My girlfriend loves growing succulents, but the onslaught of homework we both get makes watering them impossible. As a Christmas gift for her, I decided to make a plant for her that she could never kill in the only way that an engineer knows - with a petting-fueled flower with a face.

This flower doesn’t need water - just electricity and human touch. It specifically needs to be pet on its cap-sense enabled petals four times a day to keep its tiny face happy. If it’s happy enough, it might even leave you a secret message.

The flower itself is made out of a mix of laser cut acrylic and waterjet polished aluminum.

A teeny OLED screen mounted in the center lets the flower have emotions, like “happy flower” and “dead flower”. I don’t know how flower emotions work.

A small 3D printed base acts as a flowerpot and electronics enclosure. All of the guts are potted (haha) in clear epoxy to keep them safe.