At Sunway College, we have a dedicated research lab (Sunway College Research Lab) where we focus on experimenting and researching different IoT-based devices. Our mini research is also one of the most loved workplaces for some of our robotic geeks. We provide drones, 3D printers, and other essentials that our students request for their research. One of our IoT Enthusiast, Sabin Shrestha (and team) have developed an IoT Based Automatic Water Temperature Adjustor.
Let us have an insight into this from Mr. Sabin Shrestha himself.
Hello, I am Sabin Shrestha, a Student at Sunway College Kathmandu (March 2021 Intake). Let’s have a good insight on IoT Based Automatic Water temperature adjustor.
Water Heating: Till Now
Water heating is part of energy utilization and is a process that is as old as human history. As the mode of water heating is changing from the use of the sun to modern-day electricity. Engineers have now designed and developed a lot of heating water systems. Some of them are geysers, Water heating rods, Solar Water heaters, and many more.
There is much importance of hot water to humankind. This can be a reason why water-heating systems are indispensable and we find them in almost every personal and commercial residences.
In the present time, people are facing many difficulties while using heating systems. Waiting for water to heat is a waste of time. There are many aware difficulties we face such as high electricity consumption, hazardous systems, overheating, no mobile accessibility, and the inability to adjust the temperature.
As our project prototype, we have designed and constructed an automatic water-heating unit. The system is an automatic temperature adjuster that controls a powerful heater in a hot water storage vessel. It has two fixed temperature settings; one is for turning ON the water heater and another is for turning OFF.
Let us rewind the project from its basics.
What is an IoT-Based Automatic Water Temperature Adjustor?
The rise of IoT (Internet of Things) is one of the most rapid and fascinating advances in information and communications technology.
The term “Internet of Things” (IoT) describes a network of actual physical items that have sensors, software, and other technologies built into them in order to communicate and exchange data with other systems and devices through the internet. The system ‘IoT Based Automatic Water Temperature Adjustor’ is for adjusting water temperature according to the possible surroundings temperature, humidity, and water temperature.
Why did we make an IoT-based Automatic Water Temperature Adjustor?
There are several problems with the manual water heater. There’s usually a problem with the high-water temperature. Because of this, most water heaters consume high power and lead to higher electricity bills. We also face a problem by adjusting ourselves to use the device usually at constant water temperature. Considering these problems, we made an IoT Automatic Water Temperature Adjustor.
Tools to operate IoT-based Automatic Water Temperature Adjustor
To operate this system, these are the following tools we used:
- Arduino
- DHT11 (Temperature-Humidity Sensor)
- Bread Board
- DS18B20 (Water Temperature Sensor)
- Jumper Wires
- Resistor
- I2C OLED
- Water Heating Coil &
- Relay and LED.
Applications and Advantages of IoT-based Automatic Water Temperature Adjustor
The application of this system is very vast as it can be implemented in power plants, hospitals, mountain regions, local homes, dormitories, and lodges. This system is time-saving and cost-efficient, and easy to implement. The tool provides an automatic temperature adjustor, less power consumption, safety, and many more.
An IoT-based automatic water temperature adjustor is better than other systems as it automatically detects and adjusts the water temperature after it senses the environmental temperature. This system is still in its developing phase but was able to show the results accurately.
Now, let’s understand automatic controls and our project.
Automatic controls and IoT-Based Automatic Water Temperature Adjustor
Automatic control is an enormous term. It covers the control of many variables such as pressure, temperature, flow, level, speed, and many more. In this modern society, there are still a lot of systems that we can make efficient and automatic using IoT.
IoT Based Automatic Water Temperature Adjustor is one of the automatic controlling systems around the world. The difference is that is this system is an automatic water temperature adjustor that adjusts to the temperature and humidity of the atmosphere or environment to which it is applied.
This project falls under the category of Environmental Engineering. This system has the capability of collecting temperature data of both atmosphere and water. For this, the system involves two different sensors for collecting temperature information, one is DHT11 and the other is DS18B20.
Development Processes of IoT-based Automatic Water Temperature Adjustor
We have divided the development process into the following steps:
Research about the project
We researched system usability, understanding of the recently adopted system, project advantages, project scopes, disadvantages, previous system processes, systems requirements, mechanical parts, and problems related to the water temperature adjustor.
Designing and defining pins on Arduino:
In this phase, we developed the system flowchart and the design of the system. After the design, we made the pins which will denote the certain mechanism in the system allocated.
Mechanical Setup According to design:
In this phase, we set up the mechanical parts according to the design and assigned the pins accordingly. We utilized Mechanical parts such as Arduino, DHT11, DS18B20, Water Heating Coil, I2C OLED, Resistors, Potentiometers, Bluetooth Module, Jumper wires, Relay, and LED. Finally, we connected all devices to the central device, which is Arduino.
Technical Setup for IoT-Based Automatic Water Temperature Adjustor
In a technical setup, we downloaded the libraries, and we wrote the code to make the system function automatically. We also uploaded the program for the system in the Arduino so that the system works properly. Now, Through the code, we assigned each individual device the task to be performed. In this phase, we made the soul of the system which makes the system automatic.
In the code, DHT11 Sensor first senses the temperature of the atmosphere and then analyses the temperature of the atmosphere if it is hot or cold. When the temperature is hot the system turns off the heater. When the atmosphere is cold, the system turns on the heater. After the heater is on, the water temperature will increase progressively.
The DS18B20 sensor, a water temperature sensor, also works parallel to sense the temperature of the water. While water is heating, the water temperature analyses the temperature of the water. If the water reaches its preset temperature which is 43 Centigrade, the heater will turn off automatically.
We also set a Bluetooth module to set the range of the water temperature using a mobile application so that the user can manipulate the temperature of the water as needed. The option for the system to turn on or off was also provided in this application. A crucial aspect involved in this step is the maintenance of the code.
Data collection and analysis phase for IoT-Based Water Temperature Adjustor
In this phase, we collected and analyzed the data. The data is shown in a serial monitor where it is analyzed and compared with the thermometer to check the accuracy. Tools we used to show the were thermometer, and I2C.
Creating prototype and testing:
Now, we created a prototype by joining all the hardware components and designing the project’s outlook. The prototype we created is system tested to confirm if the system is working or not. To collect the data, we examined the system in the room to check various aspects of the system, some of which include checking if it is working or not, and even if the provided data is right or not.
Result & Analysis
IoT-based automatic water temperature adjusts or reads the temperature of any atmosphere to find if the condition of the atmosphere is hot or cold and gives output by adjusting the temperature of the water as required for the user automatically.
As a result, we tested the system for the room where it was made. The result of the room is measured, which mostly lies between 14 degrees centigrade to 20 degrees centigrade in the winter season. The result shown in Arduino ide’s serial monitor, LCD display, and the water temperature thermometer’s serial monitor is compared.
Acknowledgment
I would like to express my warm thank you to Sunway College Kathmandu as well as the friends and teachers who helped and encouraged me to complete this project.
Also, I am equally grateful and thankful to Akash Deo and Saddam Hussain of Sunway College Kathmandu. I would also like to express our gratitude to all of our friends, Brainycube, and the Sunway family for their assistance and support in making this project a reality.
Conclusion
Conclusion?
We successfully designed, developed, and tested the IoT-based Automatic Water Temperature Adjustor system. There were some updates as well in this system such as replacing I2C LCD with I2C OLED, making applications for the system, and others. The IoT-based Automatic Water Temperature Adjustor project was able to maintain the temperature of water at the preset temperature range after reading the temperature atmosphere. It triggers the LED that creates awareness when the heated water has reached its maximum preset temperature. The components used in building the system were readily available.
The IoT-based Automatic Water Temperature Adjustor system could be useful in homes, offices, factories, hotels, cafeterias, manufacturing processes, laundries, industries, thermal electric generation plants, etc. In the future, we can apply the whole system automation using Wi-Fi, make the size and weight of the system smaller, applying in other temperature-related systems, and many more.
The possibilities are endless which we will continue to explore in Sunway College’s research lab and beyond that.