Published March 25, 2020 © CC BY

Automatic Faucet (Touchless) Using Arduino for COVID-19

You do not have to touch the surface of the faucet after you wash your hands. Wash hands safely and prevent coronavirus disease.

IntermediateFull instructions provided1 hour9,150

The Hackster Impact Protect Award

The COVID-19 Detect & Protect Challenge

Automatic Faucet (Touchless) Using Arduino for COVID-19

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Arduino UNO

Solderless Breadboard Half Size

Ultrasonic Sensor - HC-SR04 (Generic)

Relay Module (Generic)

Submersible water pump - 5V

Jumper wires (generic)

Software apps and online services

Arduino IDE

Story

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2). COVID-19 has affected millions of people and has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world. This disease affects different people in different ways. Some people may develop mild to moderate illness and recover without special treatment or hospitalisation, while some may develop severe illness and even die. The incubation period of this virus, on average 5-6 days but it could also be up to 2 weeks. During this period, the person may not experience any symptoms but could still be contagious. The person will be a virus carrier and easily spread it when he/ she does not take any precautionary measures.

Coronavirus has spread rapidly and many countries have been affected by this pandemic. While some countries are recovering, other countries are still in lockdown and some are suffering from the second wave of coronavirus.

How does coronavirus spread?

According to the World Health Organisation, WHO, coronavirus is mainly transmitted through droplets generated when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or exhales. These droplets are too heavy to hang in air, so they quickly fall on the surfaces below.

A person could contract this disease if he/ she breathes in the virus while an infected person/ virus carrier within close proximity sneezes or coughs, or when he/ she touches a contaminated surface and then his/ her eyes, nose or mouth.

How can the spread of coronavirus be controlled?

As you may have read in the above section about how the virus spreads, you would be now aware of two main factors: standing in close proximity with an infected person and touching a contaminated surface.

We can curb the spread of coronavirus by taking these two important factors in account.

It is important to avoid standing in close proximity with other people because they could sometimes be a virus carrier. As I have already explained, the person could be contagious before they develop any symptoms. To prevent standing in close proximity, we are advised to practice social distancing.

To prevent touching a contaminated surface and then our eyes, nose or mouth, we must wash our hands properly for at least 20 seconds. WHO has advised us to use soap as it is a self-cleansing product and more effective at killing the virus. Soap is available at many places where hand sanitizer or liquid soap is not, and is also cheaper than the other two products.

Sometimes we could touch the faucet carelessly after we wash our hands and the faucet could be contaminated. The person would then touch his/ her eyes, nose or mouth, and he/she has a higher chance of contracting this coronavirus disease. To prevent this from happening, we can use a touchless faucet, this project.

How it works

I have made an automatic faucet which detects the hands within 10 cm and allows safe hand washing.

I have programmed my Arduino microcontroller to switch on the relay module when the ultrasonic sensor detects my hand within 10 cm. The submersible water pump is switched on along with the relay module and begins to pump water through the tube connected to it.

The water flow will be stopped when the faucet is not in use or during soaping, and this saves water. You do not have to touch the surface of the faucet after you wash your hands; you can wash your hands safely and prevent coronavirus disease. The tube is led out of the plastic container and acts as a faucet.

I made this project with limited resources. Those who are interested can remake this project, and if you like you can make some improvements too. I did not have a solenoid water valve with me, so I had to use the submersible water pump to demonstrate my project. This project is effective, easy and only costs around $10 to build.

You can reuse plastic containers and convert them into touchless faucets. This prototype is portable and can be used anywhere. They can be powered using rechargeable Li ion batteries and the batteries can be charged with solar panels.

Code

Automatic Faucet (Touchless) using Arduino

// 66. AUTOMATIC FAUCET(TOUCHLESS) USING ARDUINO
// ARDUINO PROJECTS BY R
// AUTHOR: RUCKSIKAA RAAJKUMAR
#define trig 5
#define echo 4
const int Relay = 6;
long duration;
int distance;
void setup() {
  pinMode(trig, OUTPUT); // Set the trigger pin as OUTPUT
  pinMode(echo, INPUT); // Set the echo pin as INPUT
  pinMode(Relay, OUTPUT); // Configure the pin of the relay module as OUTPUT
  Serial.begin(9600); // Set baud rate as 9600
}
void loop() {
  digitalWrite(trig, LOW);
  delayMicroseconds(5);
  digitalWrite(trig, HIGH);
  delayMicroseconds(10);
  digitalWrite(trig, LOW);
  duration = pulseIn(echo, HIGH); // Calculate time taken (in microseconds) for the pulse emitted by the trigger pin to reach the echo pin.
  distance = (duration/2) * (331.3/10000); // Calculate the distance from the sensor to the obstacle in cm, using the speed of sound in air(m/s) and the time taken (stored in duration variable)
  Serial.println(distance);
  if(distance>1 && distance<10){ 
    digitalWrite(Relay, HIGH); //Turns on the submersible water pump or solenoid water valve
  }else{
    digitalWrite(Relay, LOW); //Turns off the submersible water pump or solenoid water valve
   }
   delay(2000); // Set a delay period of 2 seconds to prevent the clicking of the relay module
}

Credits

Rucksikaa Raajkumar

41 projects • 90 followers

Amateur Arduino Developer. Undergraduate. YouTuber (https://www.youtube.com/c/RucksikaaRaajkumar/videos) and Blogger (Arduino Projects by R)

Comments

Awards

The Hackster Impact Protect Award

The COVID-19 Detect & Protect Challenge

Automatic Faucet (Touchless) Using Arduino for COVID-19