Additional materials
- Electrical wire and sockets for extension
Investigate
Questions you need to ask
Get data. Examples:
- How does the distance sensor work?
- What are the relevant units of measurement?
- How far away should the object be (from the SNT kit) for the buzzer to go on? What is the distance sensor value for that?
- Where is the SNT kit located in the room/area and how will the object interact with the Solution Box?
What are the things you need to learn about the user? Examples:
- Who is the user?
- How/ how often do they switch on/off the water tank?
- Is the switch very far away from the user’s reach/ access, for eg. is it at the other end of the room, very high from the floor, etc.?
- What is the main problem faced by the user with respect to using the tank level monitoring?
- How will the user be using the water tank monitoring system?
- What is stopping the user from recognising the problem and taking action?
What are the things you need to think about to convince the user that wasting water is a problem? Examples:
- Why is it a problem?
- Does the user need to be notified as and when the light is automatically switched off/on?
- Is your goal to encourage the user to switch the light off/on when needed, or is it to automatically switch the light off/on?
This will help you decide what output device to use, for example-
- buzzer with an annoying beeeep or a gentle music (like a water filter) if the user has to be alerted at dawn/dusk when light is switched off/ on.
- multicolour LED that blinks red when it’s dark for more than 12 hrs (like on a cloudy day), nudging the user to switch off light in case it is not needed.
- LCD screen that displays some encouraging message
- RFID/ biometric system to tag users and switch on light at the doorstep for a known person...etc.
Refer to the second booklet Investigate in the Solve Ninja Techno Kit for information on which Input sensors and Output devices to use.
Solve
Refer to the third booklet Solve in the Solve Ninja Techno Kit for information on making connections and Arduino IDE.
Steps to follow
- Take the Solution Box from the Solve Ninja Techno Kit.
- Connect the distance sensor to the port on the PCB of the solution box using a 4 pin connecting wire.
- Connect the bulb/ tube light to the relay screw terminal using electrical wire (refer to the instructions in Solve booklet on how to connect to the relay screw terminal).
- Connect one end of the USB cable to Arduino and other to Computer/laptop.
- Plug in one end of the power adapter to the DC jack, and the other end to a power socket.
You will need a 9V 1A power adapter for using this kit. It will not work with the USB cable alone.
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Switch on the Solution Box.
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Open Arduino IDE on computer/laptop.
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Download, Copy, Paste code from here to the Arduino IDE.
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Then Check for Tools → Board → Port in the IDE.
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Compile and Upload the code.
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Disconnect USB cable.
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Switch off the Solution Box.
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Switch on the Solution Box.
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Test by holding out your hand/ any opaque object and unblocking the distance sensor. The bulb/ tube light should switch on when the object is within the distance specified, and switch off when the object is outside the distance specified.
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Hang the Solution Box on the wall at a suitable place. To check if the place is suitable,
- make sure that the distance sensor is not being obstructed by another object
- make sure that the object to be measured is within the range of 7m from the distance sensor
- the bulb wires/power adapter wire should not be too taut.
Share
Refer to the fourth booklet Share inside the Solve Ninja Techno Kit to know how you can share your solution.
- Locally: Once you install the solution in a place, observe if and how the user interacts with the automatic light. Talk to them about the solution and learn what they think of it.
- Are they aware of the automatic light switching on and off based on distance?
- Is there any way to collect data to prove that their energy consumption has reduced, as a result of automatically switching off the light when not required?
- Globally: Share your solution on the Solve Ninja App, and inspire 5 of your friends to take similar action. Continue collecting data; real victory is when your family, school mates, community members realise the change in their behaviour!
