Sensor Test
Testing
To test the ultrasonic sensors an arduino microcontroller, LEDs, and a breadboard were used. Red, yellow, and green LEDs were used to represent different distances. A card was placed at different distances, and based on the distances one of the LEDs would light up with the distance shown on a LCD scren.
Motor Test
A stepper motor is used to open and close the garage door. The arduino microcontroller and a push button were used to control the stepper motor and code was written in C to control the direction the motor would spin.
Wifi Module Test
The WiFi module (ESP-01) was added to the arduino in order to connect it via the Blynk app. The Blynk app allowed the arduino to be controlled by the user's phone, allowing them to open or close the garage model. The biggest issue we ran into was providing enough current to the module as it would off if not sufficiently powered.
Microphone Test
In order to implement our carbon monoxide sensor using sound, we used a microphone sensor to measure the sound level. The sensor's threshold was altered by a potentiometer and sent a digital signal of 1 if the noise was above the set threshold. Unfortunately, due to time and work constraints, we not able to fully implement this subsystem.
Issues
Throughout the course of this project, we ran into some problems, as expected.
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Our biggest problem was in-person meetings due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Solution: Fortunately, our team had completed the huge testing milestones before classes were moved to a virtual setting. The team continued to meet on zoom to communicate and move the project along. Our advisor was happy with the work we completed prior to the break, so a few parts of the project were simplified/removed.​
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Choosing the right microcontroller for our project
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Solution: we experimented with different arduinos and microcontrollers from sparkfun to determine what best fit our design, and we ended up with the Arduino Uno.​
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We ran into issues with the Wifi module testing. The arduino was 5 V and the wifi module was 3.3 V. At first we tried to build a voltage divider to try to step down the voltage.
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Solution: We ordered a voltage regulator to step down the voltage.​
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