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

My project idea is a mix between irrigation system and green house so i think it something like smart green house ... I chose this idea as i am a botanist and i love keeping plants but always i face alot of problems with plant growth so i decided to create this project to help me overcome these challenges by measuring the soil moisture and watering it and also providing uv lamp for keeping growth up and finally the protection process using pvc plastic sheet to control temp and contamination condition.

And i was inspired by two ideas as i mentioned the green house one and the irrigation system as i provide in pictures down .

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)

Actually , the cad process was the hardest one for me as i wasn't able to imagine the dimensions correctly and how they will work together ... So i started by searching for some open source project designs and chose one with living hinge but unfortunately , my laptop software didn't help me to achieve it so i changed it for the first time and created another one ... But also the dimensions weren't correct so i started again from sketch and designed this final one and fortunately it worked.

So let me share some of design 's steps with you ... First .. i used fusion to draw the expected design with dimensions (40 *20 cm) for base , top , front and back . And (40*40cm ) for two sides .

Second ... i worked on making them assembled and give them different appearance .

Third i tried to monitoring places of components using grab cad website for downloading components' files

And now they're ready for implementation process.

I used ( ink space / fusion 360/ laser work as a software ) and ( six wood sheets as a material) and ( laser cutting machine and drill as a machine )

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)

VID20210926191736.mp4

In the fabrication process ( i started with checking out that the dimensions will be correct on laser work then i downloaded the files to laser cutting machine to start ) before this i followed the machine instructions and changed the speed and power to be 75 and 15 %for cutting and 300 and 20%for scanning and as i mentioned before i used six wooden sheets .

So i used laser work as software / laser cutting machine as machine and wooden sheets as material

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VID20210925170502.mp4

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)

For electronic communications and electrical circuits i used tinker cad to design the wiring virtually and then i used the components an real ( the components were Arduino Uno / water pump / 2 relays /Moisture sensor /Plant growth lamp /ultrasonic sensor /buzzer / jumpers )

I have only one input component which is moisture sensor.

And the action ones are buzzer / ultrasonic sensor / / water pump ) with lcd as user interface component

is ( for ultrasonic sensor and buzzer they will work to measure the water level as i used a water tank which has 10 cm in height and the normal water level will be 8 cm and when it become empty and the sensor readings become >= 9 cm the buzzer will work to alarm me to full fill the tank again

( for moisture sensor we should know that moisture sensor readings in dry soil <300 and in humid one is > 300 so when the measurement become less than 300 sensor will work with pump to water plants and vice versa )

( for plant growth lamp it work with off and on switch but i coded it to be on during only 5 hours at night and off during the rest of Day ... And we should notice that it's a different lamp because it's UV radiator and will help on increasing plant growth )

( for LCD it's a user interface component when you can always find the readings of moisture sensor ( moisture value ) and ultrasonic sensor ( water level ) )

Actually , they integrate together to create the smart green house in the sequence i described above )

lcd readings

VID20210919171123.mp4

ultrasonic sensor + buzzer

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water pump +moisture sensor

my laptop has a problem so i sketched the circuit on paper

moisture sensor connection

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)

The power supply ( i used 5 V power supply for my project because it's the most suitable voltage for the all components ( moisture sensor which need 3.3 to 5 v / ultrasonic sensor which need 5V / water pump which needs 5- 12 v / buzzer which needs 1.5- 25 V/ LCD 3.3 - 5V ) so it was the perfect for the all of them ...but i used a separated voltage for my plant growth lamp which need at least 220 V so i connected it directly with the power source )

Project Programming

6- Describe the code of your project. How did you program each function of the project?

(my code was a simple one with a regular logic started with the order of serial print for moisture and ultrasonic sensor )

Then i put the code for moisture sensor which depends on the sensor readings ( and according to these readings the pump will water the plant in specific times (here i used if / else condition )

Then i put the code for ultrasonic sensor with logic ( when the distance "x" become more than or equal 9 the buzzer will work ) and also here i used if / else condition

Finally , i worked on lamp 's code but we used a new function which is milliseconds as i want my lamp to only work for 5 hours on night then be off so we used these functions to calculate the time with milliseconds (60 *1000 for one second )

Note to test my wiring connection i code the lamp to work for only one second and then closed .

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)

As you see before that each two components work together to create a function so they actually integrated together as a software ) but for the physical integration i started with the base and then using nails i make joints between it and the two sides ... Then i added the back and front part and also used nails to joining them then the time for electronic components come so i put arduino and each parts in their places but i faced a plobleme because their are too many jumpers so i used plaster to collect the pinned jmper together to facilitate the pry

The testing results were successful when i created the circuit for the first time and when i integrated it with the wooden enclosure but unfortunately , while finishing the integration process i faced a problem with one of my relays and after and the whole circuit stoped and i don't know the reason till now

VID20210929125354.mp4

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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 asked for feedback and ideas when i was working on my design as i said before i started with living hinge design then i changed it to normal box with specific dimensions but there is some problems appeared while laser cutting process like the unsuitable position for T - slots and the lamp holder dimensions so i changed it again to reach the final version now.

Sincerely , my peers and instructors helped me alot to achieve my project as i had a big problem with my laptop and i need to achieve my tasks using their laptops and actually ,they provided a strong support for me ( as i used menna's laptop for two days to achieve coding and design and My college abdelrahman helped me to open my own fusion on his laptop and take screenshots ) so much thanks to them.

laptop problems

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?

Surly , i got stuck as i always . I think i got stuck on each step but also i learned more so let me tell you somethings i learned ( while coding process i started with moisture sensor code which was simple and then i started ultrasonic sensor code and i faced a problem as the sensor didn't see water and considered it as a vacuum so the measurements was wrong but when i searched to overcome this problem i found that if i make the distance between the sensor and the water surface very small the sensor can work correctly and get accurate readings

( let me tell you another thing which is milliseconds code we used to calculate the working ( off/on) period for lamp and with the help of my instructor menna )

( also while laser cutting process i tried to insert a colorful pictures to my design after converting it to dxf file but i discovered if i need a good scanning pictures on my wooden design i need to use a white and black pictures to give you. A clear results for your work )

white and black like this one and you can find the other things ( millis code and ultrasonic for water level in files and videos i shared

Future Work

10- If you had more time, what is one thing you would change/ Do next in your project?

I made a lot of mistakes actually so i will mention what i can here ( while designing process please make sure that all dimensions and things are ok / and please try to make every sketch fully defined to be able to change the dimensions freely when you need .. believe me it's a very important point / please try to have a lot time to try and try and try without getting panic as you are dealing with the concept of trial and error itself )

Final Project Design Files

part 1 (stl)

part 2(stl)

base (dxf)

back 1( dxf)

final project (dxf)

top (dxf)

side (dxf)

picture design (rld)