Mike Hua
Urban Planning | Design | Engineering
_DSC8853.jpg

Växthus

August 2017 - June 2018

Växthus (Swedish for “greenhouse”) was an interdisciplinary capstone design project at Rice University. Our team of six senior engineering students designed an indoor automated greenhouse for apartment dwellers. The system allows people to produce fresh, local vegetables and herbs in dense, urban environments.

See our project featured in an Associated Press article picked up by the New York Times and Washington Post. Our team won the HSB Shared Space Challenge, which tasked university and professional teams to create an idea to increase utilization of

See our project featured in an Associated Press article picked up by the New York Times and Washington Post.

Our team won the HSB Shared Space Challenge, which tasked university and professional teams to create an idea to increase utilization of shared spaces in apartments. Our $12,000 prize allowed us to build three total units and travel to Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden to implement our project.

Researchers at Chalmers University will use our devices to discover how they change residents' use of shared spaces and relationships with their food. Additional research can use our systems to determine optimal environmental conditions for a variety of different plant species.

Our goal was to create a beautiful, functional piece that complements the owner's home and captures the wonder of the growing process.

Our goal was to create a beautiful, functional piece that complements the owner's home and captures the wonder of the growing process.

The clear window in the front allows people to appreciate the greenery growing inside, and the wood exterior imparts a natural look. The user experience was a high priority for us. It was important for us to make a complex system intelligible and easy to use for people.

A moisture sensor allows the system to automatically and intelligently water the plants, maintaining an ideal growing environment. The watering process emulates the look of rain and the process of the natural water cycle. Water is pumped up to the top of the system and drips down, dropping down onto the plant leaves and soil.

_DSC8875.jpg
Any water that drips through the drain holes in the bottom of the planter box is collected by the drip tray, filtered by steel mesh, and returns to the water reservoir to be recycled again for watering.

Any water that drips through the drain holes in the bottom of the planter box is collected by the drip tray, filtered by steel mesh, and returns to the water reservoir to be recycled again for watering.

The water reservoir only needs to be refilled about every three weeks. When the screen notifies the user that the water reservoir is low, the user simply has to open the door, slide out the reservoir, and bring to a sink to refill.

The water reservoir only needs to be refilled about every three weeks. When the screen notifies the user that the water reservoir is low, the user simply has to open the door, slide out the reservoir, and bring to a sink to refill.

Our system is soil-based, which allows for a greater variety of plants to be grown compared to the hydroponic systems used by most indoor gardening products. Root vegetables, leafy greens, and herbs can all be grown using the device.

Our system is soil-based, which allows for a greater variety of plants to be grown compared to the hydroponic systems used by most indoor gardening products. Root vegetables, leafy greens, and herbs can all be grown using the device.

Lighting is provided by a bank of LED's arranged on a concave curve that directs the light toward the plants. The light temperature and color content closely approximates sunlight, providing plants with ample energy to fuel growing. Plants, like hum

Lighting is provided by a bank of LED's arranged on a concave curve that directs the light toward the plants. The light temperature and color content closely approximates sunlight, providing plants with ample energy to fuel growing. Plants, like humans, follow a circadian rhythm of day and night, so the system will turn off the lights at nighttime. Reflective insulation lines the interior of the system, serving both to reflect light back to the plants as well as thermally insulating the inside air.

An intuitive touch screen interface allows users to interact with the system and receive ongoing data such as moisture and temperature measurements. The user can select the category of plant they are growing, setting the system's soil moisture, hour

An intuitive touch screen interface allows users to interact with the system and receive ongoing data such as moisture and temperature measurements. The user can select the category of plant they are growing, setting the system's soil moisture, hours of light, and temperature, or the user can input these parameters manually.