Table of content:

1 - what tasks have been completed? and what tasks remain?
2 - what's working? what's not?
3 - what questions need to be resolved?
4 - what will happen when?
5 - what have you learned?

what tasks have been completed? and what tasks remain?

My final project was make a device that detects water leakage from the taps, you'll find detailed description about that in my final project tab. To detect the running water, i had to make/use some kind of sensor that tells the microcontroller if there is any presense of water. The running water can be in use or it can be a leak and to differenciate between them, i had to use a sensor that detects human presence. So if there is running water and there is no human presence, the microcontroller should start storing the data for the leaking stream or drop.

(The "X" in the above image is possible places to put the sensor to detect running water, however i decided to finally put the sensor directly under the tap)

With this tentative plan in my mind, I started with making a custom PCB and gave the provision for all the compoents required for the project,


then with the help of my local instructors, Suhas Labade and Suvarna Sawant and my friend Mithilesh Barasara(who wrote the code the first version of the code) we completed the programming part where the microcontroller will store the values in the form of drops and stream depending on the behaviour of the runnig water, show the value of drop and stream on OLED and lastly gives feedback via LED and buzzer if the value of stream and drop exceeds a certain value


lastly we modified the code so that the value of drop and stream is sent to thingspeak through wifi,


After the programming was done, i made the cases for the project board and all the components,


In the first week of fab academy, we had to draft a potential final project idea where i had some expectations from the final project, one of which was that the device should show the amount of water wasted due to leakage or since how long the water is being wasted(calculated measurement), However currently the data shown in OLED and thingspeak is just the incremented values of stream and drop. Another one was to send a notification to any device if the value of drop or stream exceedsa certain value. So these are the two task that i have yet to complete.

what's working? what's not?

I made a device with custom made PCB and multiple brought out components like ultrasonic sensor, OLED, YL-69 moisture detecting module, LED and buzzer which is sucessfully able to detect the behaviour of drop and stream, store the incremented value of drop and stream separately, showz the value of incremented drops and stream onto the OLED as well as thingspeak, able to give feedbaack through LED-buzzer, able to turn the LED-buzzer off with the push button,


the water sensor i made with the help of screw connector and neeedle,


where every alternative pins if the RX and TX and when the water makes contatct between two needle it indicates the microcontroller about the water presense, was able to detect the running water in the form of stream and drop SEPARATELY. However, due the bluky case and the position of the water sensor being too away from the tip of the tap, the water gets stuck into the water sensor,

because of that, the microcontroller will constantly increment the values in stream, even though there is no running water.
so making the case for water sensor or re-considering the water sensor is something i have work on.

what questions need to be resolved?

1. What changes in the code do I need to make so that instead of just showing the incremented values of drop and stream, the microontroller shows the amount of leaking water or the amount of time for which water is leaking in the form of drop and stream?

2. What can i do so that the water doesn't stick onto the water sensor? Do i need to re-design the case or do i need to change the water sensor?


3. Can i replace the brought out components with the custom made one? If so, which components can i replace?

4. Can i make a custom app where i can read the data of incremeted stream and drops? If so how can i make one? Can i also get notifications from the custom app if the value of stream or drop exceeds a certain value?

what will happen when?

Back in July 2018, i completed the first spiral of this project with the help of my friend, Mithilesh Barasara, where we made a custom through hole PCB and did the programming part where the Arduino NANO was sucessfully able to store the data of stream and drop according to it's behaviour, show the data onto the LCD and getting the feedback from LED when the value of stream and drop exceeds a certain value,


During the fab academy, June 2022, i completed the second spiral of this project by replacing components like LCD to OLED, LDR sensor/photoresistor to ultrasonic sensor. I also made a water sensor and with the help of my local instructors, we were able to send the data onto the thingspeak. This time, i made a better prototype by making a custom PCB and also made the cases for the PCB, OLED, utrasonic sensor and water sensor,




In the third spiral i am planning to,
- change the case of water sensor or change the water sensor itself, so that the water doesn't get stuck.

- replace the brought out component with the custom made ones

- install the water sensor and sensor to detect human presense on multiple taps and also modify the code so that i get the data of each tap separately.

- install the device at a public place. Currently the project is in a prototpe stage and i have tested it by installing it in the kitchen at Vigyan Ashram. I a want to made the device sturdy and reliable enough to install it in public place.

what have you learned?

I have leared a lot of things from the processes through which the project has gone through,

- computer aided design, where i learned 2D and 3D software to make design of the cases for project board and components

- computer controlled cutting, where i learned how to use a laser cutter.

- Electronis production, where i learned how to mill the PCB into the milling machine.

- 3D Printing, where i learned about using 3D printer and how i can get better prints by making tweaks in the slicing software

- Electronics design, where i learned the Autodesk Eagle software and learned to design my own custom made PCB

- Embedded programming, where i got the glimpse of programming and how we can add logic for all the comopnents so that the microcontroller board works the way we want.

- Input & Output devices, where i leared how all the componnets used in the project, work individually and collectively.

- Interface and application programming, where i learned that i can send the data of any componnet or the microcontroller to an app or a website through bluetooth and wifi.