Design and Development of a Smart Plant Assistant

This paper presents the design and development of a Smart Plant Assistant, an IoT-based device designed to support urban gardeners, plant shop owners, and hobbyists in monitoring plant health through real-time data and automation. The system integrates a solar-powered ESP32 microcontroller with a soil moisture sensor, DHT22 temperature-humidity sensor, BH1750 light sensor, OLED display, and a mobile application. A mini water pump controlled via relay enables automatic irrigation, while a Wi-Fi camera offers remote visual monitoring and helps detect plant infections. The mobile app includes a dashboard for managing multiple plants, real-time alerts, and care tips. Developed using a structured product design process— from user research to prototyping and testing—the system is modular, scalable, and adaptable to different garden sizes. Supporting 4–6 plants per device, it is cost-effective, compact, and encourages better plant care habits. Ultimately, it bridges the gap between manual gardening and smart agriculture by providing a comprehensive and sustainable solution for modern plant care.