Transcription of the thoughts I got regarding preparation for this:
I want to discuss the flow and presentation for my pitch, including the specific words and key terms I should use. I need to present in a way that considers that the judges might be knowledgeable about the field and are also proactive thinkers, though I won't know their background for sure.
To give you some context, tomorrow is my SIH presentation day at our college. I'll briefly explain our idea. The part I'm confused about how to present is a conflict we have with the problem statement. We didn't choose the problem statement first; we had a previous project called Krishibodh, which is a CNC-based machine that automates everything inside a polyhouse—from seeding and watering each plant to monitoring and managing every system. Our vision is to completely automate the polyhouse.
Now, the problem statement we have to address is: "Implementation of smart agriculture for efficient cultivation in the hilly regions of Sikkim," provided by the Government of Sikkim.
In Sikkim's hilly regions, the climate is notoriously hard to predict. If it rains, it rains heavily; if it doesn't, there's no water at all. This is the reality. Additionally, the terraced farming on these hills makes cultivation even more challenging, and they need to use water as carefully as possible. We had to figure out a solution for this.
We could have proposed a machine with tires to navigate the hilly terrain. Or, we could have developed software to monitor water levels in harvesting ponds. We even could have created a system that sends weather alerts and crop suggestions to farmers. But in reality, these kinds of solutions often don't get implemented. Many such projects have been proposed before, but none have actually been deployed to help the farmers on the ground.
So, we thought about a practical way to solve this problem. Our solution might seem distant from the initial problem statement, but it actually addresses the core issues. How? We are proposing the implementation of polyhouses. This is the most viable way for farmers to be profitable and grow crops successfully. Why? Because inside a polyhouse, the entire climate is controlled. Even with manual labor, the environment is managed.
Our plan is to take this one step further: to completely automate these polyhouses and introduce them to regions like Sikkim. Think about it: a fully automated polyhouse where you can grow any horticultural crop. While there might be minor human intervention, a completely automated system isn't limited to just Sikkim. It can be replicated anywhere. What I mean is, it's scalable. Because the entire environment inside the polyhouse is controlled, automating it opens up incredible possibilities. This is what we are working on.
Now, the conflict is how to present this. If I explain it this way, the judges will understand that we aren't just making another simple software that sends alerts to farmers. We are creating a comprehensive system. Those features—like alerts and daily reports—are secondary benefits. The polyhouse owners will get reports at the end of each day stating, for example, how many plants are ready for harvest, that the current water level is sufficient for the next 10 days, or that the tank needs refilling. We are planning to include all of these things.
The core of our system, as I explained, is a CNC-based bot that runs on a track. It has various capabilities. Our current prototype includes a moisture sensor to check the soil and a targeted watering system. We are planning to add many more features.