My name is Arin Thakkar, and I’m a sophomore in high school with an interest in artificial intelligence and applied mathematics. I love playing the guitar and diving into science fiction books in my free time. My friend Kenric, also a sophomore, shares my passion for mathematics. He’s an avid reader who can be found absorbed in anything from fiction to calculus.
Together, we are working together to solve an important problem in our community: food and nutritional insecurity.
The region of the East Bay where we live, has a total population of just over 600,000 people. Based on data from the TCV Food Bank in the tri-city area, 2% of this population is food insecure implying that 13,000 number of people do not know where their next meal is going to come from. 2% might seem insignificant, but the number is staggering when put in context of the amount of wealth in the Bay Area. How could one of the wealthiest populations of the world with one of the highest median incomes in the country, not feed its people? This is the question that drove us to build a greenhouse that would feed our community.
With both Kenric and I interested in mathematics and computer science (CS), we wanted to find a solution that helps us improve food production through math and CS. We have decided to build an automated greenhouse that keeps the plants healthy with minimal manual labor.
Our goal is to create a greenhouse that is cost-effective, easy to maintain, a produces a lot of food!
In this series of blogs, we will post updates of our work of our greenhouse. I hope you feel inspired from this project, and begin your own journey on helping your community!
Table of Contents
PS #1: Designing The Greenhouse
PS #2: The First Day
PS #3: Dome Design
PS #4: Building The Inner Wall
PS #5: Upgrading the Inner Wall
PS #6: Dome Disaster
PS #7: Getting Back on Track
PS #8: Theory Behind Wall Shape
PS #9: Completing the Main Structure
PS #10: Upgrading The Greenhouse
PS #11: Completed Hydroponics
PS #12: Hydroponics Explained
PS #13: Mini Hydroponics
PS #14: AWCD Interviews
PS #15: How Much Food can the Hydroponics System Grow?
PS #16: Wrapping the Greenhouse
PS #17: Wrapping the Greenhouse Pt. 2
PS #18: Extended Break
PS #19:
PS #20:
PS #21:
PS #22: Reinforcing the Greenhouse Walls
PS #23: Which Plant is Best for Our Hydroponics System?
PS #24: How can We Utilize Our Outside Bed?
PS #25: Brick and Order
Keep calm and keep growing!
Climate Roots 