Samsung Inspired IoT Makers to Combat Californiaâs Drought
by guest contributor Ryan Kuo, Technical Writer â Samsung Strategy and Innovation Center
When Samsung launched Makers Against Drought (M.A.D.) last year, we knew that the Internet of Things could effect real change. Our challenge to makers: find new ways to address the water crisis in California and other drought-stricken parts of the world using Samsung ARTIK, our end-to-end platform for IoT, and their ingenuity. We were overwhelmed by the response. Over 500 makers, inventors and entrepreneurs from 57 countries submitted their ideas to us. We chose the most interesting ideas, and sent out ARTIK developer kits. Then the work started.
M.A.D. contestants used ARTIK's power and flexibility to design new ways to collect and act on water consumption data at a variety of scales.
The challenge ran in two stages:
In the first stage, we received 47 qualifying submissions from 18 countries, from which we selected ten finalists ($10,000 each), ten honorable mentions ($2,000 each), and one Popular Choice winner ($500). From the finalists, we then selected the winner of the $90,000 Grand Prize.
And the winner isâŠ
Our Grand Prize winner is the Team EDDI! Their project, the Electrodialysis Desalinator for Irrigation (EDDI), impressed the judges to earn the top prize.
When we first met Team EDDI, we were impressed by the potential impact of EDDI, which provides farmers with a new way to remove salt from irrigation waterâthus improving soil quality and increasing crop units.
The project was created by six friends from New York City with expertise ranging from web development to UX/UI design. After extensive research, the team discovered that agriculture accounts for approximately 75-80% of the state's human water consumption, since farmers often over-water their fields to dilute the salt content in irrigation water. The team hypothesized that one alternative would be to use electrodialysis to fine-tune the waterâs salinity.
The team used ARTIKâs GPIO capability to control the flow of water and electricity through EDDI, and employed wireless-based automation to send and receive data related to water salinity and flow. We chose EDDI as the winner because of its promised contribution to sustainable farming, integration of the ARTIK development kit, and potential commercial viability.
Here are some of the other outstanding finalists and Honorable Mention submissions:
NESS, a noteworthy finalist, created an on-demand hot water recirculation system that saves the water we waste while waiting for a hot shower.
Tadpole AMAS won one of the ten finalist spots for their sustainable, automated agricultural technology that lowers the entry barrier for adopting water-saving aquatic practices, reducing consumption by over 90%.
EVA, one of the honorable mention winners, built an autonomous floating hydrometeorology device that identifies, measures, and tracks areas that are most vulnerable to evaporation, such as aqueducts, riverbanks, and canals.
Dropwatch, another honorable mention winner, integrates with Amazon Alexa and challenges family members to take the shortest showers by monitoring usage time and awarding badges.
The Popular Choice award went to the ARTIK Smart Water Meter team, which designed an interactive dashboard water meter that connects homeowners and water authorities by providing real-time data about daily water allotments.
You can view all of the M.A.D. winners and submissions here.
The work to address water shortages and other important environmental issues is far from over. We continue to encourage all makers, entrepreneurs, technologists, and visionaries to think about how IoT can be used to solve this and other issues facing our planet.
For more information about Samsung ARTIK and how our end-to-end IoT platform can help you realize your planet-saving solutions, be sure to the ARTIK website, and check availability of ARTIK modules at Digi-Key.
