Upcoming Projects

I've had very little spare time lately, but I do have a few projects very near completion! My biggest dilemma in all of these projects is the housing for the controllers, as I want to make them all permanent (likely to be 3D printed!)

Peaceful Fountain

The fountain will have a 12v silent pump, trickling water down on the rocks. I picked up a few bamboo sticks from my local farmers market which will grow in the water of the fountain! The water pump is not submersible, so it will be mounted outside the tank, and connected through clear piping I picked up at home depot, The defining factor of this project is the startup, which will be Arduino controlled, when motion is detected on the IR motion detector.

Smart Fishtank

This is a two in one project. Years ago I decided to get into the aquarium scene and set up a cute fish tank with a heater, an aerator, and tetra fish. That tank was a twenty gallon, which through various situations ended up in my mother's basement (with the fish still). Now, my aunt gave me a thirty gallon fish tank which she received from a friend, and it had everything I would need to set up another tank. I set the goal to make both of these into smart fish tanks. I currently have everything I need to set up these tanks, except the time to do it. However, the key features of this project are:

• Motion sensor to turn on lights and aerator
• Temperature sensor to kick on heaters
• Water level warning
• Warning to feed fish
• Warning to change filter
• Warning to clean tank

This will be accomplished with relays controlling a junction box with each device plugged in. The wires from the relays will run to an Arduino. The Arduino will also have three buttons for reset of the feed, filter, and cleaning timers. The back of the tank will have a string of LEDs to display the current conditions.


**UPDATE
I have designed and ordered the controller housing! I designed it in solidworks and ordered it from Shapeways. Hopefully it isn't terriblely deformed!

 

JeepMate

This project is still far in the future. My jeep doesn't have a clock in it, which was the initial spark for this project, and it has reflected in my previous projects. However, upon the arrival of my 20x4 LCD I decided I could display a whole lot more of information. The information it will display is:

• Time
• Heading (NSEW)
• Temperature
• Tilt (forward/backward and left/right)

The time will be controlled by the DS3231 from my previous examples. This module is also capable of displaying temperature. The heading will be controlled by a 3 axis gyro, which will also control the tilt. The final piece of this project, which came about last week when a PT cruiser tried to ram into me, is a dash cam. This will save 800x600 images to an SD card, which will be easily removable from the side. The entire ensemble will be encased in a 3d printed box, carefully mounted to ensure trail survival, and the box screwed in right above my windshield. The biggest speed bump of this project is the car's 12v battery, which I will need to convert to Arduino voltages, preferably without creating too much current!

Touch Screen Car Stereo

This project is far in the future and is by far my most ambition project. My mother's Toyota stereo has been loosing functionality on the past few years (CD player skipping, cassette player broke). I see this as a wonderful opportunity. My roommate loves to work with car stereos and audio equipment, which, combined with his excellent programming and raspi knowledge should prove to be a project well within our capability. His friend is proficient in coding with Codi on the rasberry pi, which should be extremely helpful. I intent to use Andrei Istodorescu's guide and interface for the program. My goal is to include:

• Cd/Radio
• Gps/Navigation
• Backup Camera

This project will hopefully be complete by the end of summer!

So that is where I am, I know its a bad habit of DIYers to take on too many projects, but I am prioritizing the best I can in my free time, and hopefully will be ready soon!

Thanks for reading, and as always, check your wiring!