Duck H20 Defender

I have pet ducks - weird, I know! Ducks aren't what typically comes to mind when mentioning pets. As you may or may not know, ducks love the water to be able to play in and keep themselves clean. The only problem is that their swimming pools get dirty rather quickly. That means duck owners without a pond must change out their swimming pools out daily. This gets to be a rather time consuming endeavor, being that I must wait outside as to make sure water isn't being wasted.

On more than one occasion I have started filling duck pools only to be side tracked and come back to a makeshift pond around the pool. The ducks couldn't be happier, but when it comes down to it, excessive water spillage just results in a loss of money and resources. Regardless, if the ducks are raised as pets, or pets/backyard farm animals for egg production as in my case, nothing constitutes wasting water on a small or large scale. Over time, a few cents wasted a day could easily result in hundreds of dollars waster over the course of a year. Although you can eliminate the pools all together, I try and raise my pets as humanely as possible. Nothing makes my pet ducks happier than fresh clean pool water, well besides their favorite treat... dry meal worms!

That's when I thought there has to be a better way to save time and money.

Duck H20 Defender

The Duck H20 Defender is an automated water system that will make changing out the duck pool water more efficient. Using the AT&T IoT Starter Kit, PubNub, motors, camera, and sensors, Duck H20 Defender will be able to alert a user when the pool has reached the desired level. If the user is unable to immediately go shut off the faucet, the user can simply instruct the system to automatically turn it off by the use of a stepper motor.

The system can be used as a handy addition to your backyard homestead or can be set up in a central area in a community that wishes to have a self sustainable farming co-op.

Benefits:

• Water waste can be funneled into an area where crops can benefit from the water as well as the organic fertilizer that the ducks leave behind.

• Saves time by allowing you to complete other tasks without the worry of wasted money flowing away.

• Photo allows user to detect for possible animals that may be trapped in pool through an activated sensor.

• Money saved by not allowing excess water to escape will add money to the ducks treat fund. It's been proven happy ducks lay more eggs, which makes me happy and the ducks happy. It's a win-win!

Key Features:

• Motor mounted on the faucet that can be remotely engaged to turn the faucet off in case the user is unable to physically go out and turn the motor off.

• A camera to snap a photo to send to the users phone.

• No WiFi required.

• Real-time notifications over SMS.

All this can be accomplished using the AT&T IoT Starter kit since a WiFi connection would no longer be needed, which comes in handy when the ducks pools are located away from your home or business and your WiFi range. The kit makes it easy for the data to be sent to you regardless where you are.

Getting Started Guide

Step 1: Create Accounts

• PubNub

• AT&T IoT Platform

Step 2: Create New Project in AT&T Flow

Work in Progress.

Step 3: Create New App in PubNub

• PubNub API Keys will be generated

• Create a New Block in "Blocks" tab

• Create an Event Handler