Smarter Blinds

Team Members

Elizabeth Saliba
Liza Kaniewski
Michael Williams (TA)

Links

Overview

New technology has allowed society to make improvements to daily items including thermostats and other objects around the home. Fascinated with this idea of do-it-yourself home improvement projects and the wide breadth of tasks that can be accomplished we have decided to make Smarter Blinds. We will be creating blinds that move according to user input. By incorporating aspects that allow the blinds to move according to sunlight and temperature in the room to eliminate the use of air conditioning or heating we hope to make our blinds energy efficient. This way, our hope is that energy consumption in the home will be reduced through our creation of Smarter Blinds.

Objectives and Goals

Have the blinds open from being completely closed to open over a period of time set by the user
Make the design efficient and compact so that it could work for more than one type of blind
Have a user inputted preferred light intensity so that the blinds move throughout the day according to desired intensity.
Make eco-friendly functions that increase/decrease the amount of light let in, which lessens the need for air conditioning/heating
Find a suitable power source for the blinds such as lithium batteries or potentially solar power
If time allows, develop a way for the blinds to be controlled on your mobile device via Adafruit App

Challenges

Learning and effectively using Arduino
Learning CAD and 3D printing skills with the goal of printing as many parts as possible to be cost effective
Generating enough power to operate the blinds
Determining the relationship between temperature, luminous intensity and blind angle
Making sure the motor is strong enough to turn the blinds
Creating a design that can be used on various blinds
Designing a user-friendly app that connects to the blinds via bluetooth

Budget

Arduino UNO
Digital Light Intensity Sensor Module for Arduino, $5.49 * Do not need to purchase
RGB LCD Shield Kit for Character Display, $23.95 *Using Feather so now need a different part
Adafruit FeatherWing OLED - 128x32 OLED Add-on For Feather $14.95
LM35DZ Temperature Sensor, $1.23 (5)
Solar Panel, $5.69 *not purchasing now
Stepper Motor, $14
Motor Driver, $4.95
Arduino Feather ($29.95) *
Adafruit Bluefruit LE UART Friend - Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE),$17.95 * Since using feather do not need this.
Adafruit App, $0
Estimated Total Budget: $57.77
Note: With Feather: $87.72
Note: With Bluetooth: $75.72

Current Parts Purchased / Have:

Adafruit FeatherWing OLED - 128x32 OLED Add-on For Feather $14.95
Digital Light Intensity Sensor Module for Arduino, $5.49 * Do not need to purchase
LM35DZ Temperature Sensor, $1.23 (5) (ordered)
Stepper Motor, $14 (may need to purchase additional if current one fails)
Motor Driver, $4.95(may need to purchase additional if current one fails)
Arduino Feather ($29.95)

Current Amount Spent: $49.44 + $7.15 = $56.59

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