The Water Level Alert System
For the Water level Alert System, TEAM ‘NOVA decided to go with a prototype device that would do the following :
-- Detect the water level in a tank
-- Transfer the detected level information to an alert mechanism
-- Alert through a buzzer or speaker when the tank is full
-- Indicate through a visual indicator and possibly a buzzer or speaker when tank is almost empty
-- Put off the pumping machine when the tank is full. (We couldn't include this in the prototype because we don't have access to a pumping machine for the prototype
-- Put off the pumping machine when the tank is full. (We couldn't include this in the prototype because we don't have access to a pumping machine for the prototype
Detecting the Water level in a tank
To detect the Water level in a tank, we thought of going with a floating mechanism
that floats with the level of water in the tank. We needed a material less dense than
water and ball like.
that floats with the level of water in the tank. We needed a material less dense than
water and ball like.
We decided to go with a plastic ball.
Transferring the detected level of water to an alert mechanism
To transfer information of the level of water, we thought of a link mechanism that
would link the floater to the alarm. TEAM ‘NOVA decided to go with crank attached
to a shaft to make the motion of the floater rotate a shaft
would link the floater to the alarm. TEAM ‘NOVA decided to go with crank attached
to a shaft to make the motion of the floater rotate a shaft
Alert System
For the Alert system, the rotating shaft would rotate a potentiometer creating
different analog signals corresponding to different levels of water in the tank
(low, average, high) which would then be converted to a digital signal that puts off
an alarm
different analog signals corresponding to different levels of water in the tank
(low, average, high) which would then be converted to a digital signal that puts off
an alarm
Visual Indicator
Along with an alarm, For Visual Indication, we decided to go with LEDs, where a Green
LED would indicate a full tank, a Red LED would indicate an empty tank, and possibly a
yellow LED would indicate an average water level
LED would indicate a full tank, a Red LED would indicate an empty tank, and possibly a
yellow LED would indicate an average water level
The main problem was finding a cheap way to convert the analog signal to a digital one
to control the buzzer and the LEDs. We had the option of a simple circuit completion to
send the information of the water level to a buzzer. But we couldn’t apply that for low,
high and average level alarms to our mechanical system.
to control the buzzer and the LEDs. We had the option of a simple circuit completion to
send the information of the water level to a buzzer. But we couldn’t apply that for low,
high and average level alarms to our mechanical system.
TEAM ‘NOVA decided to go with a very cheap microcontroller board like an ARDUINO, or
DIGISPARK for PROTOTYPING.
DIGISPARK for PROTOTYPING.
HOW IT WORKS
As the water level in the tank rises, the floatrises with it. The rising motion of the
float causes the rotational of the shaft which then rotates a potentiometer. The potentiometer then sends an analog signal to the microcontroller. The micro- controller then sounds the alarm and puts on the LEDs corresponding to the high and low water levels.
And here is a video of its basic operation:
Materials, Tools and cost of resources needed to build the device would be discussed in the next post.
float causes the rotational of the shaft which then rotates a potentiometer. The potentiometer then sends an analog signal to the microcontroller. The micro- controller then sounds the alarm and puts on the LEDs corresponding to the high and low water levels.
Here is a 3D Model of the device made with Autodesk Inventor:
And here is a video of its basic operation:
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