For ARM Kickstarter Week I interviewed Kaido Kert about his brand new Kickstarter project called Blossom. I was personally interested in this project because I have a couple of highly dysfunctional sprinkler controllers at my house that have been nothing but trouble so really wanted to hear the back story on Blossom.
Kaido and his co-founder Manrique met whilst working at Skype and they had a conversation about sprinklers when Manrique saw them going off in the rain, this is an image many of us have seen and probably though the same thing; it was one of those classic “there must be a better way” moments.
This time though was different from those fleeting thoughts we often have because Manrique the business guy and Kaido the engineer decided to do something about it. So for the past 2 years they have worked on Blossom and it launched on Kickstarter on November 16, 2014.
A sprinkler system is actually a very simple network and some would say a dumb one (people like me), but it’s also a almost perfect example of an Internet of Things (IoT) application with real-world benefits for not just the gardener and her wallet, but the planet. The concept is simple; if it’s raining or about to rain, then the cloud connected controller gets local weather data and doesn’t run. In the more intelligent version we can apply algorithms which carefully meter the water being used based on environmental conditions, time of day and any feedback from moisture sensors. Depending upon where you live there are huge issues around water use and waste. Nobody should see sprinklers going off in the rain ever again!
Kaido knew the design has to be cloud connected so it was self-evident to him they needed a 32-bit controller, 8-bit wasn’t going to hack it and a COTS Embedded Linux board was way too expensive to get the end-user price under $200. They knew very quickly by looking at block diagrams and system functionality that an ARM Cortex-M solution would work, but which one? They looked at the Cortex-M3 family and found a highly integrated version from Marvell, saving them time and development costs. Marvell gave them a module with the WiFi chip, antenna and MCU all tightly integrated. Marvell also gave them a full software stack and RTOS for basic tasks and primitives. On the software development side Marvel offers an SDK with C libraries and useful tools. Kaido and his team leveraged the software from Marvell to expedite their design and implementation.
The Blossom team went through several prototypes (all parts coming from Digi-Key) until they came up with the idea to add powerline networking to the device because the controller can be far away from the home network. Powerline connectivity has been a sleeper technology to me but Kaido and his team were able to design a robust solution using a Homeplug chip from Qualcomm (ARM9-based).
The physical design of the system has been done in-house by the team with prototype PCB’s built by CircuitLogic and heavy use of 3D printing for the housing. The team looked at US-based manufacturing, but the cost equation for volume pointed them to Asia and they went with Accton. The Blossom is designed to be mounted outdoors and has the power supply built in which is also neat (its IP54 rated to meet environmental conditions of outdoor deployments).
Another clever innovation is the Blossom has no external controls; everything is done through the App.
Depending solely on the App may sound odd at first but in my experience the user interface on most irrigation controllers is archaic at best and bizarre on others. The irrigation controller industry has stubbornly hung on to the old dials and single displays for too many years and Blossom is their “innovators dilemma” nightmare come true. I believe this is the main reason we see so many sprinklers going off in the rain because the controllers are just so darn hard to use. Many homeowners have their irrigation set up by a landscaper and then it’s forgotten, I suspect some people don’t even know where their controller is! Even if they knew where it was, the interface is so hard to use they may just turn it off or call the landscaper back. Kaido thinks Blossom has the potential for homeowners to take back their gardens and make a dent in the water challenges we have in places like California.
Blossom is a microcosm of several mega-trends in technology coming together, highly integrated inexpensive hardware (from Marvell in this case), robust home networking connectivity through Powerline, Smartphone ubiquity and crowdfunding for good ideas. These forces are much larger than most casual observers of tech realize and will bring about a revolution in how products are not just designed but the whole ecosystem of manufacturing and distribution. Like all seismic shifts in an industry they tend to start small and are under the radar of most people but they can have a massive impact on the lives of everyone. There is some skepticism creeping into commentary of the Internet of Things but products like Blossom will make the IoT a reality much faster than the skeptics realize.
You can go and get the full Blossom story over on their Kickstarter page and I am seriously considering getting one at the “holiday offer” pricing of $129. It’s a heck of a lot of cool technology and clever design for the money.