Dalian University of Technology launches plant Guardian labor project
The project transitions plant care from manual labor to automated oversight, integrating artificial intelligence with hands-on education across changing seasons.
From Outdoor Nurseries to Winter Shelters
The “Four Seasons Plant Guardian” project operates across an annual cycle that includes plant maintenance, seasonal migration, intelligent care, and a spring return to outdoor plots. During the spring, summer, and autumn months, students plant flowers, water them, handle pruning, and track growth patterns directly in the college nursery.
Before winter arrives, students move cold-sensitive flowers into the community maker space within the college’s innovation and entrepreneurship center. Once inside, the plants connect to the student-built smart maintenance system. When spring returns, the vegetation goes back to the outdoor plots. This cycle turns the growth of a single plant into a continuous educational carrier that runs throughout the entire year.
Three-Tier Technical Loop for Automated Care
The core of the project is an experimental setup that monitors and controls a single potted plant. Students combined environmental monitoring, artificial intelligence, and automated control into an integrated setup featuring a three-tier technical loop of perception, decision-making, and execution.
The perception layer relies on sensors to track soil conditions, air quality, and light levels in real time, measuring temperature, humidity, and acidity. The decision-making system uses artificial intelligence to process these data streams and formulate care strategies, which then pass local safety validation checks. Finally, the execution layer operates water pumps, ventilation fans, and plant growth lights to carry out precise maintenance tasks.
The team previously tested this infrastructure on cherry tomato cultivation before expanding its application to the nursery flowers facing winter weather.
Integrating Technology with Core Educational Missions
University leadership notes that the initiative connects labor education with ideological instruction, academic disciplines, and innovation training. The framework combines classroom instruction, campus practice, and scientific research training into a unified educational system.