Brooklyn Startup Bitponics Launches the Next Great, Green Innovation for Urban Gardening in the Cloud

Bitponics Personal Gardening Assistant System Automates Hydroponic Growing to Improve and Simplify Urban Gardening for the Masses

Who would have thought that two computer geeks transplanted from California to Brooklyn, New York would come together to create the next great, green innovation for urban gardening in the cloud?  Well that is exactly what happened when Amit Kumar teamed up with Michael Zick Doherty to create Bitponics, a base station monitoring device and an online dashboard and website that work synergistically in the cloud to simplify hydroponic gardening for everyone.

Amit (left) has been a software engineer for 7 years and a plant lover for 20. He's delivered code for companies including Nike, Verizon, and Barnes & Noble.  Michael (right) is a recent graduate of ITP,  and is currently active in several urban agriculture initiatives in NYC and teaches physical computing, software programming, and alternative methods for growing in urban environments. 
Watch Amit and Michael explain Bitponics

Plug in and logon to Bitponics, the first ever integrated cloud based hydroponic automation growing system. Designed to be an add-on to any existing hydroponics system, Bitponics will simplify and automate the urban home garden by managing the plants' needs, incorporating a crowdsourced online database for best practices and sending even the most inexperienced, urban hydroponics gardener, friendly and convenient reminders.

A prototype of the Bitponics device.  Sponsored post by Bitponocs.

"We created this project for everyone that loves plants, for people just starting their first garden and for old pros with experiences to share.  In addition to helping people manage their own garden, we want to create that sense of community that gardens have always offered. A place for people to learn from each other, but with the knowledge structured in a smart way so it's super-easy for people to model their garden on proven successes. As the community grows, everyone's knowledge grows. And we all help each other make our world a little more green." - Amit Kumar, co-founder and lead software engineer of Bitponics.

Sensors in your garden send reading to your account on the Bitponic's website.  The Bitponic's website processes the information and sends alerts back to your device to control things like lights and pumps.

Created for people with the greenest of thumbs as well as for those who have never even tried gardening, let alone hydroponic gardening, Bitponics is on the verge of delivering urban gardening success to the masses.  You simply input information about your hydroponic growing setup and what plants you're growing and it provides you with a plan of action on how to achieve the best possible results. You can track your results and even share your experiences with other users, so that we all help each other become better gardeners.

The Bitponics Dashboard in your account, where you can see real-time data from all of your sensors and manage your growing plan.

"Bitponics is a path into the future of urban home gardening. Through the development of open source technologies, we are making it possible for urban gardeners to care for their plants while they're away.  Growing hydroponically is more than just about providing free food to your home-it is also about the educational experience that allows us to reconnect with what we eat, empowering us to eat healthy and protect our environment. It is also a great way for students in the classroom to use hydroponics as an applied method of understanding sciences such as biology and chemistry. They can see in real time the changes in the plants environment and how this correlates to plant growth." - Michael Zick Doherty, co-founder and lead hardware engineer of Bitponics.

 Click above to visit the Bitponocs Kickstarter page

With help from the Kickstarter community, the world's largest funding platform for creative projects, Bitponics is on its way to raise $20,000 by June 11, 2012 to help finance initial manufacturing costs. Future collaborations are on the horizon with New York community based groups and startups as well as a growing interest in developing education tools to incorporate in schools or community centers.  If necessary funding is achieved through Kickstarter, the service should be up and running by December.  

I have lent my financial support and you can click the green button to lend yours!

To learn more check out Amit and Michael in this brief video. To lend your support, please visit the Bitponics Kickstarter page or click the green button above.