Enter the IoT at Work & Play Contest and Win an Amber Pi

You said: "

I want to make some implement IoT in green house farm, to control the whole system that use and report it.

the system implement AI to make good decision for each plant, from sensor input and system hardware."

The whole system? Do you think the Amber Pi can do that? You've added AI into this project. Can you complete this project in a reasonable amount of time, say, 1 month and write a blog about it?

Randall Scasny

-element14 team

Your idea is definitely IoT at play!

Do you envision this being a wearable?

Randall Scasny

-element team

Hi Otelea.

You said: "Hi, first of all I want to say that I have not experimented with development boards before."

what have you experimented with?

Have you built any kind of electronic or IoT project where you connect a sensor to a controller to an actuator?

Randall

Your HVAC proposals sound interesting.  Look forward to see what you actually implement.

I would like to use the Amber PI to monitor and control a small aquaculture system that would include sensors to measure the water temp, PH, and oxygen levels for fish. The system would monitor air temp and ambient light and control water flow for the plants. Monitoring and controlling other aspects of the aquaculture system could be added later as the system grows.

I am developing IoT devices which are self-powered (aka require no additional wiring or external power supply) and can be installed with ease into existing homes. I place considerable emphasis on devices that can continue to operate, and be controlled, irrespective of internet connectivity. For the purpose of this contest I will describe a few of these devices:

• The first is a vent control for typical HVAC systems. Instead of adjustable linear blades to control air flow, I use a turbine fan arrangement of variable-angle blades. Fully closed the fan restrict air flow to leakage-only. Fully open the blades maximize air flow but do not rotate. In between the blades can be moved through a series of preset angles, creating various flow patterns and volumes. In essence the vent control is both a fan, to radially distribute air, and an air-volume controller. The unit should be a direct-swap for existing vents sold by hardware stores. A motor-driven cam determines the blade angle-of-attack and is controlled by a simple processor such as the Arduino or any PIC chip. To make the device self-powered, the same motor which changes the cam position can be turned by the rotating fan to generate power into a super capacitor. In the event the system is idle for too long, the controller sends a message to the HVAC control board to have the HVAC (fan-only) turn on for sufficient time to recharge the capacitor. My intention is to 3d print the fan components, cam and motor gearing.

• A more obvious device is a simple pressure differential device used to determine when air filters in an HVAC system require changing. As the filter becomes clogged, air pressure differential increases. A straw-like sensor pushes through either the ducting or the air filter itself (the second solution allows for easy retrofit) to measure pressure drop within the duct. Early versions will use barometric pressure sensors however I suspect a simpler solution can be achieved by a piezo (strain) sensor on a membrane within the straw. The prototype is planned to employ an ESP32 (proof-of-concept only) but the engineering can probably be reduced to something simpler through trial-and-error. A simple turbine in the air flow will keep the device powered or alternately a piezo motor may be used, with appropriate valving, to generate power.

• A smart controller for mini-split systems. America is probably the only country in the world to use massively inefficient whole-house HVAC solutions. In particular we put the air handler in the hottest area of the house - the attic - then connect to the many vents via hundreds of feet of low-insulation ducting (typically R8 insulation). In Arizona up to 30% efficiency is lost due to this crazy system. For a typical American house it is very hard to retrofit mini-split solutions because there are no thermostat controllers which can accommodate a range of air conditioning solutions combined with household room layouts. In other words, your Nest controller would throw up its hands in despair when asked to manage such a hybrid solution!. For this reason I am developing a smart controller which allows optimum cooling using any available resources including a combination of whole-house units, mini-splits, evaporators  and through-the-wall units. Again, the emphasis is on the ability to retrofit a solution into an existing household.

I have several other devices in-the-works including:

• An IoT water softener (that monitors salt levels and can send messages both for low-salt and leakages),
• A low cost irrigation system that is self-powered and can detect leakage as well as valve failure. The system will be modular and extensible - add only the features you want using lego-like connection
• A toaster that uses ceramic and halogen heating elements to accurately control cooking of many different products. The toaster will incorporate a novel "browning" detector as well as humidity sensor to ensure a moist interior. This will be a learning system!
• An affordable pill dispenser. Yes, several such devices exist but I want to make one that is cheap - less than $100 - and which can be used anywhere in the world or as a portable device.

So if ANY of these devices interests you, identify one and I'd be happy to build it for you consideration. My primary interest in life is true AI based on gaming engines, game theory and algorithm libraries; so IoT is mostly a hobby for my own amusement. I am continuously disappointed by the low quality and poor user interface of the current generation of IoT devices.

From the basic description, this is pretty much ideal for something I have wanted for a long time - a simple little 'black box' you could stick anyplace around (in or out) the house to measure 'stuff' (like temperature, humidity, switch closures, etc), have that information transmitted to other smart entities and then use the information for - well, goodness knows what. There are, of course, 'boxes' to do this but it would be cool to do it one's self.

And, of course, the information flow could (and probably should ) be two-way. There are a number of challenges here: physical, electrical (power consumption comes to mind), the format of the data transfer, figuring an easy'ish way to build apps for control and display. Lots ot learn!!!

This is a sort of plaything really. On our yacht there are lots of little bits to monitor, water in the tanks, water in the bilges (hopefully not), fuel levels, power in the assorted battery banks.

It would be nice for levels to be monitored and a simple readout to keep us informed if low or high levels.  Maybe even switching the solar panels to charge batteries in need.

Then if it has spare capacity we could also get it to look after our music collection on board so we can have a type of jukebox operation going.

That would be so nice.

AT work we usually have to complete our task in a given time period we kinda do time managment but fails to execute it or fails to manage it what if my IOT module do that for me by learning from my past experiences like usually doing work like converting word to pdf or sending mails sometimes become hectic my amberpi mobule with rassberry pi will do it and  send it for me and i dont have to do hard work in that and will be more in smart work ,usually at work we forget to drink enough of water and end up drinking less which harm body at long term my module will also take care of indiviual health which will give a feeling at home just like our family do for us ,sitting at one place is quite uncomfortable my iot device will also display that you have this place at your office and can go their and sit and do your work , what if i m mad over something and suddenly one songs play which fixes my mood ,yess! that can also my module will do .apart from that it can also put record who are coming to my desk and report me immediately it will also show me insights that how much i m working and how more i have to work .

this is my submission i hope you guys like it ,

regards .

I am designing and building an Automatic Test Equipment. Test will be send to technician's handheld, laptop or tablets. I already have the modules working adding IoT would be the viable solution to remote testing capability.