Smarter Blinds
Smarter Blinds
Contents
Proposal
Team Members
- Elizabeth Saliba
- Liza Kaniewski
- Michael Williams (TA)
Links
Budget: Nite Light & Smarter Blinds
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 all blinds that utilize rotating rod to open/close
- 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
- Finding a way to determine position of blinds when initially turned on
- Transferring system from Arduino Uno to Feather
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
Gantt Chart
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10uzT7YQ7MJU3zTquifuFkcKUptFDYlntzzncpx78SI4/edit?usp=sharing
Design and Solutions
Mechanics
Programming
Electronics
Results
Next Steps
References
Resources
- Past Projects
https://classes.engineering.wustl.edu/ese205/core/index.php?title=Smart_Blinds https://www.hackster.io/Froz3nArcher/smart-blinds-573548 https://www.hackster.io/rjacobo2/lane-tech-hs-pcl-iot-smart-blinds-42a68a (potential design idea)
- Stepper Motor and Arduino
Arduino Modules - L298N Dual H-Bridge Motor Controller Controlling DC Motors with the L298N Dual H-Bridge and an Arduino
- Bluetooth Connection
Adafruit Bluefruit LE UART Friend - Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Adafruit Feather 32u4 Bluefruit LE Adafruit Feather 32u4 Bluefruit Overview
- Soldering
Soldering YouTube How to Solder
- Temperature Sensor
- Photoresistor