Santa Clara, California based start up Plaid Systems have developed a new connected home irrigation system that taps into the SmartThings platform to help water yards and gardens more efficiently.
‘Eve’ is system’s main controller, which handles the load of connecting to SmartThings to acceess the weather forecast from the Internet. Plaid Systems says, “If rain is forecasted, Eve might skip watering. For high temperatures, Eve may water a little extra – all depending on current conditions in your yard.”
Eve is connected to the sprinkler system in a home’s yard. It can also connect to up to 16 “Adam” wireless moisture sensors that are each pushed in the yard itself. The company says, “Use an Adam on each zone and Eve will customize the schedule for each one independently. Or, group multiple zones to an Adam to share the heavy lifting. If you don’t have an Adam assigned to a zone, Eve will use landscape type and weather to optimize the settings for that zone.”
The end result is that Eve and Adam should allow for up to 60 percent less water use in a yard and Plaid Systems claims that savings will help pay for the smart irrigation system in as little as a year.
Built specifically to work with the SmartThings home automation hub, Eve is designed as an irrigation controller that automatically adapts to the conditions of your yard. It can manage up to 16 different watering zones of your home’s existing sprinkler system. You can control each zone individually from your smart phone or tablet, or let Eve do the scheduling for you. It’ll process data from its moisture sensor — called Adam — placed in your yard, and take into account any weather info gathered by the SmartThings hub, to give your lawn the exact amount of water it needs.
Eve, the first product by Plaid Systems, will have plenty of connected capability right from launch, including IFTTT functionality, courtesy of the existing SmartThings platform. For example, you could have your sprinklers automatically turn off whenever you open the front door, then turn back on a set amount of time later.