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

The idea of my project is "Smart Compost Bin! "

-Composting is a method used to decompose organic solid waste and fertilize the soil for gardening.

it's a smart composting system that will monitor and manage the compost

  • adding water when needed.

  • stirring the soil when the moisture level is low .

As I'm interested in sustainable environment solutions so I wanted to turn the leftover food scraps into compost for fertilizer.

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)

I used "Fusion 360" to design the enclosure. bin .

In the designing stage I have separated the enclosure into three parts because the soil box is critical part and it will it will include water this will damage the components.

water container box

  • I started designing the small box that will contain the water container by using “Fusion 360”

  • At first I designed the two sides of the box including the fittings and T slots

  • Then made a hole on the top of the box that will connect the water pump on the soil to the water container.



Electronics section.

  • I started to design small box that will be closed,

  • by drawing the five sides the box then extrude them to 0.3 add joints and T slot and draw a hole on the top of the box so that the wires can be passed out to the soil .



Soil section.

By designing it as a living hinge part

I used "Ink scape" to adjust the settings of the living hinge gap length and width

and finally designing the cover of soil section and that will be opened and closed.

Finally , I used the "projection" tool on a new sketch to avoid the construction lines. and exported it as .DXF file.

Designing the Rod :

I started to make a sketch on the shaft of the motor ( I used a circle and then extrude it to 80mm

then a used offset plan to draw the flipping wings , extrude them to 0.5 and extrude the shaft hole then make offset clearance 0.2

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)

For Enclosure fabrication

  • I used the" laser works " program to prepare my 2D parts for cutting

firstly, I opened the DXF file on laser works program to set the parameters and settings

Secondly, I had to set the cut and scan

The cut speed was 22

The power 65 and for scanning speed 300 and power 20

I had used 3mm wood sheet 30*15cm

Thirdly, I have to check the scope of the machine and trake the frame

Then I pressed the file option then choose my file and pressed enter and then pressed run .

Finally I calculated the total work time on the machine and told the tabla specialist about it .

  • I used the" Illustrator" program to prepare my pattern for engraving


For the Rod fabrication :

And I used the "Prusa slicer "program to prepare my file for implementation

firstly, I opened the STL file on pruse program to set the parameters and settings

Secondly ,I had to set the infill to 30 % and

Choose Prusament PlA and the printer type (original Prusa i3 MK2S)

At first I was having a problem and I wanted to add structure supports to the parts then the fablab specialist suggested to me to separate the two parts so that each part will be strong enough and will not need any supports .

Then I redesigned the rod by drawing a ring that connect them together and set the same parameters again

Send the file to the machine through the SD card

Then change the PLA color to black and upload the filment then breheated the bed to reach the optimum temperature then we choose the file from the SD card and finally pressed print


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)

  • I made the wiring diagram on PowerPoint.

The inputs

  • Sensing:

Water level sensor : will sense the water level into the container at first then check the moisture level .

Moisture sensor : after checking the water level the moisture sensor will sense the moisture level (if it is Above 600 it will open the pump and the rotate the rod to stirrring the compos, turn of the pump and the rod if its below 600.)

The action components

Gearmotor: Will controll and rotate the Rod on two directions .

Water pump : will provide the soil with water if needed through the water container .

Mini buzzer

  • The brain :

An Arduino UNO powered device that is connected to the compost pile and measures:

  • Compost moisture

  • Water level

Based on the sensors, the arduino can send actions to:

  • Add water (from the water container)

  • rotare the rod to to stirrring the compost .

The wiring components :

  • Jumper wires

  • crocodiles

  • PVC tube .

  • Mini Bread board







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)

Power Management:

The microcontroller (Arduino) will be powered using 9V adapter which will power up

  • The Motor driver (which control the motor {Working Current:160mA 3V

  • 220mA 6V )

  • The rely (which control the pump {DC Voltage: 2.5-6V} Working Current: 0.8A)

I had calculated the current that each component need then choose the power source .



Project Programming

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

I had searched for each component code on the internet to understand their function and then customized it as per my need.

1- The relay with the Moisture sensor and the water pump

2- Gear motor with the driver

3-Water level sensor with the pump

then Integration of all together.

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)

At first I had tried to wire each component seperately to check if they are working .

VID_73700209_115415_726.mp4
video_2021-03-15_09-20-20.mp4
VID_78430514_061759_340.mp4

After checking all the components and wiring them all together I made the final test.

video_2021-03-15_09-18-27.mp4
video_2021-03-15_09-18-14.mp4
video_2021-03-15_12-51-18.mp4

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 feedback from my instructor on how to design the enclosure in better way because it has critical part which contains water and soil part which may damage the wires or components, so Menna told me to check each part and design it alone with a hole that we can pass the wires through ,

When I was. Having a problem with the living hinge part Menna was trying hard to troubleshoot the problem and helped me to fix the fitting so they can be connected without trying to use more wood sheets

She also helped me on designing the pattern and how to sett.the parameters to make it engraving this way .so I want to thank her for her time all.the support and positive feedback all the time .

And when I was stucked on how to put the rod without changing the hole process or the design ,Ahmed saeed suggested that I can put it from the side instead of putting it on the bottom of the box or on the top

Which was very helpful and helped me alot

build the whole structure next .

Mohand, was kindly helping me on the enclosure assembly with the screws .

My peers was very supportive and helpful and when I asked for helping with the application abdelrahman sent me videos that helped me alot ,

Haneen also was very kind and helpful she was giving me feedback on my wiring circuit .

I was trying to help as much as I can when one of my peers wanted to print his rod and he was late on the time and asked me if I he can send me the stl file and I did this instead .

Finally I just want to thank you all for you time and positive support you gave to , the discipline and time respect ,I hadn't learned how to be a mini maker only :) but I have learned also project management which I think it is more than important , so keep the great work and high spirit:)

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?

When I was trying to wire the pump with the moisture sensor the code wasn't working so I was trying hard to search more to find the correct code so that I can customize it later I found this code and it's was working:)

www.circuitschools.com/automatic-plant-watering-system-using-arduino-or-esp8266/



As It's the first time to wire a water level sensor I had to search for the data sheet and understand how to works?


Future Work

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

If I had more time I will work more on the application to receive date from the sensors and add control feature to it so that I can control the pump and the motor

I want to add a self contained growing system that cultivates plants from seed to the viroment for the plants in completely automatic way .

Final Project Design Files