WetLand energy monitor: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:02, 21 December 2013

Abstract

WetLand is an art installation on the Delaware River, for more information visit the Appropedia page: WetLand. WetLand is supplied with electricity by solar panels connected to four 12v batteries. The amount of sunlight and arrangement of batteries will affect the amount energy the system can produce. The amount of electricity stored in the batteries will change daily due to the varying concentrations of sunlight as well as the amount of loads(light bulbs, water pumps, laptops, etc.). It is important that the inhabitants of WetLand are informed on the state of the batteries as well as the amount of electricity being produced in order to accommodate their use accordingly.

Commercial and Hobbyist Energy Monitors

There are a good number of energy monitors out there. Most of which only work in the AC world (i.e. your homes, the coffee shop, the classic wall plug), and the monitoring systems designed for a PV system are normally tied in with an expensive charge controller. However we found some great inspirations out there, and their links are listed below listed below.

Some awesome arduino videos, most of which are dealing with solar panels.
More awesome arduino videos, as well as a lot of videos on electricity, most of which are dealing with solar power.
This is an awesome open-source energy monitor designed for household use.

Objective

We would like to provide WetLand with a monitor that is designed to inform the inhabitants of the energy being produced and stored. It will also act as a warning system when the health of the batteries are in danger.

Criteria

The table below explains our criteria and list in them in order of importance.

Criterion:	Constraints:	Weights:
Cost	Less than $325	10
Safety	Won't harm anyone: Grounded and well insulated (OSHA)	10
Accuracy	Less than 5% error	9
Maintainability	Less than an hour a week	9
Interpretability	Easily understandable for the public	8
Aesthetics	Dystopian	6
Reproducibility	Anyone can recreate	6

Design

Our deign passes the electricity of the batteries and solar panels through their own respective current sensor. The current sensor sends analog signal to an Arduino Uno which processes the data and displays ...... on our color changing LCD. The LCD is programmed to change color depending on how much energy is being used. Also, a piezo buzzer is set off when the energy consumed threatens the batteries. Wattage will be calculated using a real-time clock, an SD card, and a few lines of code. The monitor is powered by the electricity coming from the batteries; to do this we use a dc-dc step down converter, which drops the voltage low enough to power an Arduino.

Costs

Material costs:

Item	Cost [$]	Tax
Arduino Uno	25.00	1.81
Sensor Shield	10.88	0.79
Real Time Clock	6.90	0.50
RGB LCD	24.95	1.81
Piezo Buzzer	1.50	0.11
(2) Hall Effect Current Sensors	28.90	2.10
DC-DC Step Down Converter	12.49	0.91
SD Shield	8.99	0.65
Mounting Hardware	3.00	0.22
Wires from Battery	3.99	0.29
Wires from Solar Panels	2.50	0.18
Intercept Plug	3.99	0.29
Wood Mounting Surface	Donated
Plexiglass Enclosure	Donated
Misc. Terminals	Donated
Misc. Hardware	Donated
Solder	Donated
Total	133.09	9.65
Final Cost	142.74

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 {{Template:ENGR215inprogress|December 15th, 2013}}
-<!-- Comments that appear only in the edit view are formatted like this. -->
+== Abstract ==
-<!-- These comments are offered as an aid as you get started. Remove as you wish. -->
+WetLand is an art installation on the Delaware River, for more information visit the Appropedia page: [[WetLand]]. WetLand is supplied with electricity by solar panels connected to four 12v batteries. The amount of sunlight and arrangement of batteries will affect the amount energy the system can produce. The amount of electricity stored in the batteries will change daily due to the varying concentrations of sunlight as well as the amount of loads(light bulbs, water pumps, laptops, etc.). It is important that the inhabitants of WetLand are informed on the state of the batteries as well as the amount of electricity being produced in order to accommodate their use accordingly.
-<!-- next line is the code for inserting an image; delete if you don't have an image yet -->
-<center>''Keeping batteries healthy and people happy.''</center>
-<center>THIS PAGE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!</center>
-WetLand is an art installation on the Delaware River, for more information visit the appropedia page: [[WetLand]]. WetLand is supplied with electricity by solar panels connected to four 12v batteries. The amount of sunlight and arrangement of batteries will affect the amount energy the system can produce. The amount of electricity stored in the batteries will change daily due to the varying concentrations of sunlight as well as the amount of loads(light bulbs, water pumps, laptops, etc.). It is important that the inhabitants of WetLand are informed on the state of the batteries as well as the amount of electricity being produced in order to accomodate their use accordingly.
 == Commercial and Hobbyist Energy Monitors ==
+There are a good number of energy monitors out there. Most of which only work in the AC world (i.e. your homes, the coffee shop, the classic wall plug), and the monitoring systems designed for a PV system are normally tied in with an expensive charge controller. However we found some great inspirations out there, and their links are listed below listed below.
-There are a good number of energy monitors out there. Most of which only work in the AC world (i.e. your homes, the coffee shop, the classic wall plug), and the monitoring systems designed for a PV system are normally tied in with an expensive charge controller. However we found some great inspirations out there, and their links are listed below listed below.</ref>
+* [http://www.youtube.com/user/julius256?feature=watch Some awesome arduino videos], most of which are dealing with solar panels.
+* [http://www.youtube.com/user/mjlorton?feature=watch More awesome arduino videos], as well as a lot of videos on electricity, most of which are dealing with solar power.
-* [http://www.youtube.com/user/julius256?feature=watch] : This guy makes some awesome arduino videos, most of which are dealing with solar panels.
+* This is an awesome [http://www.openenergymonitor.org open-source energy monitor] designed for household use.
-* [http://www.youtube.com/user/mjlorton?feature=watch] : This guys also makes some awesome arduino videos, as well as a lot of videos on electricity, most of which dealing with solar power.
-* [http://www.openenergymonitor.org] This is an awesome open-source energy monitor designed for household use.
 == Objective ==
+We would like to provide WetLand with a monitor that is designed to inform the inhabitants of the energy being produced and stored. It will also act as a warning system when the health of the batteries are in danger.
-We would like to provide WetLand with a monitor that is designed to inform the inhabitants of the energy being produced and stored. But more importantly, act as a warning system when the health of the batteries are in danger.
 == Criteria ==
 The table below explains our criteria and list in them in order of importance.
@@ Line 63: / Line 52: @@
 == Design ==
+Our deign passes the electricity of the batteries and solar panels through their own respective current sensor. The current sensor sends analog signal to an Arduino Uno which processes the data and displays ...... on our color changing LCD. The LCD is programmed to change color depending on how much energy is being used. Also, a piezo buzzer is set off when the energy consumed threatens the batteries. Wattage will be calculated using a real-time clock, an SD card, and a few lines of code. The monitor is powered by the electricity coming from the batteries; to do this we use a dc-dc step down converter, which drops the voltage low enough to power an Arduino.
-Our deign passes the electricity of the batteries and solar panels through their own repective current sensor. The current sensor sends analog signal to an Arduino Uno which processes the data and displays ...... on our color changing LCD. The LCD is programmed to change color depending on how much energy is being used. Also, a piezo buzzer is set off when the energy consumed threatens the batteries. Wattage will be calculated using a real-time clock, an SD card, and a few lines of code. The monitor is powered by the electricity coming from the batteries; to do this we use a dc-dc step down converter, which drops the voltage low enough to power an Arduino. Below WILL BE a gallery of images and code sketches of our final design:
-<!-- Here is a sample gallery.  -->
-<gallery caption="Sample gallery">
-File:Imageneeded.png|Sample caption text.
-File:Imageneeded.png|More sample caption text. This would look better with different images. :)
-File:Imageneeded.png|Even more sample caption text.
-</gallery>
-=== Next level heading ===
-You may need deeper level headings.  Just keep adding equal signs to get that.
 == Costs ==
+Material costs:
-You may describe your costs here.
 {| class="wikitable"
 |-
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 |Wood Mounting Surface
 |Donated
+|
 |-
 |Plexiglass Enclosure
 |Donated
+|
 |-
 |Misc. Terminals
 |Donated
+|
 |-
 |Misc. Hardware
 |Donated
+|
 |-
 |Solder
 |Donated
+|
 |-
 !Total
@@ Line 155: / Line 136: @@
 !Final Cost
 |142.74
+|
 |-
 |}
-<!--See [[Help:Tables]] and [[Help:Table examples]] for more. -->
-== Discussion ==
-Talk Talk Talk
-=== Next steps ===
-The next steps.
-== Conclusions ==
-Your conclusions.
-== References ==
-== Contact details ==
-<!-- Don't change the next line unless you intend to change the categorization -->
-<!-- Do add additional, appropriate categories.  See http://www.appropedia.org/Appropedia:CategoryTree for ideas. -->
 [[Category:Engr215 Introduction to Design]]
 [[Category:Projects]]