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Alarm is sounding, blue LEd is on, water is being "pumped"
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Internal Circuitry without Cover
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Default clock screen with scrolling text
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Alarm with 22 seconds till ringing
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Time set screen
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Alarm day set screen
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Date set screen
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Alarm with 6 seconds till ringing
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Alarm time set screen
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Side View of Clock
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Angled Top View of Clock
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Top-down view of module, showing water reservoir and electronics
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Top View of clock with Hatch for Water Open
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Another top-down view of module, showing water reservoir and electronics
Inspiration
This project was on a list of ideas Kyle has been slowly adding to over the years. This idea caught our attention as feasable in the time frame, given that Kyle already owned most of the components necessary. Also who wouldn't want to build an alarm clock that squirts the user.
What it does
This project is an alarm clock that squirts the user with water if they do not turn off the alarm in time. It displays the current time, date, alarm time, and alarm time on an LCD, which can be modified using 3 buttons. Another display shows the time until the alarm is scheduled to go off.
Component List
x1 Arduino Nano x1 Small Breadboard x1 16x2 Character LCD x1 4 Digit, 7 Segment Display x1 1k Potentiometer 1x 12V DC Water Pump x4 Push Button x1 Blue LED x1 220 Ohm Resistor x1 miniUSB Cable (for programming) x1 13.5V Power Supply x1 Laser Cut Box x1 Liquid Holder x1 Real Time Clock (RTC) x1 Piezo Buzzer x1 Tactile Switch ~1 ft. of Hose Assorted Wires and Jumpers
How we built it
Kyle focused on the mechanical housing and construction. He designed and laser cut the wood housing for the project. He was also the supplier of a majority of the components for this project. Kyle spent a while measuring components to create the necessary design files to laser cut the wood. Dyllan and Avery focused on getting the hardware to work as intended by using the Arduino IDE and prebuilt libraries. Avery started out trying to understand how to use the RTC module while Dyllan started testing the capabilities of the Arduino to hold and produce sounds through the piezo. With the RTC working, Avery wrote some code to take the RTC values and display them on the 4 digit display. With this working, he handed this hardware over to Dyllan, who started working on the core software of combing the RTC, 4 digit and LCD display, to create the display. Dyllan spent a while getting scrolling text to scroll on the LCD and have different screens where the user can set the time, date, alarm, etc. While Dyllan was focusing on this, Avery got the water pump working. With all of the individual components working on their own, Dyllan focused on getting them working together.
Challenges we ran into
Dyllan managed to brick an Arduino Nano by loading more data than available memory. The mechanical layout was not perfect. There were multiple parts that were found to be much larger than initially thought, which caused layout problems on the internals of the box. The water pump was found to not have as much Dyllan was always finding bugs in the code. Some common bugs includes the LCD not correctly placing characters, the motor not turning on when expected, and the appropriate pins becoming disconnected. Electrical challenges we ran into was trying to safely fit all the necessary hardware into the box. There was concern about the regulator on the Arduino not being able to handle the 13.5V power supply, but after some research into the datasheet of the regulator, Avery determined that it would work if we didn't draw to much current from the Arduino.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
It works! It functions as real clock, with some additional features! For the clock, the user can see and set the current time, date, alarm time, and what day of the week the alarm will go off. When the alarm goes off, the usual annoying buzzer sounds for a while. But it also squirts water at the user!
What we learned
You really need to understand your hardware to write your software. We learned a lot about what Arduino Nano pins can and can't be used for. Only some of the analog pins can be used as digital output, as some are analog input only. Always double check your measurements and placements of mechanical parts, keeping in mind parts that may not be there yet. If possible, create multiple versions of a project, so that design flaws can be fixed.
What's next for Sleep Buster 9000
Assorted Modifications/Improvements: Adjustable screen brightness and contrast Assorted (choice of) alarm chimes Replace piezo buzzer with proper speaker (louder) and circuit Advanced alarm disable
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