Question

Case Project 13-2 Building on Case Project 13-1, you want to be able to check the status of the blinds and make them controllable using your mobile phone through your home network. You also want to have a series of indicators on the device that indicate the following status conditions: 1. Power is applied to the device. 2. The device detects someone in the room. 3. Direct sunlight is detected. 4. It is dark. What hardware changes do you need to make to this project?

Answer 1

To make blinds controllable through a mobile device and add status indicators, you need a microcontroller, actuators, various sensors for the necessary conditions, status LEDs, and a mobile application for remote control.

Step-by-step explanation:

Hardware Changes for Smart Blinds

To upgrade your blinds to be controllable via your mobile phone and to have various status indicators, you will need to integrate several hardware components:

• A microcontroller that can connect to your home network (Wi-Fi or Bluetooth compatible).
• An actuator to physically open and close the blinds.
• Sensors: a power sensor to detect if the device is on, a motion sensor to detect presence in the room, a light sensor to detect direct sunlight, and another to detect darkness.
• Status indicators (LEDs) for each condition.
• A mobile application or interface that allows you to check the status and control the blinds remotely.

The microcontroller will integrate with the sensors and actuators, creating a system that can be controlled with a mobile app. The status indicators will provide an at-a-glance update on power, room occupancy, sunlight detection, and current light levels.

Answer 2

To add the desired functionality to the project, the following hardware changes need to be made:

Add a Wi-Fi module to the Arduino board, such as an ESP8266, to enable connectivity to the home network.

Add a sensor to detect the position of the blinds, such as a potentiometer or a rotary encoder, to enable the status of the blinds to be checked remotely.

Add a PIR (Passive Infrared) sensor to detect motion in the room, which can be used to trigger the blinds to open or close automatically based on occupancy.

Add a light sensor to detect the amount of ambient light in the room, which can be used to trigger the blinds to open or close automatically based on the amount of sunlight.

Add an LED indicator for each of the four status conditions. The LED indicators can be connected to the Arduino board and controlled through software to indicate the status conditions.

Finally, update the software code to include the new functionality to check the status of the blinds and control them through the Wi-Fi network. The software code should also include logic to read the sensor data and control the LED indicators based on the status conditions.

Step-by-step explanation: