Projects and Activities

Final Project for ECE 1100 - A temperature monitor and threshold tester

The project I worked on is quite simple; it’s just a temperature sensor and threshold detector. I didn’t build the automatic plant watering system I originally planned because I felt I didn’t have the skills for it yet. For this project, I used the following components: Arduino, wires, Arduino software, a TMP36 chip, and an LED.

I chose this project mainly to familiarize myself with using Arduino. The projects in my ECE 2020 class were all done with myDAQ, so this time I wanted to learn and work with electronic hardware in a different way.

First, I studied the TMP36 chip’s datasheet to understand which pin corresponds to which function. The left pin is for active high, the middle for output, and the right for ground. So, I connected three wires to 5V, GND, and A0 output. Then I wrote the Arduino code. I looked online to learn how to write it since I had never done it before.

I started by initializing a variable, sensorPin, as A0, which represents the output pin. Then I wrote the loop code. It reads data from sensorPin, and I used a formula I found online for the TMP36 chip to convert voltage to Celsius and Fahrenheit.

Finally, I added an LED to light up when the temperature exceeds a certain threshold. I connected the LED’s two pins—one to GND and one to Pin 13. This way, a simple "if" statement could make the LED light up above a specific temperature.

I faced many challenges along the way. For example, I had no idea how to write the code, and I had never seen an Arduino board before. So, I spent a lot of time figuring out the syntax. The project isn’t perfect because the results weren’t satisfying. Within a 20-second timeframe, the chip measured a temperature of 2-3°C under no interference, not the room temperature I expected. I couldn’t figure out why. Still, I got it to work. In the video, I pinched the chip with my fingers to raise its temperature, which is why the LED lit up after a while and turned off a few seconds after I let go.

Overall, I learned how to use Arduino, write some basic code, and read the chip’s documentation.