Team:Cornell/project/drylab/components/electronics

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Cornell University Genetically Engineered Machines

Electronics

To design the feedback system to provide an ideal environment for mushroom growth (high temperature and humidity), an analog LM34 Fahrenheit temperature sensor and HH10D relative humidity sensor module were used to collect data and adjust the environment.

Temperature Sensor:

The LM34 temperature sensor system is illustrated below:
The temperature sensor is hooked onto the A1 port of the micro-controller to allow the micro-controller to read data from the sensor. The micro-controller was programmed in C through the Arduino IDE to read the temperature every second. The program is designed as a feedback loop which decides whether to raise or lower the temperature based on the temperature input. Temperature is controlled by switching on or off the power loop. The micro-controller outputs a certain voltage based on the program, and that voltage (0 or 3.3V) will signal the transistor to switch on or off, either opening or closing the 6 V loop, which heats up the whole tank.
The LM34 temperature sensor was chosen because it can read a wide range of temperatures to a 1.0°F accuracy, which is perfect for tuning the temperature of the incubator. Once the entire circuit was hooked up with the right components according to the schematic, measurements were taken to compare the temperature sensor with an actual thermometer’s readings. The temperature sensor was accurate to within 1°C, which was one of the requirements for the mushroom incubator. During the calibration, the temperature sensor reacted a lot quicker to temperature change than the actual thermometer. While the sensor and the thermometer were not placed in the same location by the resistor, they were close enough for this difference to be negligible. While doing this calibration, the change in voltage was recorded on the oscilloscope. Refer to the two diagrams in the Heating Circuit section to see the different options for heating by adjusting the duty cycle of the high to low voltage ratio.

Humidity Sensor:


A HH10D humidity sensor module was used to measure the relative humidity of the environment. This sensor was connected according to manufacturer instructions such as connecting power, ground, frequency output, SCL, and SDA to the corresponding pins on the sensor board.
To collect data about the humidity, a mistmaker was used to increase the relative humidity of the surrounding area, and the humidity sensor was placed in the vicinity of this mistmaker from the start. This experiment was done by putting the mistmaker in a box, making sure to not allow the mist to escape, and as the mistmaker distributed the water more evenly throughout the box, the relative humidity increased. As the amount of humidity began to increase, the sensor could measure the increase in relative humidity.
The components used are listed below:

  • HH10D Humidity Sensor
  • Ocean Mist Mist Maker, DK-24
  • 5.1kΩ Resistors (x2)