Edenic

Bluelab, a New Zealand-based company, is a global leader in providing growers with the tools and technology they need to optimize water-based plant growing systems. Their range of high-quality products, including pH pens, pH tests, digital soil pH meters, and pH sensors, empowers growers to achieve peak performance and elevate the art of growing. Bluelab is driven by a vision of a healthier world, characterized by reduced pesticide use, minimized water consumption, and fewer food miles, contributing to a more sustainable and environmentally conscious approach to agriculture.

To further this vision, Bluelab partnered with Atomic Labs, a leading software development company, to transform their business requirements into a cutting-edge global SaaS platform. This platform would unlock the full potential of Bluelab’s hardware products, providing growers with valuable insights and control over their growing environments.

Atomic Labs was tasked with collaborating with Bluelab’s in-house development team to design and build this global, integrated SaaS platform. The key challenges included:

• Scalability and Global Reach: The platform needed to handle data from growers worldwide, requiring a robust and scalable architecture.
• Hardware Integration: Seamless integration with Bluelab’s existing hardware products was crucial to provide a unified user experience.
• Real-time Data Processing: The platform needed to ingest, process, and analyze time-series data in real-time to provide growers with immediate feedback and insights.
• Offline Functionality: Recognizing that growers may not always have reliable internet connectivity, the platform needed to offer offline capabilities for essential tasks.
• Cross-Platform Compatibility: Reaching a broad user base required support for web, Android, and iOS platforms. The Solution: A Cloud-Native Platform Powered by AWS and Kubernetes

Atomic Labs embarked on a prototyping phase to identify the optimal technologies and solution architecture. The resulting platform leverages the power of the AWS cloud, Kubernetes for container orchestration, and a suite of microservices to efficiently collect, process, and analyze time-series data at scale. Key features of the solution include:

• AWS and Kubernetes: These technologies provide the foundation for a scalable and reliable cloud-based infrastructure, capable of handling large volumes of data and supporting a global user base.
• Microservices Architecture: The platform’s microservices architecture ensures flexibility, maintainability, and independent scaling of individual components.
• Remote Control Capabilities: The platform enables growers to remotely monitor and control their growing environments, providing greater flexibility and responsiveness.
• Real-time Streaming Data: The platform processes and displays data in real-time, giving growers immediate insights into their growing conditions.
• Offline Functionality: Critical tasks can be performed offline, ensuring growers can manage their operations even without internet access.
• Flutter Development: Using Flutter, Atomic Labs developed web, Android, and iOS applications from a single codebase, ensuring consistent user experiences across platforms and reducing development time.
• Agile Development Methodology: The project was delivered using agile methodologies, fostering close collaboration between Atomic Labs and Bluelab’s in-house software and hardware teams.
• The Outcome and Value: Empowering Growers Worldwide

The collaboration between Bluelab and Atomic Labs resulted in a powerful, cloud-based solution that empowers growers to optimize their water-based growing systems. The platform offers:

• Scalability: The platform can easily accommodate future growth and increasing data volumes. Hardware Integration: Seamless integration with Bluelab’s hardware products provides a unified and intuitive user experience.
• Flexibility: The platform is designed to be flexible and configurable, allowing for easy integration of future products and features.
• Enhanced Insights: Real-time data streaming and analysis provide growers with valuable insights into their growing conditions, enabling data-driven decision-making.

• Scalable cloud-based solution built on AWS and Kubernetes.
• Designed to handle large volumes of time-series data.
• Flexible and configurable platform.
• Real-time streaming data capabilities.
• Offline functionality for key tasks.
• Web, Android, and iOS applications developed from a single codebase using Flutter.
• Upskilling of Bluelab’s internal development team.

Atomic Labs designed and architected a complete scalable SaaS platform with a newly formed team and provided the exact skills, as we needed them! The expertise and knowledge of Atomic Labs enabled us to go above and beyond what we thought was possible.

Bobby Barnes

Product Owner, Bluelab