Week 4

Tasks for this week

• Measuring the volumetric rate

• Adding more LEDs to indicate other problems

• Drawing the circuit diagram

• Creating a design for 3D printing

By measuring the volumetric flow rate and approximate time needed to register change in the moisture of the soil, interval times have been estimated and implemented into the code to optimise performance and prevent flooding.

 Different mode of operation has been developed in case of the pot’s sensor failure. It relies only on time and volume flow rate as opposed to a feedback provided by the sensor in normal mode.

There has also been an attempt to make it as universal as possible by offering a customisation determined by the needs of a plant used and by making the system independent on the relative position (height) between the plant pot and the water tank.

Two other LEDs have been added to the circuit. A sensor is also attached to the water tank, if the water drops below a certain level, a red light will be lit. 

In the case of any leakage in water, the system will identify the fault and will shut the system down making sure there will not be any wastage in water. A red light system is used for this failure as well. 

Fig. 4.0

The figure above is the circuit diagram of the whole system. The first sensor goes to the soil of the plant where it measures the moisture, while the other one goes to the water tank where it measure the water level. 

For 3D printing the design for the project we came up with a design a shown in Fig. 4.1 below : 

Fig. 4.1

The big compartment would be were the main circuit would be. The two holes above are for the sensors and the motor to go through. The other compartment is where the water tank would be held. It could be a bottle or anything.

 The motor would be placed inside the the tube will go through one of the holes to the plant. There would be two lids placed on top. To refill the water, the user only has to open one compartment. Instead of opening the whole thing, so that water would not spill to the main circuit. 

There would be also be a  small lid at the bottom of the main compartment where the user can open and change the batteries in the power supplies.