Incubator Controller

Description

The incubator controller will be used to monitor and control a custom built egg incubator. The tilt of the eggs must be periodically changed. The temperature and humidity must be maintained within as specific range depending on the breed. A motor will be controlled to alter the tilt angle of the egg tray inside the incubator. A sensor that measures temperature and humidity will be placed inside the incubator to take regular measurements. If the temperature or humidity falls outside a nominated range a push notification will be sent to an iOS app. The iOS app will also support querying the current temperature and humidity readings. The iOS app may also be used to alter the period that the tray tilt is changed. The temperature and humidity measurements will be recorded for historical analysis. An LCD will be mounted locally to allow observation of temperature and humidity including the progress within tilting cycle.

Files

DFR0063_v1.2_Schematic.pdf

DF Robot 2-line LCD display with I2C piggy back board schematic diagram

Adobe Portable Document Format - 42.63 kB - 01/26/2016 at 15:39

Preview

NODEMCU_DEVKIT_V1.0.PDF

NodeMCU DevKit 1.0 (with ESP-12E) official schematic diagrams

Adobe Portable Document Format - 843.68 kB - 01/26/2016 at 15:23

Preview

PCA8574_PCA8574A.pdf

The PCA8574A is the key component on the piggyback board attached to the LCD enabling I2C.

Adobe Portable Document Format - 1011.01 kB - 01/26/2016 at 03:42

Preview

NODEMCU-DEVKIT-V1.0-INSTRUCTION-EN.pdf

Offical NodeMCU DevKit 1.0 documentation. I added a google translate of the last page as the Page 2 is in Chinese.

Adobe Portable Document Format - 228.12 kB - 01/26/2016 at 03:10

Preview

SGS-L293D_motor_driver_IC.pdf

L293D motor driver datasheet

application/pdf - 80.68 kB - 12/22/2015 at 14:30

Preview

Components

1 × NodeMCU ESP8266 Amica DevKit v0.9

1 × TWI 204 20x4 LCD with I2C piggyback

1 × NodeMCU ESP8266 Motor Shield

2 × Switch

1 × 12V DC Motor

Project Logs

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Tray tilting logic
Tony Kambourakis • 12/13/2016 at 00:42 • 0 comments

The egg tray must tilt every 4 hours. When the incubator controller is switched on it must determine the current position of the tray. If either motor switch sensors are activated it implies the tray is in the middle. As such it will activate the motor to the default position (LEFT) until the LEFT switch is activated and start the timer. If a switch is already active it will leave it in that position and start the timer. The following state diagram illustrates this logic.
DHT22 Pins
Tony Kambourakis • 12/06/2016 at 05:12 • 0 comments

The DHT22 4-pin package comprises the following PIN assignments
Fritzing Schematic
Tony Kambourakis • 02/28/2016 at 13:07 • 0 comments
Schematic
Tony Kambourakis • 01/28/2016 at 13:30 • 0 comments
Level Shifting and SDA/SCL Pull Ups
Tony Kambourakis • 01/26/2016 at 03:00 • 0 comments

The ESP8266 (ESP-12E), the core of the NodeMCU devkit, requires a 3.3V supply. The GPIO pins also supposedly operate at 3.3V logic levels. This can be confirmed with the NodeMCU DevKit official documentation:
不得对开发板输入超过 5V 以上的电源电压,也不得将开发板 GPIO 直接连接到 5V 电平的外设上。如果需要连接,需要电平转换电路,否则可能造成不可逆转的损坏。
The board shall not enter more than 5V supply voltage, nor will board GPIO directly connected to 5V level peripherals. If you need to connect
Then, we need to level conversion circuit, or it may cause irreversible damage.
Read more »
Noisy DC Motor
Tony Kambourakis • 01/09/2016 at 15:56 • 2 comments

Ran some tests with both a desktop power supply (3V-12V@1.5A) and a power pack (12V@1A) with the motor shield. The noise generated by the small DC motor is significant across both supplies. Both supplies were fed into my own 12V to 5V regulator circuit shown below.
Read more »
NodeMCU DevKit Pins
Tony Kambourakis • 12/20/2015 at 14:32 • 0 comments
Node MCU Motor Shield
Tony Kambourakis • 12/20/2015 at 13:38 • 9 comments

Connected small DC motor to test the Node MCU motor shield. The shield is based on the L293D quadruple high-current half-H drivers typically used to drive motors.
Read more »
Driving LCD with I2C
Tony Kambourakis • 12/19/2015 at 16:17 • 3 comments

Established I2C link to TWI 2004 204 20x4 LCD module from the ESP8266. The ESP8266 port for Arduino thankfully includes an I2C implementing in the Wire library.
Read more »

View all 9 project logs

Discussions

consolacion wrote 10/01/2016 at 08:54

Very interesting
Your fritzing circuit shows just a block for the level converter where your regular circuit shows actual components. With prices of say a 4 channel levelconverter being around 30 cts, I would advise anybody to just get the premade module. Same goes for the PCF8574, get a premade module that will slot right in the pins of your lcd. better yet, get an lcd that already has that module attached. (But I think you already advise that in your component list)
I know many people use the LCD without levelshifter, I don't risk it though
Your Fritzing circuit looks indeed very clear. I however found it very cumbersome to use. Only using it for PCB's using sPlan for circuits.
Was wondering abt your eggturner. You have a 12 DC motor. most commercial eggturners I know use 110-220Volt. Judging from your pics you constructed one yourself? If so, I'd be most interested to see more details.
As we are about a year down the line... did it work as you expected? anything you would change?

Are you sure? yes | no

Tony Kambourakis wrote 12/06/2016 at 19:52

I am using a pre-made module for the level shifting but couldn't find the right part in Fritzing. Haven't gotten around to creating a custom one. I added the shifter to the parts list. Same the with the LCD - I'm definitely using an LCD with the 8574 already attached but didn't find the part in Fritzing. I don't mind Fritzing. I was using Eagle for a while.

The 12V DC motor is sufficient for this project. I have been busy with work for most of the year but have come back to this project to finish it. Will continue adding posts along the way.

Are you sure? yes | no

c835722 wrote 12/20/2015 at 00:53

I do like the schematic here. its ultra clear. Could you elaborate on how it's done (product, conventions), are the components reusable (eg. PCF8574 pinout)

Are you sure? yes | no

Tony Kambourakis wrote 12/20/2015 at 14:30

Schematic was made using Fritzing (http://fritzing.org/home/). It has a reasonable sized library of components, not as extensive as Eagle. You an add custom parts to it. Its the first time I've used it. I used to use Eagle years ago. I may go back to that if Fritzing proves cumbersome.

Are you sure? yes | no

c835722 wrote 12/20/2015 at 00:20

Most excellent.

Are you sure? yes | no

Incubator Controller

Description

Details

Files

DFR0063_v1.2_Schematic.pdf

NODEMCU_DEVKIT_V1.0.PDF

PCA8574_PCA8574A.pdf

NODEMCU-DEVKIT-V1.0-INSTRUCTION-EN.pdf

SGS-L293D_motor_driver_IC.pdf

Components

Project Logs

Collapse

Tray tilting logic

DHT22 Pins

Fritzing Schematic

Schematic

Level Shifting and SDA/SCL Pull Ups

Noisy DC Motor

NodeMCU DevKit Pins

Node MCU Motor Shield

Driving LCD with I2C

Discussions

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Description

Details

Files

DFR0063_v1.2_Schematic.pdf

NODEMCU_DEVKIT_V1.0.PDF

PCA8574_PCA8574A.pdf

NODEMCU-DEVKIT-V1.0-INSTRUCTION-EN.pdf

SGS-L293D_motor_driver_IC.pdf

Components

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