After exposing it to the monsoon for a season, the template is now nicely rusted. Next, I'm going to add a box to the back to house neopixels and other electronics so that soil conditions can be communicated using LIGHT!
This template was designed in Fusion 360 and exported on a plasma cutter. This will eventually house microelectronics that will communicate soil and weather conditions using neopixels (programmable LEDs) that will shine selectively through the tree roots and leaves. Thus far, I've only cut the template out of 10- and 16- gage mild steel and am currently allowing it to rust in outdoors. (This was Inspired by Don Cue's Sunset Clock). Here is the project that will host this eventually: https://xerocraft.org/projects/119-communicating-soil-moisture-with-light-and-sound .
After exposing it to the monsoon for a season, the template is now nicely rusted. Next, I'm going to add a box to the back to house neopixels and other electronics so that soil conditions can be communicated using LIGHT!