robot, coding, testing, and final touches

Final week

Materials: What materials will you need to practice and develop this skill?

Garden Bed - wood, soil, and plants

Watering System - arduino, wires, soil moisture detectors, and pumps

Routine: What might be a helpful daily routine that you can establish to support your weekly goals?
Break your day in hourly chunks. Everyone’s routine will be unique to them.

Spend 1-2 hours doing research for the day, take a break, then spend 1-2 hours building.