Inspiration
My friends and I noticed that it is difficult to keep track of drying clothes when most of our day is spent on working and studying, thus we saw the importance of having a system to deal with changing weather.
What it does
We use machine learning to determine weather conditions, and based on whether it is raining or sunny, a cover will be deployed according to the user’s needs
How we built it
CNN ResNet: augmenting data, utilizing transfer learning and training data with 9 different types of CNN: EfficientNetB7, ResNet50, MobileNet, VGG19, Xception, InceptionResNetV2, VGG16, ResNet101 and DenseNet201, to find the optimal model both in terms of accuracy and training time, which was found to be ResNet50 UWP Application: In order to successfully and smoothly deploy the Machine Learning Model on an offline platform, we used Windows Machine Learning API for localized usages as well as controlling the Hardware required for rolling and unrolling the covers. The application has a webcam which is able to capture images, and the embedded model will provide the response, and in turn drive the covers. Demo: Stepper Motor controlled by ESP32 microcontroller. Serial communication protocol is used for interfacing between the UWP application and ESP32.
Challenges we ran into
It was difficult to choose the right model to ensure our system works as intended, also it was a challenge to ensure our code works with our available hardware. But in the end we managed to work things out
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Our model worked well, and our hardware worked with our code
What we learned
We improved our knowledge, and we learnt not to give up under any circumstances. It was a rare opportunity to learn the ins and outs of developing and implementing new technology for practical applications.
What's next for project skywatcher
As the project nature is very broad, there is a possibility of using the same technology for various different applications. One of which is agriculture, indoor planting where users can monitor and control the level of sunlight and rain plants are getting. Another field worth sharing is anything related to air - drying industry: salt drying, dried foods to protect them from the changing environment
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