Published December 4, 2023

Washer/Dryer Notification (Team 42)

A notification system that updates the status of their laundry from anywhere as well as notifies roommates of who's currently doing laundry.

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Things used in this project

Hardware components

Particle Photon 2

Breadboard (generic)

Jumper wires (generic)

Elegoo 37 Sensor Kit

Software apps and online services

Particle Build Web IDE

Story

Story

This project will give users the ability to be notified when others are about to do their laundry, as well as when a washer or dryer is completed. To us, this is a use full tool as it can notify us about the status of our laundry without having to physically check if it is done. We took some inspiration from the LaundryView application that most UNCC dorms have and it allows you to keep an eye on the progress of your laundry from your dorm room. Instead, we made a system that will notify the user with a LED that is mounted in their room. Not only will it notify the user of the status of the load, but it will also notify other roommates on who's laundry is in the washer. Instead of calling out someone in the roommate group chat, this function can allow direct communication between the roommate who wants to do laundry, and the roommate who might be out and about.

How it Works

Laundry Occupied Notification

The device uses a sound sensor to output a 1 or 0 value. This value is a yes or no to the question "is the sound input louder than the threshold set?". People may walk through the laundry room talking, but we specifically want our sound sensor to pick up the magnitude of sound produced from a dryer. Therefore the sensor was tuned to our liking and then given a 1 or 0 output.

Roommate Specific Light

The roommate specific light is determined by an IR sensor. Each roommate will have an IR sensor in their room and with that, a specific colored light. For the system to work, there must be a laundry basket almost up against our IR sensor. The value outputted by the IR sensor will flash the light connected to the sound system if the value is too high.

IOT Importance

The IOT is an integral part of the system as it is how the two lights communicate. Simply put, we cannot run a 300 ft wire upstairs to the IR breadboard to notify when the laundry is occupied. The IOT communication is a must. With this, we had to learn to use the Particle Web IDE to make this happen. While the code is similarly structured to what we've used before in MatLab, it was still something new to learn with lots of trial and error. As mentioned before, without these skills and IOT device, this system would be deemed impractical.

Circuit Assembly

IR Sensor Setup

The IR sensor circuit assembly is shown above. A sound sensor and light are connected to the Particle Photon 2. The sound sensor will output a range of values, but is narrowed down to a high and a low value and translated to either a 0 or 1. If the code receives a value of 0, then the light will be off. If the code receives a value of 1, then the light will turn on and notify the user that the washer/dryer load is completed.

Sound Sensor

The sound sensor circuit assembly is shown above. An IR Sensor and light are connected to the Particle Photon 2. The IR sensor outputs a range of values from around 100 to 3000. When the IR sensor is outputting values around 100 it means that the sensor is deleting an object in front of it. The code understands that any values received under 1000 will indicate that there is an object in front of the sensor. Any values above 1000 will indicate a lack of an object, or laundry basket, and will turn the light on to notify the user that a load of laundry is about to be started.

Graphing Data

As you can see from the following graph, the load has not been started until around the five and a half minute mark and then there is enough sound for the sensor to be able to tell that a load has been started.

Code

#include <Particle.h>

const int transferSensorPin = A0; // Analog pin the transfer sensor is connected to
int soundPin = D7;


void setup()
{
    Serial.begin(9600);
    Particle.subscribe("dryer", soundvalue);
}

void loop()
{
    // Read the analog value from the transfer sensor
    int sensorValue = analogRead(transferSensorPin);

    // Print the sensor value to Serial Monitor (optional)
    Serial.println(sensorValue);

    // Publish the sensor value to the Particle cloud
    Particle.publish("transfer_sensor_value", String(sensorValue));

    // Add a delay to avoid flooding the Particle cloud
    delay(1000);
}

void soundvalue(const char *topic, const char *data) {
	int soundValue = atoi(data);
	if (soundValue == 1){
    	digitalWrite(soundPin, HIGH);
	}
}

#include <Particle.h>

int soundPin = D5;     // Sound sensor input pin
int indicatorPin = D10; // LED output pin

void setup() {
    Particle.subscribe("transfer_sensor_value", irlight);

    pinMode(soundPin, INPUT);
    pinMode(indicatorPin, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
    int soundValue = digitalRead(soundPin);
    Particle.publish("dryer", String(soundValue), PRIVATE);
   // digitalWrite(indicatorPin, !soundValue); // Invert soundValue for LED
    delay(1000);
}

void irlight(const char *topic, const char *data) {
    int sensorValue = atoi(data);
    if (sensorValue > 1000) {
    	digitalWrite(indicatorPin, LOW);
    }
    else {
    	digitalWrite(indicatorPin, HIGH);
    }

}

Credits

Tyler Henderson and Ryan Brancheau

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Washer/Dryer Notification (Team 42)

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Circuit Assembly

Graphing Data

Schematics

IR Sensor

Sound Sensor

Code

IR Sensor

Sound Sensor

Credits

Tyler Henderson and Ryan Brancheau

Comments

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Washer/Dryer Notification (Team 42)

Washer/Dryer Notification (Team 42)

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Circuit Assembly

Graphing Data

Schematics

IR Sensor

Sound Sensor

Code

IR Sensor

Sound Sensor

Credits

Tyler Henderson and Ryan Brancheau

Comments

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