1.0 Project Introduction
1.1 Overview
Spark Initiative is a project-based student-to-student mentorship program organized by the IEEE UNM Student Branch. The aim of this program is to help develop the technical skills of a group of club members and give them hands-on experience in creating a simple product. The mentors of this program consist of the technical executives and executive committee members of IEEE UNM Student Branch who teach hardware and software basics as well as useful debugging tips and tricks to the participants.
1.2 Goal
The project goal of Spark Initiative in the 2023/2024 academic year is to build a DIY Weather Station that can detect rain as well as measure the temperature, humidity, pressure, and the wind speed of its surroundings.
1.3 Components
The components used in this project are:
- 2x16 LCD
- Wind Speed Anemometer NPN Output
- Rain Sensor Module
- DHT11 Temperature and Humidity Sensor
- Arduino Uno
- GY-68 BMP180 Barometric Pressure Sensor Module
2.0 Project Execution
2.1 Hardware
The Wind Speed Anemometer NPN Output measures the wind speed. The Rain Sensor Module detects if it is raining. The DHT11 Temperature and Humidity Sensor measures temperature and humidity of the surroundings. The GY-68 BMP180 Barometric Pressure Sensor Module measures the pressure of the surroundings. The Arduino Uno is used to read the output of the sensors and control the 2x16 LCD to display the measurements.
2.2 Software
The software used for each sensor was derived from their respective reference link in Section 2.1. Additionally, the participants learned to write a simple 2x16 LCD library using the datasheet of the LCD controller.
3.0 Results
The participants built a weather station that can measure the temperature, humidity, pressure, and wind speed of its surroundings and detect if it is raining.