Swiss Army Can

Breadboard and Arduino without housing
Hard at work
Housing ready for electronics
Final Product
Circuit Diagram

Inspiration

We wanted to provide a cost-effective, environmentally friendly solution to enhance the environment of the user.

What it does

By utilizing a wide range of sensors, we are able to analyze environmental conditions and take action to improve them within a localized radius.

How we built it

We used the Grove System of sensors to model the system. This allowed for rapid prototyping which let the team explore possibilities. After the initial prototype phase, the size was minimized by using our own components, in order to optimize space and reduce cost. We used Arduino, an open source electronic platform, to create a sophisticated system of conditions which produces optimal environmental conditions for the user. In addition, we made the system battery-operated in order to maximize flexibility for the users. Finally, we designed a low-cost housing solution, which uses recycled soft-drink containers which contains all the electronics.

Challenges we ran into

There were many challenges that came about in this process. Just coming up with such a great idea took a lot of time and brain-power. Also, electronics got to be challenging. We had to make sure the housing did not make electronics interfere with each other.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

This is the first Hackathon for much of the team. We are proud to come out of this learning a lot and have a finished product, complete with housing. We worked together, learned a lot, and had fun.

What we learned

In this process, we learned a lot about electronics and development. We learned how to program ArduinoC to allow it to take in sensor data and control other circuit elements. We also learned about the electronics used and how to put them together, since many of them were not simply "plug and play". Electronics in the "real world" are much different than problems you would see on paper.