Replacement server infrastructure for the Plantcube from Agrilution.
The Plantcube is an indoor greenhouse with functions for watering, cooling and lighting. It was created and manufactured by the company Agrilution. Agrilution closed down its business as of 2023-06-30. Before closing down, Agrilution offered to buy back Plantcubes.
We own a Plantcube since 2020 and we're very satisfied with it. We therefore didn't want to make use of Agrilution's buy-back offer. Agrilution claimed that it would not be possible to operate the Plantcube after they shut down, as it was "a closed ecosystem" that could only work with their app. This is inaccurate. It's possible to continue operating the Plantcube without Agrilution.
Fragen oder Kontaktaufnahmen auf Deutsch sind herzlich willkommen.
These pages were originally in German in the hope of attracting other Plantcube owners who might be interested in continued operation. Since I've received no contact from other Plantcube owners and since it's easier for me to write in English, I've switched to using English.
Continued operation of the Plantcube is possible without Agrilution. It won't (at least to start with) be as convenient or as polished as with the app and it'll need some technical knowledge.
My project plan is as follows:
- Remove the Plantcube controller PCB from the device. Take photos and trace connections.
- Read the firmware out of the processors.
- Modify the configuration of the ESP8266 processor to allow decrypted monitoring of the Plantcube's communication with the outside world.
- Monitor that communication.
- Reverse-engineer the firmware of the processors sufficiently to understand the communication.
- Develop a replacement server component to allow continued operation of the Plantcube.
As of 2023-07-30, steps 1-5 are finished. I don't have a firm schedule for step 6, but I'm working on it now.
If you (still) own a Plantcube, please contact me! Write to jon<remove this and replace with an At sign>siliconcircus.com
The following pages describe various aspects of the Plantcube's operation:
Agrilution and Plantcube are Trademarks of Agrilution Systems GmbH or its legal successor(s). The marks are used here solely for the purpose of identification.
According to Article 6 of the European Software Directive, the information on these pages may only be used to independently develop software that's interoperable with the Plantcube. Use of the information for other purposes (e.g. developing a competing product) is not permitted.