Students Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus) tirelessly come up with innovations through a government program known as the ‘Karsa Cipta’ Student Creativity Program. Three students consisting of Engineering Faculty Students developed a new technological breakthrough, namely the Portable Hydroponic system equipped with the hydroton automatic dispenser.
This system was developed through the Student Creativity Program participated by those three students not long ago. This program was initiated by the Directorate of Education and Community Service with the aim of improving the quality possessed by students from various universities in Indonesia. Thus, students will be able to possess a high level of academic skills and implement those abilities to the general public.
Agung Wisnu Pratama, the Chief of the Software and Hardware Developer Team, explained that this program pushed him to creatively think about creating beneficial yet innovative solutions.
“Currently, we are involved in the ‘Karsa Cipta’ Student Creativity Program, which focuses on contributing to problem-solving processes and innovations. This program truly fits our field of expertise, engineering,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Aries Jehan Tamamy M.Sc. Eng., a faculty member, realized that the Portable Hydroponic system invented by Engineering students still had a long way to go.
“We will always instruct these students to keep improving and optimizing the Portable Hydroponic system so that they can give better and more efficient solutions,” he hoped.
To put it simply, the Student Creativity Program is basically a competition in which the participants are obliged to write the best proposal regarding various things, including research, community services, entrepreneurship, and technological innovations. Participants who pass this phase will be granted incentive funding, and the best proposal will participate in the next phase.
A Solution for Home Gardening
Anyone new to hydroponic utilization could use this Portable Hydronic system as a practical solution. Annas Faiz, a Software and Hardware Developer Team member said that his team’s innovation was equipped with a feature known as ‘Nutritional Automatic Dispenser,’ which would make gardening more efficient. Additionally, its small size supports gardening in various spaces, encompassing small spaces and big ones.
“Through this system, we would like to give solutions regarding food expiration, particularly in the scope of household, and this system could also mitigate inflation impact in a smaller environment,” he explained.
The Portable Hydroponic System also offered various conveniences. Annas added that his team’s product was capable of utilizing a hydroton planting medium, which means that the users could operate this system repeatedly with various plants.
“That is why our target market mainly consists of those who are passionate about home gardening with efficient effort and maximum benefits,” Annas added.
Ivone Adeline, a team member who was also an IoT Developer, added that they had integrated the system with a sensor to help users conduct an inspection. The users will not have to measure the parameter manually, but they can simply look at the sensor using a smartphone.
“The Nutritional Sensor Dispenser could also serve as a prominent feature as it could control plants’ nutrition automatically. The system will quickly adapt to the nutrition concentration preferred by the users,” she concluded.
