Automatic Rice Cooker

Here is a concept sketch of an automatic rice cooker that utilizes some sort of sensor to measure the rice and water levels for precise cooking allowing for a perfect batch of rice EVERY TIME! I haven't had the chance to pursue this idea because the Arduino components I have aren't accurate enough and I haven't researched other methods. The code I wrote based on the Arduino's Ultrasonic Sensor is functional, just the accuracy of the components prevent it from working properly.

Lid_closed.pdf

Initial Setup

the ultrasonic sensor can measure differences in height due to the rice and water being added, which can be used in the program

2nd Setup

I upgraded the setup and taped the device to a cardboard cutout, the oval shaped cutout allows for water to be added

3rd Setup

I made a 3rd setup because I thought the water measurements weren't accurate because the ultrasonic sensor was too close. It also made adding water a lot easier because there is more space. It ended up not functioning properly due to the inaccuracies of the sensor.

const int trigPin = 9;

const int echoPin = 10;

const int buttonPin = 0;

float emptyRice = 7.21;

int buttonState = 0;

float distance, riceLevel, waterLevel,riceDistance;

long duration;

void setup() {

pinMode(trigPin, OUTPUT);

pinMode(echoPin, INPUT);

pinMode(buttonPin,INPUT);

Serial.begin(9600);

}

void loop() {

// Serial.println("PRESSED");

// digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);

// delayMicroseconds(2);

// digitalWrite(trigPin, HIGH);

// delayMicroseconds(10);

// digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);

// Serial.println(pulseIn(echoPin, HIGH));

// duration = pulseIn(echoPin, HIGH);

// distance = duration*.0343/2;

// Serial.println(distance);

digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);

delayMicroseconds(2);

digitalWrite(trigPin, HIGH);

delayMicroseconds(10);

digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);

duration = pulseIn(echoPin, HIGH);

distance = (duration*.0343)/2;

Serial.print("Distance: ");

Serial.println(distance);

// Serial.println(calculateWaterLevel(3.00));

buttonState = digitalRead(buttonPin);

if(buttonState == LOW)

{

Serial.println("PRESSED");

// Serial.println(calculateWaterLevel(distance));

riceLevel = emptyRice - distance;

riceDistance = distance;

// waterLevel = calculateWaterLevel(distance);

while(true)

{

digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);

delayMicroseconds(2);

digitalWrite(trigPin, HIGH);

delayMicroseconds(10);

digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);

duration = pulseIn(echoPin, HIGH);

distance = (duration*.0343)/2;

Serial.println(distance);

Serial.print("Water to Fill: ");

Serial.println(riceDistance-riceLevel);

if(distance < 0.25)

{

Serial.println("ENOUGH WATER");

}

delay(100);

}

float calculateWaterLevel(float riceLevel)

{

return 2*(emptyRice-riceLevel);

}