Final Project Journal
Project Ideation
1- Tell us about the idea of your project. Why do you care about this? What were you inspired by? Include images and videos of similar projects
plant saver
At first, my idea was inspired by the Go Green initiative, an initiative that was founded by students of the Faculty of Medicine at Benha University and I am one of its volunteer members. The initiative aims to spread awareness-raising ideas about how to preserve the environment and make it more sustainable.
While searching for an idea for my project, I came across a post on the initiative's page that talks about the importance of home farming and the presence of a green corner in every home.
The stage of creating any project begins with me by first looking for a problem for the producer to solve,
I thought about what hinders anyone from responding to this positive action that the post was aiming at, and to plant even simple plants on his balcony, and I found it really a responsibility and that it is very likely that people who are tied to certain work schedules for long periods or travel in a continuous way, could not They bear the responsibility of a living organism such as a plant, and they cannot take care of it and follow up on its need for irrigation, and it may be overlooked. When I did a research I found that there are really people suffering from this problem.
Therefore, I decided that my project would be a simple product that contributes to facilitating this act for people to encourage them to do it through some of the tasks that it performs. His name is (plant savior)
Its main task is for this product to sense the moisture of the soil to know its need of water, and then irrigate it only as much as it needs and without wasting water.
Project Construction
2- Explain the CAD process of your project. How did you use the software to design your project? (List the softwares/tools/materials...etc that you used)
-Software
fritzing (I used it to design the electronic circuit)
fusion (Product design and electronic inclusion before implementation)
illustrator (Graphic and design for an aesthetic plus to enhance the look of the design.)
laserwork (Preparing the file and sending the laser cutting machine)
ِARDUINO
-Materilas
wood 3,2mm
paint sprai
machines
Electronics
Arduino uno
Adaptor 9v
Mini water pump 6v
soil sensor
Motor driver L298N
I started drawing the design on Fusion,
The first part was the back of the design.
It was a circle and two lines touching the circle to form the shape of a water drop.
Then I made an extrude of 2.3 mm, which is the thickness of the wood used
The second step is to make an extrude with a thickness of 5cm and make Inclusion of electronics in the design
I included the electronics on the front face of the design to make sure it would fit the size
And I increased the dimensions of the design more until it became suitable for electronics
-At first, I planned to have the motor inside the product, and a hose would come out of it to draw water and another hose to expel and pour water, but it turned out that the motor used would be a submersible motor.
That is, it must be submerged in the water tank to draw and then expel the water from the designated hose.
So I removed the pump from inside the product and put the Arduino, the bread Board and the motor driver that will connect to the motor.
Using the Grabcad website, I uploaded files of electronics designs to make sure that they would fit the design
I modified the dimensions of my design based on it
living hang
living hangs design
Designing the thickness of the design using living hangs and making some holes for the passage of the USB and the adapter inside the Arduino installed inside the product.
-It was initially designed as a single piece, but I discovered that its length would be longer than the wood blade that the laser machine works on.
So I had to split it into two separate parts
assembly stage
First I made an extrude of 5 cm for the first sketch that ,
This will be the true thickness of the design and correspond to the dimensions of the components used.
Then I made another sketch identical to the first sketch, but slightly more than it in dimensions, and this sketch will be the same as the real face and back of the design
While the first sketch is deleted, except for the two sides of the rectangle, in which the rest of the parts will be installed and interlocked.
In excess of the 5 cm extrude , each part has a thickness of 3 or 2 mm, which is the thickness of real wood.
Also, the circular base of the design, I made an extrude for it by 3 ,2 mm as well
Thus, all the bars were prepared for assembly and moved them until the openings and interlocks matched each other
3- Explain the fabrication process of your project. How did you use the machine to fabricate your project? (List the softwares/tools/materials...etc that you used)
software ;
laserwork program .
I inserted the dxf files into the Laser Work program and determined the speed, power and cutting positions and made sure that there was no over lapping, then I download the file to the laser machine after named it .
Then I moved to the machine and chose the file and tested the limits of the track that the machine will cut inside
Then press Run to start the cutting.
painting the parts with sprai
-parts assembly phase
First I screwed the components to the back of the design using screws and nuts 3m.
I drilled holes for the screws in the design with an electric drill.
Then I installed the interlocks inside some of them to complete the design, and when I discovered slight differences or anything that hindered the installation, I used sandpaper and chiller to expand some areas.
Bread board I installed using screws and attached to it using Zip-Ties.
Project Electronics & Power Management
4- Describe your electronic circuit. What are the input and action components? What is the function of each? How do the components integrate together to form your smart system? (List the softwares/tools/components...etc that you used)
Arduino uno
Adaptor 9v
Mini water pump 6v
soil sensor
Motor driver L298N
I tried a lot to use fritzing in designing the circuit but I can't find the motor driver that I actually used to show how to connect the pins
So I will try to explain it through a simple sketch.
First, I connected the positive terminal of the adapter to the 12-volt terminal on the motor driver
And the negative terminal of the GND adapter on the motor driver, along with it on the same pin, is another wire connected to the GND on the Arduino.
.And the 5 volts in the motor driver were connected to the A0 in the Arduino
And I connected IN1 on the motor driver to Pin 2 on the Arduino
and IN2 to pin number 4 on the Arduino.
And I connected IN1 on the motor driver to Pin No. 2 on the Arduino
IN2 to pin number 4 on the Arduino
And the ends of the positive and negative motors were connected to the place designated for the first motor in the motor driver.
Then I connected the two ends of the sensor to its module, and from the other side of the module three wires came out
The VCC was recommended for the positive grade on the breadboard
-GND to GNDVon Arduino
And the last wire was connected to pin 6
The purpose of this circuit is for the sensor to sense the value of soil moisture, and on its basis it operates the pump to irrigate the plant, and this is controlled through programming.
-clearly the soil sensor is my input and the pump is my only output .
5- What is your power source? How did you select the suitable power source for your project? (List the softwares/tools/components...etc that you used)
my power source is adaptor 9v
To be able to operate the 6 volt pump motor.
Project Programming
6- Describe the code of your project. How did you program each function of the project?
I started the code by defining the circuit elements and the pin number connected to them on the Arduino
Since the sensor was connected to pin number 6 and the motor to pin number 2/4
You also defined that the sensor will read certain data.
Then in void Set Up, I determined which of them is an input and which of them is an output.and And determined the condition of the motor that it is in the low position at the beginning.
In Void Loop, I defined that the data of the sensor
It will be stored in the form of reading on the sensor's bin
Then I made an if condition
I said if the sensor senses a certain reading and I called it true (meaning that the sensor is in the dry state)
So the pump is running
Otherwise, the pump is turned off.
Then I created another function through which to control the direction of the motor
Where when it is running, one of the two directions is towing and the other to being expelled, so one of them is high and the other is low
In the event that the pump is stopped, both directions will be low
Project Integration & Testing
7- Demonstrate with text and visuals how did you integrate the project’s modules together? What are the testing results? (Include a Demo video separately, showing a proof of functionality)
When bringing the components, I tested each one of them first, then chose the whole circuit.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/nPvwLDNMY6Zy1KP78
I first connected the sensor to its module and connected them to the Arduino and tested it through a very simple code that prints the value of the moisture in the soil on the serial monitor.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/DUQu96VgVGa9pCf29
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7pdtyS8XFSzeV8yYA
I tested the code and connected in this way. I brought a dish with water and a cup of water and put the motor in the dish to be the water source from which the motor will be drawn and also will be expelled in it so that the cycle does not run out. On the other hand, I tested the sensor by placing it in the water cup (meaning that it is in the wet position) and then I lift it from the cup, which means that it is in the dry position.
The motor was running in the dry mode of the sensor and stopped in the wet mode.
-Then I tested the operation of the motor using the motor driver on the Arduino alone
Sharing & Collaboration
8- Did you ask for feedback? What are the ideas that others have contributed or suggested? What was someone else’s idea that you built upon? How did you help your peers? How did your peers help you?
Yes, I actually asked my friends about the feedback
They really liked the design and the way it was painted and coloured
Also, eng/ Ahmed Ibrahim told me that the design is simple and this is a good thing
He was also following me while I was making sketches and prototypes in cartoons and suggested that the face and back of the design be a little bit inked from the space of the components. Indeed, I found this better.
He also corrected some minor errors in the code.
Rashida and Menna also helped me shoot the project test video.
On the week that is before the evaluation of the project. I used to go to the lab almost every day to correct some errors and re-cut on the laser machine. Also, one of my goals was to exchange experiences with my colleagues and to learn from some of the mistakes they face if they were in an advanced stage than me, and also to ask the specialists about any problem I faced related to the design and the possibility of its implementation.
I really benefited from all of them and they helped me a lot
Rashida and Menna also helped me film the project test.
Overcoming Challenges
9- When you got stuck, what/who did you turn to? At what point did you have to pause to research or learn more before moving on? What are some mistakes, pitfalls, or challenges that others can avoid if they were doing this project?
I had a big challenge taking the real length of the sheet that represents the thickness of the design
I tried cutting it on the machine more than once and it didn't fit until the fourth time
Some of my friends advised me to use Sheet Metal on Fusion, but it didn't adjust to my design
Therefore, when cutting was repeated more than once on the laser machine and the assemblies were not adjusted due to slight differences, I would calculate these differences again manually and re-design them on the program until it became suitable, and this is not recommended.
It turns out that all these errors can be avoided from the beginning of the design if I know that this problem will face me.
Future Work
10- If you had more time, what is one thing you would change/ Do next in your project?
In the next step, I will supply a water level sensor in the tank and a speaker to give an alert if the water level drops too much and is about to run out.