Invention rules garden climate
A Taranaki teen has created a novel way of getting out of some his daily jobs.
Zeb Healy, 13, from Inglewood, has invented a climate control system for a greenhouse, which has seen him become one of 23 finalists in the ASB Bright Sparks competition – the only entrant from Taranaki to do so.
‘‘It’s one of his jobs to water the tomatoes in our greenhouse each day, so this will mean there will be one less job for him,’’ his father, Rex, said.
The competition showcases young emerging creative and entrepreneurial talent in electronic and digital technologies and Zeb and his father will head to Auckland for the announcement of the supreme winner on November 1.
‘‘There’s lots of excitement, it’s very exciting for me,’’ Zeb said.
‘‘There was lots of yelling in the lounge when he found out,’’ Rex added.
The idea for the invention came about from Zeb’s own experience in the family’s greenhouse when the family recently planted tomatoes, basil, coriander and onions in their greenhouse.
‘‘We were planting out our greenhouse and it can often be hard to get the conditions right, so I wanted to stop the plants dying,’’ he said.
The system runs off solar power and monitors the soil moisture by a probe in the ground, which controls the water supply and a fan controls the air temperature. When the soil is too dry, sprinklers come on; and when the air is too warm, the fan starts up.
Zeb said he was hoping to build an app in the future that would help people even more.
‘‘It will help people grow their vegetables well and not take up heaps of time so they won’t come back to dead plants if they go away on holiday,’’ he said.
While he’s no stranger to the contest, having entered in 2016, this project hasn’t come without its challenges.
‘‘It’s taken about one or two school terms to perfect but it’s been difficult to do as the programming has been hard and takes a lot of time.
‘‘But some of the other finalists have done some pretty awesome stuff.’’
Zeb, who is home schooled, is still undecided on what career path he may eventually follow.
‘‘I enjoy electronics but I also like photography and videography as well.’’