Smart Temperature Monitor and Control System

Inspiration

Most of the computation systems today, like PC, Servers and FPGAs all rely heavily on silicon- based processors and wiring systems. Even in the post Moore’s Law era, the growth of diode integration level is not likely to cease. Growing integration level, as well as the expansion of chip size would generate a staggering amount of heat even in normal usage. When the temperature reaches a certain value, some irreversible damage could happen and may affect the entire system, leading to potential system-level break. Similar high temperature scenarios also occur in industry (e.g. steel plant). Excessive temperature will threaten the personal security of related employees. For people who are frequently exposed to high temperatures, a temperature detection and alarm system would be quite helpful.

What it does

We propose to design a system that could automatically detect, display the real-time tempera- ture with a temperature sensor. With two Arduino Unos, the system not only senses and environment temperature with the sensor, but also sends proper visual warning or alarm to users under certain circumstances. A mini fan is introduced to the system, which helps cool down the environment tem- perature when the sensor senses temperature is too high. Users could seize control the fan with their mobile devices which means users have the highest priority. And the connection is through a WIFI module ESP8266. When there’s no users’ intervention, the mini fan can run by itself if the temperature goes high.

How we built it

The system measures the temperature with a temperature sensor, then sends the measured value to Arduino Uno, Arduino reads the ADC and then display the real-time temperature on the LCD screen. A wireless module is used to remote seize control the mini fan. On the App there are two speed level button and a turn OFF button. Our temperature system has two thresholds. When the temperature reaches the first threshold, a fan starts to run on the minimum speed and will gradually speed up as the temperature increases. The fan reaches the maximum speed when the temperature reaches the second threshold, a red LED and a buzzer would work together now to send alarm until the temperature falls back below the third threshold. When the temperature stays between the first and second threshold, a yellow LED would be lit on.

Challenges we ran into

We encountered several problems during our development, some of them and corresponding solutions are listed below: Problem1: A single Arduino doesn’t have enough pins for LCD and PWM controls Problem2: The ADC reading was 0.5V higher than actual value when we first set up the thermo sensors.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Problem3: ADC value fluctuates when 2 ADC pins are connected to the same output pin. Problem4: When the fan and ADC shares 5V, the ADC value always get disturbed because the Power has to simultaneously control 2 PWM outputs, the coupling effect will affect both.