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jenna

Published November 25, 2021

Measuring Whether There is Water in a Cup

This project uses two argons to turn on an LED light when a water level sensor senses water in a cup.

BeginnerShowcase (no instructions)10 hours74

Measuring Whether There is Water in a Cup

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Particle Argon

Male/Male Jumper Wires

Male/Female Jumper Wires

Water Level Sensor

Our group used a Water level Sensor to determine whether there was water in a cup or not

Breadboard (generic)

LED (generic)

Software apps and online services

Particle Build Web IDE

ThingSpeak API

Story

Over the course of six weeks we have worked to develop a project that will activate an LED light when there is water in a cup. To accomplish this task, we used a water level sensor connected to an argon that communicates with a second argon to signal the LED to turn on. As this is both of our first times using argons, we have had to deal with many difficulties during our time working on the project. Finding creative solutions to these difficulties helped us to transform our project from our original plan, to the water level LED signal that it is now.

Our first plan was to create a project that would measure the temperature of water, and signal a fan to activate if the water was too hot. We would have used a handheld fan in this version of the project. However, after we discussed the difficulties we would run into dismantling the handheld fan, and the possibility of a handheld fan not being the most effective way to cool down hot liquid, we decided to adjust our idea. Instead of attempting to cool down a liquid, we would keep a mug of liquid warm.

To keep a mug of liquid warm, we would use the temperature sensor and a mug warmer, with the original switch taken apart. The plan to do this was to have one argon connected to the temperature sensor, and another argon connected to the mug warmer. Whenever the temperature would decrease below a set point, the argon would signal the other argon to turn on the mug warmer. When the liquid became too hot, the temperature argon would signal the mug warmer argon to turn off. Our problem with this plan came when our materials were delivered. The wire inside of the temperature sensors was brittle and kept breaking. It could not be inserted into the breadboard properly. The wire would break when we tried to strip the wire or connect it to a different wire that could be used with the breadboard. Also, when we took the mug warmer apart, we were unsure of how to connect it to the argon with the materials we had, as the wires that came with the mug warmer were too thick to be used. This caused us to change our plan once again.

Instead of measuring temperature, we would measure water level. We had a water level sensor in one of our sensor kits, and we had a better understanding of how to code for a water level sensor than for a temperature sensor. We planned to use the water level sensor to signal a buzzer to go off when the water rose above a certain level. Our problem with this came with the code. Neither of us have any prior experience coding for an argon, and neither of us have much experience with coding in general. We could not get the code to work for the buzzer, so we attempted to use a LED instead. This code did work, and we were successful in getting the LED to turn on.

This is how we ended up with our final project; using a water level sensor to turn on an LED light in the presence of water. Even though neither of us have much experience with argons or with coding, we were able to use research to create a plan that we could accomplish with our level of knowledge. Through this project we learned more about sensors, argons, coding, and circuits. In particular, we learned how to make two Particle Argons communicate with each other. This new knowledge helped us to complete our project, and we hope that we will be able to use and develop this knowledge in many projects to come.

YouTube Video:

Youtube Video Showing the Final Working Project

Photos:

Water Level Sensor Argon Circuit

LED Argon Circuit

Our project was designed so that when the water level sensor detects water, the LED light will be on. When there is no water present the LED will be off. The photos below display these two outcomes.

Water Level Sensor out of Water: LED Off

Water Level Sensor in Water: LED On

Communication Diagram:

Diagram Showing the Communication Between Both Argons

ThinkSpeak Data Reference:

https://thingspeak.com/channels/1571551/private_show

Graph Showing data from the water sensor

Code

//Stephanie Argon
#define POWER_PIN   D5
#define SIGNAL_PIN  A3
#define THRESHOLD 75


int value = 0; // variable to store the sensor value
int wl = 0;

void setup() {

  Serial.begin(9600);
  pinMode(POWER_PIN, OUTPUT);   // configure D7 pin as an OUTPUT
  digitalWrite(POWER_PIN, LOW); // turn the sensor OFF
 
}

void loop() {
  digitalWrite(POWER_PIN, HIGH);  // turn the sensor ON
  delay(10);                      // wait 10 milliseconds
  value = analogRead(SIGNAL_PIN); // read the analog value from sensor
  digitalWrite(POWER_PIN, LOW);   // turn the sensor OFF
  if (value > THRESHOLD) {
        wl = 1;
        
        Particle.publish("Water Good", String (wl), PRIVATE);
        Particle.publish("Water Level Good", String (wl));
  } else {
        wl = 0;
        
        Particle.publish("Water Low", String (wl), PRIVATE);
        Particle.publish("Water Level Low", String (wl));
  }
}

// Jenna Argon
int led1 = D7;

void setup () {
    Serial.begin(9600);
    Particle.subscribe("Water Level Low", LedOff); 
    Particle.subscribe("Water Level Good", LedOn);
    pinMode(led1, OUTPUT);
    
}
//void loop(){
    
//}
void LedOn (const char *event, const char *data) {
  // To blink the LED, first we'll turn it on...

    digitalWrite(led1, LOW);
    delay (500);
}
    
void LedOff (const char *event, const char *data) {
  // To blink the LED, first we'll turn it on...

    digitalWrite(led1, HIGH);
    delay (500);
  
}

Credits

Stephanie Strahler

1 project • 0 followers

jenna

1 project • 0 followers

Measuring Whether There is Water in a Cup