Water Alarm

alarm clock page

Inspiration

Just about every college student has missed, or nearly missed, a lecture because they missed their alarm, after a long night of studying. We looked at this issue, and tried to think of an alarm that would be impossible to ignore.

What it does

Through a web app, you are able to set the time you want to wake up, and at that time the alarm will spray you with a water bottle, and start playing an alarm. This alarm will then only turn off once you enter the answer to a complex math equation.

How we built it

For hardware, we used an esp-32, a servo, to create a mechanism that would tip over the water bottle once a certain time was reached. This would connect to your phone, where the app would signal to the Arduino when it should go off, according to the time that was previously set. A complex math equation then pops up on the app, and you have to enter the correct answer for another signal to be sent telling the noise to stop.

Challenges we ran into

All of the 4 HC-05 bluetooth modules that we got from the hardware desk were in fact, broken. We wasted an entire day trying to figure out what the issue was because it felt in conceivable that all 4 modules could be broken. In the end, we had to abandon the HC-05 and work with the ESP 32 instead.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Overall, through this experience, we were able to learn a lot more about our respective fields, and about working as a team on Computer Science/Engineering projects. As well as this, all of us were able to learn new skills, whether they be hardware or software.

What we learned

For many of us, this was our first time using React and Arduino. We were able to learn on the spot, from the internet, and especially from each other. In the process of making the hardware, we also learned to use a plethora of tools in the Makerspace.