BloominBeds Monitoring System

TL;DR

Role: Product Designer & Prototyper — active prototypes, 3D simulation, integrated control systems
Team: 10+ members (JWU Design, Innovation & Entrepreneurship course, Prof. Harris)
Duration: 2 semesters (2023–2024)
Tools: Raspberry Pi, Python, DHT22 & soil-moisture sensors, Rhino 3D, Grasshopper, HTML/CSS/JS, Chart.js
Outcome: Working prototype that grew turnips through a full cycle; team recognized at the JWU Research Symposium 2024 for Creativity & Design

Project Overview

BloominBeds is an educational and applied R&D platform created in Professor Jonathan Lyle Harris's class at Johnson & Wales University. The goal: solve heat-trapping and seasonal instability in covered raised beds by combining real-time environmental sensing with controllable ventilation.

The system integrates Raspberry Pi hardware, sensor collection, and a web interface so students and growers can monitor temperature, humidity, soil conditions, and environmental trends in one place.

BloominBeds identity used across the web interface and research materials.

Mission & Features

Our mission is to enable year-round sustainable gardening through technology and education. BloominBeds supports culinary programs, students, and community growers with a practical, data-informed way to maintain healthier growing conditions.

Software-controlled ventilation to reduce overheating and improve winter usability.
Real-time monitoring of temperature, humidity, and soil data.
Historical trend tracking for growth and climate decisions.
Responsive, user-friendly web interface for desktop and mobile.
Educational foundation for hands-on agricultural technology learning.

My Role

Within the 10+ person team, I owned three workstreams: active prototyping (building and wiring the physical sensor rigs and ventilation mechanism), 3D simulation (modeling heat flow and airflow in Rhino 3D and Grasshopper to predict where vents should go before cutting wood), and integrated control systems (writing the Python firmware on the Raspberry Pi that reads sensor data, evaluates threshold logic, and triggers the ventilation actuator).

I was also the primary contributor to the real-time web dashboard, building the front-end with HTML/CSS/JS and Chart.js to visualize temperature, humidity, and soil-moisture trends over time.

Research & Development

The original campus need was clear: during winter months and bright daytime sun, covered beds can trap heat aggressively and require active intervention. The team split into two focused paths to explore possible solutions.

Passive path: mechanical ventilation concepts with no electronics.

Active path: sensors, threshold logic, and software-based airflow control.

Trapped heat visualization in covered raised bed — Heat trapping identified as the core risk that drove the project scope.

Scale prototype raised bed used for ventilation testing — Scale model used for fast iteration before full-size deployment.

Passive Prototypes

Two no-power concepts were tested as temperature-reactive mechanisms for automated vent behavior.

Thermo-reactive wire passive ventilation test setup — Test 1: thermo-reactive wire to open/close vent flaps based on temperature.

Bi-metal strip passive ventilation prototype — Test 2: bi-metal strip mechanism using differential expansion to actuate vents.

Active System & 3D Simulation

The active system integrated real-time sensors, web monitoring, and software-triggered ventilation. My contributions included a rotating shade/open mechanism, a pneumatic lift concept, and Rhino/Grasshopper simulations validating airflow improvements from side and top vent placement.

Rhino simulation complete assembly of the BloominBeds system

Simulation Gallery: Rhino and Grasshopper studies used to optimize airflow pathways, structural integration, and sensor placement before fabrication.

Interface & Data Dashboard

BloominBeds system dashboard with sensor metrics

BloominBeds ventilation control interface

BloominBeds historical environmental trend charts

Interface Gallery: Real-time dashboard, ventilation controls, trend views, and mobile-friendly monitoring.

Real-World Build & Outcome

The project moved from simulation and model testing to a full-size operational bed at the JWU Harborside campus. Turnips were used as a live crop validation for system performance.

Original JWU Harborside garden bed that informed the project — Operational campus bed that exposed the real ventilation challenge.

Final BloominBeds prototype with integrated ventilation and live plants — Final prototype with integrated controls and successful crop growth.

The final system stayed within healthy plant ranges over the test cycle and demonstrated that low-cost, sensor-driven bed control can improve year-round usability.

Team Contributors

The BloominBeds effort was intentionally multidisciplinary across product design, prototyping, sensors, coding, and communication design.

Project Lead

Jonathan Lyle Harris — Educator and designer focused on safer, human-scale public environments and practical design education.

Core Team

Michael Dattolo, Liz Virian, Tyler Perreault, Peikang Fan, Zak Vallee, Marshall Hayduk, Chris Dimovski, Keely Doyle, Joshua Keene, Mathew Hartung, and Cassandra R.

Jonathan Lyle Harris portrait — Jonathan Lyle Harris

Michael Dattolo portrait — Michael Dattolo

Mathew Hartung portrait — Mathew Hartung

Chris Dimovski portrait — Chris Dimovski

Marshall Hayduk portrait — Marshall Hayduk

Tyler Perreault portrait — Tyler Perreault

Cassandra R and Liz Virian

Recognition

BloominBeds received the JWU Research Symposium 2024 Award for Creativity and Design for combining passive and active ventilation approaches, accessible UX, and measurable real-world impact.

View the original BloominBeds repository for full historical materials and source files.

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