Creator:  Trevor_DIY.

Written by: Connor McGaffin

The betta fish feeder is a timed based Arduino project. Users can load 13 of servings of fish food into the feeder at a time, and each day the wheel will rotate a new serving over the dispensing cell. The project is perfect for any betta fish caretakers who are going on short vacations and want their friend to be taken care of.

I am intrigued by this project, having first been drawn to it as someone who would have found use for this when I had a betta. Unfortunately, my betta died when being taken care of by someone else while I was on vacation. There is some parallel between loading up all of the wheel’s feeding cells and loading a personal pill organizer. I wonder if this overlap in ritual may bring people closer to their betta fish. If I were to tackle this project, I would create an accessible casing for the electronic pieces to not distract from the aquarium’s serenity. Additionally, I think I would add a slant in the direction of rotation to ensure that the fish food doesn’t get pinched and caught in the daily movement of the feeder.

source

aerial view of installed, empty, feeder. The cells on the wheel’s perimeter are for the storage of each betta meal.

Project Creator: Ronny Simon (Not verified)

Glass that’s been cut and ready to be polished. The glass will be used to project the light later.

The intent of this project is to create a colorful decoration. It has a pretty standard RGB rainbow gradient that it cycles through. A lot of the work on this project is done by hand. All of the pieces of acrylic were measured and cut first. These pieces were then fitted with wires and components, and then hooked up with code to handle the color cycling. I like that the arduino is being used to supplement the visual statelessness of the objects themselves, endowing them with color.

While simple, I like this foundational premise as a jumping off point – I’m panning to get lights set up in my apartment and want to go wild, and I bet hooking some kind of Arduino based control system up to the lights would allow me to do some really amazing things that I couldn’t otherwise do. In addition, I like that this project is almost more craft based – this indicated to me that a lot of what’s possible may be limited by my imagination just as much as the code itself.

Either way, I’m excited for this course!

Project title: Pixel Smart Lamp

Project creator: Daniel Wilberger

Short description: This project is a smart Pixel lamp controlled via bluetooth to an android app that can control various settings of the lamp, like color, mode atc.

Respose: I really liked this project especially because I have always been fascinated by devices with changing colors and appearance, and this project does that with a lamp that can be used as a nightlamp, fireplace etc. It is something that would definately like to build and keep in my house!

If I was building it, I would add a lot more interactive elements to it. I would add a brightness recognition system, which would dim or brighten the lamp based on the light in the room. I would also add a speaker to lamp so I could play music and have the colors in the lamp change based on the mood of the song.

https://circuitdigest.com/project/arduino-based-vending-machine

http://www.retrobuiltgames.com/the-build-page/arduino-vending-machine/

Creator: Ryan Bates
Summary: Arduino-Based Vending Machine (Venduino) is, as the name suggests, a vending machine that was built with an Arduino. More specifically, it uses Arduino Uno, four continuous rotation servo motors, Nokia 5110 LCD and 12v power supply for hardware and the external envelope is made of laser-cut plywood. This DIY vending machine is much smaller than the conventional vending machines we see every day with only four chambers to put the items, but it includes all the essential components that a vending machine does, including the place to put into the coins and the little coil that pushes the items out. Once you insert a coin and press the button, the coil (made from cloth hanger wires) attached to the servo will push out the item and the LCD Panel will display which item has been dispensed.

I liked this project because it was something that could teach you how things work by producing a downsized version of a conventional item. Surely all of us have seen a vending machine around, but very few of us would know how it actually works. Overall I was pleased to see that it provides an opportunity to learn and also a little source of entertainment. Only thing I would comment on is how fast the items come out of the dispenser. It almost flies out of the hole – and so maybe it would be a good idea to put a cover or a damper to slow down the items.

As someone who is not so experienced in physical computing or Arduino, this project came across as a surprise because I never knew Arduino could recreate a complex – or at least what I thought would be a complex – machine. And not just this project – I was surprised at the shear range and scale of projects that I came across while researching for this assignment, and I am most definitely excited to see the extent to which these projects reach in terms of not only complexity, but also creativity.

How final project looks like

URL: https://www.instructables.com/id/Contactless-Door-Opener/

This project was designed by high school student who was looking for interesting Arduino project. He read a paper about unsanitary of the door knob and decided to build an Arduino project that automatically opens the door. He used an ultra sonic sensor to determine whether someone is standing in front of the door or not and used servo motor to turn the door knob.

Response: I think this is a nice project because like in this huge pandemic, hygiene is important factor to keep our life safe. This project perfectly fits with that motive.

If I were a builder, I would probably used micro receiver that connects with the phone so that we can open door when we wants. If we use ultra sonic sensor, the door might open randomly if I move in front of the door.

Project Title: Heart Visualizer – See Your Heart Beat

Creator: sharathnaik

Short Description: This device is a heart visualizer. It is able to show users their heart beat by using a heart sensor to calculate then uses robotics and electronics to give a visual experience of what it would look like by having the 3D printed heart beat. This is a fun and interactive way to help people get a more realistic understanding of their heart rate.

The creator was able to print the parts to evoke that visual of a heart.

Response: I think that this project is extremely interesting and would be helpful for children to use. I remember when I was younger, I would be so scared of the doctors, even if was to check my pulse. Using this device at the pediatrics would have helped ease my fears and made me feel more comfortable. In addition, this is a great way to educate people on how the heart beats and understanding heart rates while having this interactive experience to engage learners. I understand that the electronics and robotics of this device is complex and would love to look more into how it was thought out.

Description: This project uses and Arduino, ultrasonic sensor, and water pump system to deliver hand sanitizer automatically through sensor detection, and also provides an additional feature of updating the user with COVID-19 information, specifically about the infected count, in real time by drawing data from a live API.

A demonstration of the automatic hand sanitizer dispenser in action!

Response: I personally found this project to be especially relevant to the world’s current situation with the pandemic and quarantine going on, so it immediately stood out to me as something extremely useful right now as a small, but simple, practical device to have on hand.

While I love and completely support the idea and intention behind the project, I think it has so much more potential, especially given its intended purpose. The hand sanitizer portion is great, but I think the idea of providing live COVID updates can be expanded, since the project only provides a count of the total number of infected people, and that information by itself is not that helpful. However, with a few additions, I think the machine can actually be a lot more informative and also provide advice or guidelines to follow to stay safe.

The final hanging weather station

The Hanging Gear Weather Station project was created by the user “Thediylife” on Instructables.

This project utilizes stepper motors and a DHT11 Sensor along with an Aurdino to display the proper data. The DHT11 sensor allows you to measure a from 20-95% humidity along with temperatures ranging from 0 to 50 degrees Celsius; this sensor is connected to an Arduino which then takes this data and then activates the stepper motors to move the gear displays to convey the temperature and relative humidity. The displays and project frame themselves were created by laser cutting MDF and then using hardware to instal the motors, hot glue to mount the electronics, and wood glue to hold the frame in place.

A closer look at the display gears

I think that this project is a lovely way to physically display information which we have grown quite accustomed to gathering through digital means. As we have leaned away from physical ambient temperature thermometers, this provides a fun and modern way to bring back that physical weather-telling practice (along with the addition of reading the humidity which is something that I have only seen accessible through screen-based means).
While the concept of this project delights me, I feel like they could have pushed the visuals of the overall frame a but more; since this project will be on display to have it be of use, it would be nice to see it made of a less-toothy forest product like Eucaboard or perhaps even thin, real wood (acrylic is nice as well, however it doesn’t always lend itself to having a large amount of legibility in terms of small laser-etched numbers or letters).

Overall, I enjoy the elegant simplicity of this project and how it presents the weather data to you in a clean, physical, and unique way.

Project creator: Ben Eagan

Short description: Inspired by a tour to Harry Potter Studios and watching Fire Place for Your Home on Netflix Ben Eagan designed a Arduino powered “water fireplace” using an Arduino uno, mist module, fan, LEDs and basic craft materials.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=VERv-A6FeUA&feature=emb_logo

Response: I really like how polished the final version looks, I think it shows good research and execution and I really want a mist module now.

Short Description: This device is able to fit over existing key pads in order to give people the ability to push buttons without physically touching them. The device has the ability to expand and contract to fit over a range of different key pad sizes. It uses infrared sensors to detect when a finger is s few centimeters away, while alternatively providing a QR code for the user to scan allowing them to press the button they want on their phone. After receiving this input, the adaptor mechanically hits the corresponding button.

3D model of the touch-less key pad interface

Response: I think this is a great idea to make key-pads touch free in the age of COVID-19. The product seems to be pretty adaptable to different key pads, which is important because key pads can come in many shapes and sizes. I will note that implementing this will require signage to notify users of how it works so they don’t try to physically push the buttons. I also wonder if there is a potential security issue with providing a QR code that is able to remotely control buttons, like in an elevator.