Hi everyone,

I am Marcos, a software engineer who has worked primarily in embedded systems across South America and Europe. I am currently based in Toulouse, France.

What am I building?

I am building a smart summer assistant called "Summer Sidekick" that uses Vision AI to help summer travelers manage the feeding of their pets and plants while they are away. This system ensures that pets and plants are fed properly and on time, allowing users to enjoy their vacation without worry. The entire system will be composed of actuators to trigger the food and water dispensers. For pets, AI algorithms will detect the pet's presence and food and water levels. For plants, their health will be monitored, as well as ensuring their water needs are met.

Why does this project matter to me?

Some summer travels can turn into a nightmare when organizing care for your companions (plants and pets) while you are away. Especially this summer, I will need to travel for almost 40 days far from home, and currently, there is no long-term solution that collects detailed information about pet presence and plant health to adapt their food and water needs. Additionally, this project is an opportunity to improve my skills in artificial intelligence at the edge.

What problem does it aim to solve?

This project tackles a problem that often arises during long-term summer vacations: feeding beloved companions (pets and plants). As a bonus, gathering further information about pet activity and plant health could ensure that vacations are more relaxing.

Where do you think you’ll get started?

Over the next few weeks, I will explore and adapt models from Axelera Models Zoo that could handle these plant and pet-related problems. In parallel, I will focus on hardware provisioning for specific tasks, including hardware integration with water and food dispenser components.

I am very excited to connect with the community and share both the good and bad experiences that will arise during this challenge.