SOMEONE BUILT A FULLY 3D PRINTABLE IRRIGATION VALVE THAT WATERS YOUR PLANTS ONLY WHEN THEY ACTUALLY NEED IT
normal watering timers run on a fixed schedule, so they water in the rain and skip a heatwave
but this one reads the soil and decides for itself with software he vibe coded using claude code
> a soil moisture sensor checks the dirt, and if its drier than your threshold the valve opens
> water flows until the sensor detects moisture rising, then it shuts off
> so it waters more in hot weather and less after rain, without you touching anything
the valve mechanism is crazy:
> instead of a normal solenoid valve it uses a motor driven pinch valve, it squeezes a flexible tube shut, so no moving part ever touches the water
> that means it works at literally 0 bar pressure, so a rain barrel or an elevated tank is enough, no pump needed
> and it handles dirty water, algae and liquid fertiliser, because the water only ever passes through the tube
> its bistable too, so it needs no power to hold open or closed, and runs about 3 months on a single 9v battery
every custom plastic part prints on a standard 3d printer, and the threads are standard half inch bspp, so it connects to normal irrigation hardware
the whole thing is open source, the 3d models, the pcb, the bill of materials and the firmware
he even built an interactive web version of the device so you can click through every led pattern and button state before you build one
hes got units running in his own garden and in friends and family gardens through full summer seasons
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