Project
# | Title | Team Members | TA | Documents | Sponsor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
6 | Smart Water Fountain |
David Wu Yu Feng Ziqin Zhang |
AJ Schroeder | design_document1.pdf design_document2.pdf design_document3.pdf final_paper1.pdf proposal1.pdf |
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[PARTNERS]: Ziqin Zhang(ziqinz2), Yu Feng(yuf3), David Wu(wenyuwu3) [PROBLEM]: When one is away from home for several days, how to feed and take care of the pets become a significant problem. The supply of water is obviously one huge problem. What should we do if water runs out? What if the water quality is horrible and pets are not willing to drink? How do we make sure enough water is supplied without spilling out the water all over the floor? [SOLUTION OVERVIEW]: To avoid overlapping with some existing products on market and after combining some suggestions from TAs, we decided to make a smart water fountain. Some additional/smart functions that are unique include: ![Image](https://i.ibb.co/b2Y4sPr/IMG-0011.jpg) 1. Large water storage to prevent water from running out. We considered making the connection between the water container and the device universal. A link is attached below. A connector that is compatible with those large water bottles is going to be implemented so that the user can simply purchase one of those bottles of water and safely sit it on the device. In this case, with this kind of volume, it is very unlikely that water will run out. 2. Customizable control: users can choose how much water is being poured for each of the branches of water. Depending on the size of the pet and the habit of consuming water, users can choose the flux at their discretion. 3. Alert when water needs to be added. When the water level reaches the “low” area, an alert will be sent to the user's phone, indicating that water might need to be added. The user can then choose to add more water from the storage mentioned above. 4. Water quality monitor: An indicator of the water quality will be displayed in three ways: "Good", "Average", "Poor", "Very Bad" through using an algorithm. When the water quality is "Poor", the device will ask the user if it should start the purifying process. Upon approval, the purifying process will start based on filtering. If the quality is "Very Bad", the device will drain out the water currently in the water fountain and fresh water will be added. [SOLUTION COMPONENTS]: [SUBSYSTEM #1]: Corresponding to the point 1 mentioned previously. We will design a connector that can adapt to the universal bottles of water on sale on the market while ensuring water can be distributed in a controlled manner. [SUBSYSTEM #2]: To achieve the low-water-level alert, a weight sensor will be placed at the bottom of the fountain. When the weight is lower than a certain value, an alert will be sent to the user's phone. [SUBSYSTEM #3]: To monitor the water quality, we will implement several sensors. Generally water quality can be determined by several factors. We picked the most important and decisive three factors: ph value, temperature and conductivity. Sensors will be implemented and will be measured along the time. If any of these data is showing unnatural, weird readings an alert will be sent to users. [CRITERION FOR SUCCESS}:Sensors need to work collaboratively to give accurate readings so that we can ensure the water quality can be interpreted correctly. The mechanical design(the gear part described above) needs to be optimized so that when the valve is closed, water will not drip and it is secured. When disposing water, it needs to be slow and gradual and gentle to avoid any spilling. Filtering water will be happening from time to time, we need to make sure the filtering process is perfect process is perfet and the margins of the fountain is covered so that 'polluted' water does not get through the filter from the gaps. |