For week 4 embedded programming, I used the Arduino Uno R3 starter kit because here at work we are very limited on supplies, so I did what I could with what I had. I decided to make a simple fan system where if you hold the TMP36 temperature sensor, it heats up, a red LED turns on, and a fan (motor) kicks on. It also displays the temperature on the LCD screen.
When you let go of the sensor and it cools down, the motor shuts off and a green LED turns on to show that everything is back to normal. This created a simple temperature- controlled cooling system.
The components I used on the breadboard were: Arduino Uno R3, TMP36 temperature sensor, two LEDs, two resistors, a small DC motor, a 9V battery connector, and an IRF520 MOSFET. This was my starting setup.
I was able to get everything working correctly, but it definitely took some trial and error. I had a few wiring mistakes along the way and had to redo parts of the circuit, but in the end it worked great.
A big help during this project was using ChatGPT and also some help from Google Gemini. With both of those, I was able to troubleshoot issues and get everything running.
Later on, I added a potentiometer so I could control the speed of the motor, which will be useful for the next week.
Here are the pictures from the process:
