Week 8 - Journal
Ideation
Tell us about your assignment's idea for this week. Why do you care about this idea? What inspired you? (Please include images or links to sources of inspiration)
I am inspired by the idea of controlling everything in the home from your mobile.
However this is a scary idea for me since it might breaches my privacy and put me under cyber attacks, I decided to try it and make a mini smart home using the Arduino and my smart phone.
The mini smart home contains RGB (replaces normal lights in the home), Fan and 7 Segment (replaces home tv or satellite receiver)
Tool Chain
Which software/machines/materials did you use in the assignment? Why?
I used the following components:
Arduino Uno.
RGB.
Breadboard.
Jumpers.
TinkerCad for circuit simulation.
Arduino IDE for Arduino programming.
I explained the above tools and software I used to do the assignment here.
I added to it:
HC-05 Bluetooth module for communication between the Arduino and my mobile.
Arduino BlueControl mobile app to control my Arduino wirelessly.
5 Volt DC adaptor to power the fan
Design/Preparation Process
Explain the design and/or preparation process of your assignment. How did you use the tool or software to design and/or prepare your assignment before fabrication/implementation?
Tinkercad simulation
I started the process by wiring the circuit on Tinkercad to make sure everything will fit (after adding all components I found out that a lot of wires will be there and I want to have some space, so, I decided to remove the 7 segment.
Due to unavailability of Bluetooth module I used on TinkerCad I tried to use another component that have the same pins as the Bluetooth module but unfortunately the wiring didn't appear probably so, I decided to add image from the internet to show the correct wiring I used.
After wiring the circuit I got all needed components from the kit in order to start wiring.
Development/Implementation Process
Explain the development/implementation process of your assignment. How did you use the machine/tool to manufacture or implement the design of your assignment?
First thing I started with was RGB LED, I wired it with the Arduino and the bluetooth module.
I wrote the code to turn the red light on if I wrote r on my mobile, blue for blue and g fo green.
I started by defining the colors of my RGB LED as int to avoid memorizing pin number for every color and by doing that I can write the int name and the program will recall the pin number automatically.
After setting the pin mode in the setup , I started to write the condition on the loop.
If I wrote letter r on my mobile the LED color will be red, g for green, b for blue, w for white and s to turn the LED off.
VID_20220307_000233.mp4After making sure the LED works as it should be I started wiring the fan and wrote its code (very simple one)
I defined the fan at the beginning and set the pin mode in the setup and after that I started to add the condition inside the loop.
If I wrote letter o the fan will turn on and f for off.
VID_20220307_004856.mp4Now it is time for my 7 segment.
I followed the same process as the other 2 components, started by defining the 7 segment as int, inside the setup I set the pin mode for every pin and after that I added the condition.
If I wrote 1 the two LEDs that represent 1 will be turned on and the same for the rest of numbers starts from 0 and ends with 9.
YouCut_20220309_074707764.mp4Community of Learning
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?
This was easy week (wouldn't say that if this week was in the beginning of the diploma).
The only help I offered was in the face to face meeting as I explained to the other team mates how the Bluetooth module works and communicate with Arduino.
It uses serial communication to communicate between the mobile and the Arduino via Bluetooth.
In the code the serial.read line must be included in order to allow the Arduino to read the communication coming from the serial whether it is mobile app, compute app or the built in serial monitor in the IDE, the way of communication is the same regardless the device used.
On the Slack channel someone asked where can he find the Bluetooth module on TinkerCad? and answers were you will not but Rawan suggested that we can use this old circuit since this is only wiring diagram not programmed circuit on Tinkercad.
In this week assignment one of the task requirements was to record a video for the circuit while in action, I did that and recorded a video for my mobile screen while sending orders to Arduino.
I wanted to merge the 2 videos in one, so any one watching can see the order sent from my mobile and the action on Arduino at the same time (2 screens in the same video).
I checked Google paly store for a video editing app and I found YouCut, I decided to give it a try, after downloading the app I opened it and started to search in the option I found option called picture in picture (PiP), I tried it and after lots of cuts and edits I managed to make a video with the result I wanted and with just try and error no Google search was made here.
Overcoming Challenges
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 assignment?
VID_20220309_224412.mp4The fan didn't work however everything was in place, when I send the signal through my mobile to the Arduino the fan moves very slowly for less than a second and stops and sometimes it doesn't even move.
I started the dubbing process by checking with Avometer and everything was prefect,
I wired the fan directly to the 5V adaptor and it also worked.
I finally decided to try the buzzer to check if it works and it worked without any issue.
First photo the circuit after and second photo the circuit before.
(Debugging process is still on progress).
During week 9 session someone mentioned the same issue and the answer from Ahmed Saeed (session instructor) was fan and other components should be powered from power source not the Arduino itself (Arduino can power very few components) and in order to power the fan, send signal to it in and control it from Arduino, we should use relay module .
I used it and WooooooooW it worked without any issue.
Final Project
How can you use the skills and knowledge that you've acquired this week in your final project?
The nice to have feature in my project is mainly data sent to mobile via Bluetooth and what I have learned this week will help me a lot with my project.
WOW!
What is the coolest thing that you've learned this week? What is something that you will never forget from this week?
It is not only this week, the something that I will never forget is my instructors Nada and Ahmed and the whole maker diploma team for the support they provided, the dedication and always going above and beyond.
As for Nada, she helped me a lot with my documentation, her comments always helped me to learn new things, new aspects and be better version of ME!