Project
| # | Title | Team Members | TA | Documents | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Clogged Gutter Detector |
Aryan Kataria Eric Zhou Nyle Raina |
Jianchong Chen | ||
| # Clogged Gutter Detector Team Members: - Aryan Kataria - akata5 - Nyle Raina - nrain3 - TBD - netid # Problem Homeowners have no easy way to know when their gutters are clogged with leaves or standing water until they overflow, which can cause damage to foundation or roofing. Checking them proactively requires repeatedly climbing a ladder, which is dangerous and annoying. A low-maintenance, automated monitoring solution is needed to alert users before damage occurs. # Solution We plan to create a small, weather-resistant PCB node that mounts next to the gutter's primary downspout. It will use a rain sensor to detect active precipitation and a flow sensor to detect water moving down the spout. If it is raining but there is no water flow, the system will recognize the gutter is clogged. To avoid the need for battery replacements, the board will feature a solar trickle-charging circuit. It will utilize an ESP32 microcontroller that stays in deep sleep most of the time, waking up periodically to take readings and transmit the data to a cloud dashboard. # Solution Components ## Microcontroller Subsystem This part handles the logic, sleep cycles, and wireless transmission. We will use an **ESP32-WROOM-32E** module because it has low-power deep sleep capabilities and built-in Wi-Fi to upload the sensor data to our backend. ## Sensor Subsystem This subsystem detects active rain and monitors water clearing through the downspout to infer a clog. * **Precipitation Sensor:** We will use a resistive rain sensor board on the top of the enclosure. This will detect when it is actively raining and wake the ESP32. * **Flow Sensor:** We will mount a Hall-effect water flow sensor (like the YF-S201) at the top of the downspout. If the rain sensor detects water but the flow sensor registers zero movement, the system infers a clog. ## Power Subsystem This subsystem makes sure the board can run on its own outside. * **Charge Controller:** We will use a **Microchip MCP73871** charge controller to trickle power from a small 5V solar panel into a standard **18650 Lithium-Ion battery**. * **Voltage Regulation:** A **Texas Instruments TLV70033** 3.3V regulator will step down the battery voltage to provide a safe, steady 3.3V to the ESP32. # Criterion For Success 1. The precipitation sensor must output an analog signal that wakes the ESP32 from deep sleep within 10 seconds of active rainfall. 2. The Hall-effect flow sensor must output a reliable pulse signal that the ESP32 can read to accurately detect water movement in the downspout. 3. The power circuit must successfully provide charging current to the 18650 battery when the solar panel is under a bright light, while the regulator outputs a stable 3.3V. 4. The ESP32 must successfully execute its logic check (Rain = True, Flow = False), connect to a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network, send a JSON alert packet to a test server, and go back to sleep in under 10 seconds. |
|||||