Every year the IMechE sponsors a Home Automation Challenge which provides an âopportunity for engineering apprentices to compete in an innovative design and manufacturing challenge to automate an everyday home or garden device. The apprentices compete for the top prize of £2000.
In 2019 the first prize winning team Prodigies, consisted of Meggitt apprentices William Burton and Richard Smith, and Paige Beard from DMG MORI. Their winning project: an automated irrigation system.
Their irrigation system collected rainwater and used a number of processes, such as moisture sensors and solenoid valves, to detect when certain hanging baskets needed watering, instead of watering all of them at once. The programme they created was run from a Raspberry Pi (a credit card-sized computer) and powered by a solar panel.
Besides the other teams, attendees included over 60 local school children from the concurrent STEM event, the Coventry Mayor, and IMechEâs President Joe McGeough, who presented the awards.