January 25, 2017 Dr. Andrew Rawicz School of Engineering Science Simon Fraser University Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6 Re: ENSC 405W/440 Project Proposal for Gaia Dear Dr. Rawicz, The enclosed document, Project Proposal for Gaia, is an outline of our project for ENSC 405W/440. Our intention is to design a product that removes the difficulty of growing plants inside a house. Whether it is an exotic orchid or a plant that yields fresh produce, Gaia provides the necessary care and environment in order for all types of plants to thrive with minimal human dependency. This proposal is meant to introduce and provide some background information on our product as well as give an overview on our product’s design. Also included is the project schedule and the proposed budget for the project. Applied Agricultural Innovations is an up and coming company composed of five engineering students: Daphne Chiang, Sunny Sun, Jenny Cheng, Philip Tang, and Jerry Hung. Please feel free to contact us for any questions or concerns. We will be pleased to address any of your inquiries by email at mca123@sfu.ca or phone us at 778-875-668.

Sincerely,

Daphne Chiang

CEO Applied Agricultural Innovations

Attachment: Project Proposal for Gaia

Proposal

Applied Agricultural Innovations

Product - Gaia

January 25, 2017

Team Members:

Daphne Chiang

Phillip Tang

Sunny Sun

Jerry Hung

Jenny Cheung

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Executive Summary

Oftentimes people are bombarded with work and responsibilities that take them away from their homes and they don’t have the time to properly take care of their houseplants. Other times they might want to cultivate plants in order to enjoy fresh, organic herbs or fruit but lack the knowledge or space to keep their plants alive and healthy. For many, they simply do not have the time or means to fully enjoy the benefits of having flora in their homes. In Japan, Taiwan, and China, where flowers represent wealth and are used to decorate homes or are given as gifts, this is especially true.

Figure 1 Miltonia Hybrid Orchid [1]

From exotic flowers such as orchids or even the common aloe, our product Gaia provides a hands free, worry free environment where the plant will thrive even if they are left behind while the owner is away on vacation.

The following proposal is an outline of our design for a self-sufficient container that will house and nurture any plant. It has a self-watering system and is capable of monitoring and controlling the light and temperature around the plant in order to provide the optimal environment for its growth.

At AAI, a team of five engineers from Simon Fraser University will work together on this project, providing knowledge from the fields of Computer Engineering, System Engineering, and Electrical Engineering to present a working prototype by the end of August. A budget of $335.50 is to be requested through the ESSS.

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Contents

Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................... i

List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................ iii

List of Tables .............................................................................................................................................. iii

Glossary ...................................................................................................................................................... iv

1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 1

2. Product Summary .............................................................................................................................. 1

2.1. Features ....................................................................................................................................... 1

2.2. Parts.............................................................................................................................................. 3

2.3. System Overview ....................................................................................................................... 4

2.4. Component Analysis and Budget ............................................................................................ 5

3. Market .................................................................................................................................................. 6

3.1. Market .......................................................................................................................................... 6

3.2. Competition ................................................................................................................................ 6

4. Schedule and Timeline ...................................................................................................................... 7

5. Scope .................................................................................................................................................... 8

5.1. Scope ............................................................................................................................................ 8

5.2. Risks ............................................................................................................................................. 9

5.3. Benefits ...................................................................................................................................... 10

6. Company Details .............................................................................................................................. 11

7. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 12

References ................................................................................................................................................. 13

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List of Figures

Figure 1 Miltonia Hybrid Orchid [1] ........................................................................................... i

Figure 2 The Prototype of Gaia .................................................................................................. 2

Figure 3 The Flowchart of Gaia .................................................................................................. 4

Figure 4 The Diagram of Gaia .................................................................................................... 5

Figure 5 Milestones ...................................................................................................................... 7

Figure 6 Gantt Chart .................................................................................................................... 8

List of Tables

Table 1 Cost Breakdown of Gaia................................................................................................ 5

Table 2 Competition .................................................................................................................... 7

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Glossary

LED Light-emitting diode, a semiconductor diode that emits light when a voltage is applied

Photosynthesis The process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water

UI Short for user interface

Microcontroller A computer present in a single integrated circuit, which is dedicated to perform one, task and execute one specific application. It contains memory, programmable input/output peripherals as well a processor

UV Short for ultraviolet, an electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength from 10 nm (30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz)

Thermoelectric Producing electricity by a difference of temperatures

Solidworks A solid modeling computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) computer program that runs on Microsoft Windows

Linux An open-source operating system modelled on UNIX

C/C++ An object oriented programming (OOP) language, developed by Bjarne Stroustrup, and is an extension of C language

Python A high-level general-purpose programming language

VHDL Short for VHSIC Hardware Description Language, is a hardware description language used in electronic design automation to describe digital and mixed-signal systems such as field-programmable gate arrays and integrated circuits

RISC A computer based on a processor or processors designed to perform a limited set of operations extremely quickly

SQL A standardized query language for requesting information from a database

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1. Introduction

Gaia is the name of the ancient Greek goddess of the Earth and it is also known as “the

hypothesis that the living and nonliving components of earth function as a single system in

such a way that the living component regulates and maintains conditions so as to be suitable for

life” according to the Merriam-Webster [2]. Parallel to its mythical derivation, we aim to build

Gaia to become a system that invigorates the plants it contains through regulation and

maintenance of its living environment. Conveniently, its purpose supports those who lack the

time, resources, skills, and/or freedom to tend to their cherished flora. This new link in the

chain allows for the perfect symbiosis between the plants that bring life to a home, and the users

who can comfortably relax and enjoy it all.

Being a self-sufficient system in plant care, automation is supported with temperature

(heat/cool), lighting (visible/UV), and watering. Working in tandem, these critical features

replicate the optimal living environments for their selected flower or crop species. With a tower-

like design which enables uninterrupted viewing of the hosted plant, the system encases the

living article through a rectangular prism of clear plastic material. Through this setup, efficient

temperature regulation for the plant is possible from its thermoelectric heater/cooler

mechanism. Pumping water from its reservoir in the base of the tower, Gaia can maintain

suitable soil moisture levels for a long period of time. Were the background lighting insufficient

to the plant, additional UV and LED lights activate and provides an ample supply of energy to

support photosynthesis. To the users, affectively using Gaia is but the three simple steps “place,

plug, and pick”—place a plant inside, plug in the sensor to the soil, and pick a species through

the LED display.

2. Product Summary

Gaia is a device which is designed to provide the best growing conditions for valuable flowers, such as orchids. Although Gaia is a device targeted at valuable flowers, it is also suitable for growing normal plants, such as basil. Gaia provides a selection of plant species for users to choose from and adjusts the settings of the environment inside for the optimal growth of the selected plant species.

2.1. Features

Different wavelengths of light have different effects on plants. For example, red light is recommended to encourage flowering, and blue light is recommended during a plant’s vegetative state [3]. Gaia contains different light sources for flowers and plants: red, blue and UV. Both red and blue types of light are to be combined into one convenient strip in our device. Also, Gaia has regular white light to handle all other situations. All the lights are able to have their intensity adjusted in order to handle different external environment conditions.

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Temperature is another focus in our product. Gaia is able to maintain the temperature inside the device from 15 degrees Celsius to 30 degrees Celsius. Moreover, the tolerance will be less than 1 degree Celsius when the temperature is between 20 degrees Celsius and 25 degrees Celsius.

Growing flowers need water. Gaia can automatically water a plant by pumping water from the water tank at the bottom of the device. The only thing users need to worry about is the water level of the water tank. They only need to fill up the water tank when it is empty. Ideally, Gaia is also able to reuse the water that leaks from the drainage holes in order to reduce the interval between tank refills.

Gaia contains a LED display screen. The screen will display the water level of the water tank, so users can fill the water before the water level reaches the lowest point. Also, the screen displays the temperature in the container to keep users informed. Last but not least, users are able to choose what plant they are going to grow by using the display screen UI.

Gaia is designed to be an elegant decoration suitable for the household. We believe that every user will want to see their flowers when they are growing so our transparent cover provides an unobstructed view for users to admire their flowers. Also, Gaia is designed to save space and is compact. These way users can put our product anywhere in their home.

Figure 2 The Prototype of Gaia

In order to protect the environment, the power consumption is incredibly low. Moreover, electronic parts are invisible and hidden in order to protect users from electrical hazards. An intuitive UI is also our focus. Gaia is designed for people who are not familiar with electronic device. A simple UI is able to let more people understand and use our product without having to consult a user manual.

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2.2. Parts

Gaia contains a microcontroller, which is the most important part in our product. The main task of the microcontroller is to maintain the best conditions for valuable flowers by monitoring and controlling the light, water, temperature, and nutrition of the plant. There are a few sets of data containing information on the different treatments for different types of flowers in the microcontroller. Users are able to choose the plant species of their flowers via UI, and the microcontroller will change the light, water, and temperature settings in order to provide the best treatment for the user’s specific flowers. The microcontroller will maintain this environment by controlling and monitoring these elements unless users decide to switch to a different type of plant.

Controlling and monitoring the light conditions of the plant is the most complicated feature in our product. All plants need to photosynthesize in order to grow and light is the most important factor for photosynthesis. However, plants cannot do photosynthesis all day. They need time to “breathe”. As a result, we cannot apply light 24/7 [4]. Our microcontroller will count the time the plants require to absorb light via a light sensor. When the time is up, the lights will shut off and the plants will not absorb any more light. If the user places our product beside a window to let the plants absorb the natural light, the microcontroller will recognize it and reduce its artificial lighting. When there is a lack of natural light, the artificial light source will be at a higher intensity. The artificial light source will be turned off when it is the time for plant to rest.

Water is also a very crucial factor for a flower’s growth. There is a humidity sensor connected to the microcontroller. The sensor is able to obtain the humidity level and send the result back to the microcontroller. The microcontroller will turn on the water pump if the humidity is not in the best condition. The water will be pumped from the water tank at the bottom of our product and directly into the soil of the plant. The pump will be turned off by the microcontroller when the humidity level returns to the best condition. Also, there is another water sensor in the water tank. When the water level of the water tank is too low, the microcontroller will turn on the appropriate LED to warn users to add more water to the tank.

Keeping the temperature constant is very helpful for a flower’s growth. The external temperature of the room the device is in will influence the temperature inside of it. In order to control the device’s temperature, Gaia contains a temperature sensor and a thermoelectric device. The temperature sensor is connected to the microcontroller and it will send the ambient temperature result to the microcontroller. The microcontroller will then make a decision. If the temperature is not within the appropriate range, the thermoelectric device will be turned on in order to cool down or heat up the atmosphere. Also, there is a fan connected to the microcontroller. The fan will be turned on when the thermoelectric device is also on. The purpose of the fan is to create air circulation within the container. The fan and the thermoelectric device will be turned off when the temperature in our product comes back to the standard temperature.

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2.3. System Overview

When using Gaia, the first step is to pick the type of plant that the device is to care for. The microcontroller will be receiving data on the amount of light, moisture, and temperature the plant is exposed to. If the condition of the plant is not ideal then the microcontroller will activate the related devices and adjust the light, moisture or temperature levels until the factors are back to the ideal condition. The devices will be switched off again and the microcontroller goes back to analyzing the data the sensors are sending until there is a change in the environment or until the settings of the plant type is changed. If the plant type is changed then Gaia will immediately adjust the current factors until it is at the optimum environment for the new plant selected. This process is shown as a flowchart in Figure 3.

Figure 3 The Flowchart of Gaia

According the diagram below the UI and sensors will be providing input to the microcontroller. The UI will set the environment to the plant type as selected by the user while the sensors will be sending information on the temperature, humidity, and light of the plant’s environment.

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Depending on this data the microcontroller will be activating the thermoelectric device and fan, the water pump, or the lights in response.

Figure 4 The Diagram of Gaia

2.4. Component Analysis and Budget

The heart of our device is the microcontroller. The sensors required to assist it include: light

sensors and four types of light sources (red, blue, UV, and white), soil moisture sensors and

multiple different parts for the watering system, temperature sensors and the components

required to adjust the temperature inside Gaia, plastic boards, and other miscellaneous

materials. A potential source for our estimated budget is to be requested through the ESSS.

Table 1 Cost Breakdown of Gaia

Parts Cost (CAD)

Microcontroller 50.00

Light sensor x3 3.00

Soil moisture sensor x2 14.00

Temperature sensor x2 20.00

Thermoelectric device 13.00

Water pump 15.00

Light source 32.00

Power supply 42.00

Plastic boards 100.00

Fans 10.00

Water pipes 6.50

Miscellaneous electrical parts 20.00

Miscellaneous Construction material 10.00

Total 335.50

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3. Market

3.1. Market

Flowers are a form of art and beauty. In Chinese and Japanese cultures, flowers also represent wealth. People often use flowers to decorate their houses or to exchange gifts. In Asia, Japan, Taiwan, and China are the major flower trading market. In 2012, Japan spent 344 million Euros on importing flowers and this amount is growing each year [5]. Taiwan, the kingdom of Orchids, exported 24.28 million US dollars of flowers in 2014 and 73% were orchids [6].

As mentioned before, flowers represent wealth in some cultures. Therefore, there are many people willing to purchase rare species, such as Rotchschild’s Orchid and Shenzhen Nongke Orchid [7]. Although most of these flowers are indoor plants, they often require high maintenance and are fragile. Generally, people do not have enough knowledge or time to take care of these rare species even though these flowers are worth couple hundreds or couple thousands of dollars. This is exactly what Gaia is designed for. Gaia can automatically adjust temperature, light, and water to create the best environment for the chosen flower. It is self-watering and provides artificial, adjustable light sources so that users can be weeks away without worrying about their expensive flower.

With the ability to adjust temperature, light, and water, Gaia can also be used for growing produce or exotic plants. Growing our own food is getting more and more popular because people have become more aware of their health and wish to eat organic food. However, not everyone has the time and space to grow produce, especially people that live in urban areas. Gaia can definitely provide a good environment to grow crops. It is not limited to seasons and it is easy to use. Also, Gaia is very flexible. Users do not need to dig out the plant and plant it in the device. They can simply place the plant with its pot in the device. This means that users can easily swap plants whenever they want. For people who want to grow and study exotic plants, Gaia is a good choice. It can adjust those parameters to simulate the environment of its origin and keep the plant alive.

In other words, Gaia is the complete solution for those interested in plants but lack the time, space, environment, or expertise to care for them. It requires very little user input, is easy to use, and works for a large variety of plants. I think that this bridges the expensive flower owner market and urban sprawl grower market a little better.

3.2. Competition

Looking through some of the existing products, we discovered that most of the devices have a

self-watering system and extra light source. The price range of such products can go from $100

to $400 although there are products that cost much more than this range due to different

features. With the price we estimated, the price-performance ratio of Gaia is relatively higher

than other existing products. According to Table 2, Niwa seems to be our biggest competitor

because it has more features than Gaia. However, Gaia targets people who do not have much

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knowledge of plants. The central design idea of our product is to keep user input as minimal as

possible whereas Niwa requires lots of user input.

Table 2 Competition

Product Name Gaia ROOT[8] LEAF[9] Niwa [10] Nthing Planty [11]

Smart Garden [12]

Price (CAD) $336 $390 $3887 $363 $194 $104

Self-watering x x x x x x

Temperature Control

x x x

Light Support x x x x x

Air Circulation x x x

Providing Nutrients

x x

Displaying Plant Stats

x x x

Camera x x

Requires User Inputs

Very Few

None Many Many None None

App x x x x

Flexibility High High Low Low Medium High

4. Schedule and Timeline

In order to keep our project on track, we have come up with the following milestones shown in

Figure 5. There are 8 key milestones over the 8-month duration of our project. The design phase

(initialization, requirement and design) is the longest phase, which takes 59 days.

Implementation is the second longest part and will take 33 days. Aug 10 is only a placeholder

for the project demo and final document due dates.

Figure 5 Milestones

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Figure 6 is the Gantt chart of the project over 8 months, from January to Augest.

Figure 6 Gantt Chart

5. Scope

5.1. Scope

In the entirety of our project we aim to achieve a fair deal of requirements. From the exploration of various categories of modern technology, we strive to creatively apply our innovations to best meet the demands of our market. Those who are enthusiastic of plants such as flowers and crops, but lack the time, environment, or skills to maintain them will wholly benefit. Working with our tight timeframe and budget, we remain confident that we will bring Gaia from a seedling of an idea to a fully functioning prototype.

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As a completed prototype we expect Gaia to resemble the concept drawing detailed in Figure 2. Boasting a clear enclosure for target plants, intuitive user interface, and a visually compelling design, the system will foster the minimum feature deliverables:

1) Automated watering system triggered by moisture sensing 2) Automated heating/cooling triggered by temperature sensing 3) Automated light/UV light supplementation by light and time of day sensing 4) Simple, intuitive UI capable of selecting plant species and toggling functionality 5) Clear plant enclosure capable of fitting supported flower/crop species including pot

From our analysis of our diverse customer needs, we firmly believe that these are the core requirements for Gaia to be sufficiently enticing, yet completely prepared for plant care. Research and development has long since begun for these details but we remain optimistic to complete additional features should time and budget allow.

Our secondary list of appealing yet optional functionalities we hope to integrate to the core design of Gaia is detailed below. Ordered in priority, the following modules will add immense value to our product should time be our ally during development:

1) Clean water recycling a) Condensation and waste-water collected b) Collected water is then filtered and reintegrated into reserve tank

2) Camera for progress capture a) Plant growth data for users b) Time-lapse of plant during care

3) Operational nutrition feeding system a) Plant nutrient mix (nitrogen, phosphorus potassium) in liquid or pellet form b) Self-adding to potted plant

The flexible nature of our system should cleanly allow additional features such as these to be

effortlessly integrated given that enough research and testing has been completed.

5.2. Risks

In the development of our automated plant care system, we understand that there are inevitable risks that must be directly addressed and overcome. But despite the handful of potential risks to be outlined, we, as a cohesive and dedicated team, firmly believe we will achieve or surpass our project goals to the overall success of Gaia.

Most immediate to our concerns is the overall need to improve on our current knowledge of botany or plant growth. As a team composed of engineers, we have limited familiarity with plant development and understand that we must vigorously study the science in order to optimize our technology with the life cycle of our supported flower/crop species. Our ongoing solution to reduce this risk from having negative effects on our product has been to have at least two members of the team research around the topic, contact professionals, and occasionally

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present findings that may help improve the plant care system. Coupled with sufficient testing later down the road, our lack of plant expertise will develop into one of our many strengths.

Testing the Gaia will be no easy task. This is however not because we are lacking in expertise, but because of the lack of time. Full testing would involve real plants that take a varied time to grow. In order to properly validate that the system improves growth and health of plants, we would require a control plant to compare with. Such changes to flora will not appear instantly and require perhaps weeks of waiting and data collection. Unprecedented errors could multiply the number of weeks needed to satisfy the validation parameters. To address this issue that we know will eventually occur, we have extended our expected testing periods and will focus on faster growing plant species as well as more fragile plant species to accelerate the test.

Dangers in the circuitry of the device may also come to fruition due to the multitude of sensors, fans, heaters/coolers, etc. needed to provide functionality. Drawing high peak currents from wall outlets will sometimes be needed and will yield the highest risk of electrical fires and catastrophe. Though any one single item is of little difficulty to implement, we must be extra diligent when combining these parts as to reduce any chances of electronics failure. This fact is reverberated with the necessity of having a watering system integrated within close proximity to the core electronics. To alleviate the issue, we look towards compartmentalization and insulation of necessary parts along with careful planning before implementing any design.

Though our system is relatively unique in its features and capabilities, it is reckless to ignore competitors offering similar products. Our best form of defense against this is to simply give 100% in our efforts in addressing the previous risks and to make Gaia the best that it can be.

5.3. Benefits

Plenty of areas will benefit from the successful completion of Gaia. We expect that our system, when used correctly, will save money, improve user health, and even expand the growing capabilities of those without access to open land.

From using the automated plant care system, users aiming to keep fragile, expensive flowers will ensure a beautiful display that functions to improve the longevity of the plant with its 24/7 care. Consequently, the rate at which these delicate and extravagant species need to be replaced will be kept to a minimum without completely removing the joy of owning one. Given the relative cost of owning Gaia versus losing such luxurious plants due to negligence, the device will certainly pay for itself and then some.

There is also a clear advantage to using our system in regards to caring for plant species that require non-room temperatures. Without the isolated temperature control provided by our design, would-be-growers would have to heat or cool entire rooms to the plant’s desirable temperature in order to maintain the health of the plant. The wasted resources required to heat or cool excess space is directly translated to wasting money and negatively impacting our global efforts to reduce energy consumption.

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The improvement of the quality of a user’s health is without a doubt, a feature that must not be overlooked. Not only is Gaia a beautiful addition to a home, its capability to grow edible produce indoors provides the user with a steady stream of fresh foods. Additionally, growing plants indoors is known to have an air purifying effect [13]. With the ideal conditions generated by Gaia, relatively faster growth will increase photosynthesis, which in turn increases the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by the target plant. Depending on the species, various other toxins such as formaldehyde, benzene, and carbon monoxide may also be absorbed. By definition, toxins are known to have adverse health effects to which the end result of running Gaia will be hugely beneficial in reducing.

An unavoidable aspect of the growing modern world is the mass existence of dwellings that contain no farmable land. One of the most prominent examples being condominiums that densely pack hundreds over a relatively small plot of land. Individuals living in such areas have little and often no access to their own plot of land therefore disallowing any productive farming abilities. Complemented with Gaia, there would always be sufficient resources for produce to prosper. Shielded from the potentially harsh elements of the outdoors, indoor gardening with the supplementation of Gaia, becomes a year-round possibility. These valuable aspects of Gaia will bring about a positive change to individuals, and encourage a sustainable way of life.

6. Company Details

Applied Agricultural Innovations was founded in 2017 with five senior engineering students. Our mission is to research and develop sustainable, safe, and reliable products to help people better their lives.

Ming-Chen Chiang is in charge of overall project management and final decision-making. Philip Tang is responsible for technical support and project implementation. Jennifer Cheung is in charge of company cooperation and weekly reports. Feng Yu Hung is responsible for product and UI design. YanFang Sun is in charge of project budget, company finances and marketing.

Ming-Chen (Daphne) Chiang -- Chief Executive Officer

Ming-Chen Chiang is a fifth year Engineering Science student majoring in Computer Engineering. She is highly attentive to detail and has experienced in managing many engineering projects. She has one year of industry experience from Tantalus System Corp. Working as technical support with direct Project Managers interactions allowed her to develop strong interpersonal and communication skills as well as programming skills. She participated both front end and back end iOS app development. She has programming experience in diverse languages such as C/C++, SQL, Bash, Python, Objective-c, and html.

Philip Tang -- Chief Technology Officer

Philip Tang is a fourth-year student majoring in Systems Engineering. In his academic career at Simon Fraser University, he has completed a broad array of technical projects ranging from a C++ based lexical analyzer, VHDL defined RISC microprocessor, and even a real world air

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hockey robot modelled in Solidworks. He has previously worked at Istuary Innovation Labs as a Firmware Engineer for SSD technology and at Global Relay as a Quality Assurance Analyst for web QA. The two distinct work experiences have bolstered his skills in creative problem solving, professional communication, and adapting to different situations. He hopes to leverage all his invaluable skills into making the project a success.

Jennifer Cheung -- Chief Operating Officer

Jennifer Cheung is a fifth-year student majoring in Systems Engineering. Throughout her educational career, she has developed strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills from team projects and individual work. She has previously worked in Beanworks as a test co-op and CIBC as a test analyst. These two working experiences give her a better understanding of daily operations. Furthermore, she is familiar with hardware, software, and automated testing.

Feng Yu (Jerry) Hung -- Chief Design Officer

Feng Yu Hung is a fifth-year Engineering Science student majoring in Electronics Engineering. His strength lies in analog and digital circuits, mechanical design, and Spice Simulation. He has experience with feedback systems from schoolwork and also works in Gumstix Research Canada as an Embedded system developer. With his advanced knowledge of system structure and circuit simulation he hopes to add the concept of sustainability, safety, and reliability to the design of products.

YanFang Sun -- Chief Financial Officer

YanFang Sun is a fifth-year student majoring in Electronics Engineering. She has co-op experience with Simon Fraser University engineering lab as a research assistant, where she developed participants' analytical and research skills. Furthermore, she worked in Tantalus System Corp as technical support for a year. She hopes her skills will bring more accurate

market survey and financial information to the company. Also, she is familiar with FPGA implementation with VHDL or assembly language and database programming by SQL.

7. Conclusion

Gaia will be a stylish, compact device capable of providing the appropriate care in order for plants of all types to flourish. Its self-monitoring features and water, light, and temperature systems are capable of adapting to any environment for any plant, ensuring that it will flower and grow healthy even when the owners are unavailable. With Gaia’s capabilities, such a device will be a strong competitor in the gardening enthusiasts market. AAI is a capable company with the skills and experience more than prepared to make Gaia a reality.

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