Team MEGR 3171 Fall 2021 Group 7: Meghan Fragomeni, Justin McClellan

Published November 23, 2021

Doggy Do Time

Keep track of your wandering pet as they love going outside and inside!

BeginnerShowcase (no instructions)3 hours78

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Ultrasonic Sensor - HC-SR04 (Generic)

Particle Argon

Breadboard (generic)

Jumper wires (generic)

Male/Female Jumper Wires

LED (generic)

Photodiode, 45 °

Software apps and online services

Particle Build Web IDE

ThingSpeak API

Story

Purpose:

The purpose of this project is to set up a monitor that tracks when your pets enters or exits the house, and keeping track of whether they’re still outside or not. This goal was accomplished through the use of two separate circuits each driven by a Particle Argon. One sitting outside to monitor the outside system, and one sitting inside to monitor the inside system.

Inside Circuit:

The inside circuit implements an HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor that sent out ultrasonic waves and times the delay before receiving a response. The Argon receives the time response then converts the time into a distance in centimeters an object is away from the sensor.

The inside Argon also has a red and green LED system that keeps track of whether the pet is inside or outside according to the bi-communication system. If the pet is read to be going outside, the LED switches from the green light to the red light, and when read to be going inside, the red LED switches to the green LED.

1 / 2 • Inside Circuit (Inside-state)

Outside Sensor:

The outside circuit implements an HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor identically to the inside circuit to measure distance away from the sensor in centimeters. The difference between the inside and outside sensor, is that rather than a red and green LED, the outside sensor is connected to a photodiode with a white LED. When active, if the photodiode detects that it is dark outside, the Argon lights up the white LED to provide a small light to indicate the circuit even in the dark. The photodiode is active only when the bi-communication system reads that the pet is outside, to conserve unnecessary power.

1 / 2 • Outside Circuit (Photodiode Off)

Determining Inside or Outside:

As the pet approaches one of the sensors, the corresponding Argon will measure the distance away from the sensor decreasing, and will thusly send a signal to the other Argon. The second Argon will then check to see if shortly after the first Argon read a decreasing value of distance, the measured distance of the second Argon increases. This basic system is used to determine the direction of flow of the pet, be it entering or exiting the house.

As an example, if the inside Argon detects a decrease in distance value, and shortly after the outside Argon detects an increase of distance value, the bi-communication system determines that the pet must be exiting the house, switching the system state to the pet being outside.

Below is a block diagram of how the system operates depending on the two states of the system, as well as a video of the system in operation.

Block-Flow Diagram

System Operation

Live Graphing:

When a system state changes, the corresponding published event is inputted into ThingSpeak to create a live graphing of the state of the system over time. The state “1” represents the system set to “outside” while the sate “0” represents the system set to “inside.”

ThingSpeak Graph

Code

// Pin Definitions

#define trigPin D6
#define echoPin D7
#define outsideLight D3
// Initializing
int analogValue = 0;
long duration;
long distance;
bool Inside = false;
int brightness;


void setup()

{ 
    Serial.begin (9600);
    pinMode(trigPin, OUTPUT);
    pinMode(echoPin, INPUT);
    pinMode(outsideLight, OUTPUT);
    // Listening to the inside sensor
    Particle.subscribe("Inside Activity", diode);
    
}

void loop()
{ 
    // Distance calculation 
    digitalWrite(trigPin, HIGH);
    delayMicroseconds(1000);
    digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);
    duration = pulseIn(echoPin, HIGH);
    distance = (duration/2)/74;
    Serial.print(distance);
    Serial.println(" inches");
    delay(200);
    // Checking if the dog is going inside
    if (distance < 10){
        Inside = true;
        Particle.publish("Outside Activity", String(Inside));
        digitalWrite(outsideLight, LOW);
    }
}


void diode(const char *event, const char *data){
    // Check if it is light or dark and turn on LED accordingly
    analogValue=analogRead(A3);
    if (analogValue <= 50){
        digitalWrite(outsideLight, HIGH);
    }
    Inside = false;
}

// Pin Definitions
#define trigPin D6
#define echoPin D7
#define redLight D2
#define greenLight D4
// Initialization 
long duration;
long distance; 
bool Outside = false;
    
    
void setup()
{ 
    Serial.begin (9600);
    pinMode(trigPin, OUTPUT);
    pinMode(echoPin, INPUT);
    pinMode(redLight, OUTPUT);
    pinMode(greenLight, OUTPUT);
    Particle.subscribe("Outside Activity", leds);

}
void loop()
{
    // Distance calculation 
    digitalWrite(trigPin, HIGH);
    delayMicroseconds(1000);
    digitalWrite(trigPin, LOW);
    duration = pulseIn(echoPin, HIGH);
    distance = (duration/2)/74;
    Serial.print(distance);
    Serial.println(" inches");
    delay(200);
    
    // Checking if dog is leaving the house
    if (distance < 10){
        Outside = true;
        Particle.publish("Inside Activity", String(Outside));
        digitalWrite(redLight, HIGH);
        digitalWrite(greenLight,LOW);
        // Tells the graph when the dog is leaving
        Particle.publish("Going Outside", String(Outside), PRIVATE);
        //Channel ID: 1580458
        //API Key: M2U0PI0TOAVV7RN9
    }
}

void leds(const char *event, const char *data){
        // Turns the green light on if the dog has returned
            digitalWrite(greenLight, HIGH);
            digitalWrite(redLight, LOW);
            Outside = false;
            // Tells the graph the dog has returned
            Particle.publish("Going Outside", String(Outside), PRIVATE);
}

Credits

Meghan Fragomeni

2 projects • 2 followers

I am a mechanical engineering student at UNC Charlotte.

Justin McClellan

1 project • 1 follower

Student at UNC Charlotte, dual majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Physics. Graduating in Spring 2023

Doggy Do Time

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Purpose:

Inside Circuit:

Outside Sensor:

Determining Inside or Outside:

Live Graphing:

Schematics

Outside Sensor

Inside Sensor

Code

Outside Sensor Code

Inside Sensor Code

Credits

Meghan Fragomeni

Justin McClellan

Comments

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Doggy Do Time

Doggy Do Time

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

Purpose:

Inside Circuit:

Outside Sensor:

Determining Inside or Outside:

Live Graphing:

Schematics

Outside Sensor

Inside Sensor

Code

Outside Sensor Code

Inside Sensor Code

Credits

Meghan Fragomeni

Justin McClellan

Comments

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