Hand sanitizer refill sensor (Killian and Ervin)
Our idea is to make a device/system to measure how much hand sanitizer is left in a dispenser.We will achieve this using an ultrasonic sensor HC-SR04 and a raspberry pi 4.
We went with an Agile development methodology for making this project. This was the best fit for this project because:
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Agile works well for small groups. We are a group of 2.
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Having some working product working early is important to me so agile is perfect for that.
3.With Agile, testing happens regularly through the whole process. This also makes it more likely that the project will finish on time, and on budget.
Currently we do not have a hand sanitizer dispenser. So we had to improvise and borrow a spare plastic box from Mr. Murray. We will use the breadboard as a stand for now because we don't want the breadboard and wires hanging everywhere.
We did a functional test and it worked perfect we are happy with our first test prototype but in our main prototype we would like to add some liquid like water and make the sensor tells us how full the bottle is and if it needs a refill. In our main project we would also like to iclude a light which lights up red when the container is empty.
1.Ultrasonic sensor is not 100% secure as its only attached by sellotape. This can be a huge problem if the device is detached and falls into water.
2.Sometimes our code give us an error and we have to rearrange all the wires differently and then it works.
3.The container is not stable as its placed on the breadboard and attached with sellotape.
4.The main problem of this prototype is the stability and messiness of the project.
We are going to get a Hand sanitizer dispenser. We will remove the the top and and attach the ultrasonic sensor to the roof of the dispenser. The breadboard will attach to the side of the dispenser and will be hidden from view and so will the wires so it doesn't look messy. The only problem will be the light on the bread board which needs to be in clear view so that it can be seen lighting up red when it's empty.
For now we will keep the breadboard seen so that we can see the light. Although it will be messy we currently we don't have a fix for having the LED be seen and the breadboard hidden. We will have some plastic floating on the hand sanitizer so that the sensor can hit the plastic and tell us the depth. We will know the depth of the dispenser and then make so that that when the sensor measures the depth of the empty dispenser the light will light up red.
