knowURshower
Grand Prize Winners!
knowURshower is a project that came out of a weekend-long Make-A-Thon (hackathon) at NC State University. The Make-A-Thon was sustainability themed and so our team was tasked with devising a product that would help with water sustainability on campus. Our solution was a FitBit-like device that allows residents of dorms to easily and intuitively track their water usage and compete with friends.
## About
knowURshower came out of a weekend-long Make-A-Thon at NC State University. A Make-A-Thon is a different take on a hackathon where the focus is to produce a product more broad than simply a software product.
The theme of the Make-A-Thon was sustainability. Each team was given a specific topic within this theme; our team was assigned water. As such, our task was to create a product that would enable water sustainability, particularly on campus at NC State.
Our goal was to create a device that would provide both live and historical data on showering habits in order to raise awareness and help people form better water usage habits over time.
Finished breadboard prototype
Bluefruit EZ-Link Bluetooth Module
While in the shower, users see immediate information on their showering habits through a strip of ~10 WS2812 RGB LED's. The user sets up a water budget for their shower session (e.g. 10 gallons per shower) and then receives live feedback through the LED's.
As the water budget is depleted over the course of the shower, the topmost LED's on the strip turn off one by one, similar to how a bucket with a hole in the bottom of it would lower in water level from top to bottom.
The device designed is egg shaped and gets screwed in between the spigot and shower head. This design allows for charging of the internal battery via residual water pressure pushing a combination turbine/flowmeter. The strip of WS2812 LED's encased in a waterproof enclosure with a light diffusive window to soften the harshness of the LED's, and mounted to the wall of the shower with miniature suction cups.
The user is able to change the water output of the shower head by turning a ring on the exterior of a flow meter.
## Results
Our product was received to much praise amongst the judges. Our team won the grand prize award for the best project at the Make-A-Thon.
In addition, we were featured in NC State's newspaper, the Technician. Click here to read the feature!
Our prototype included a small LCD display
Using an oscilloscope to aid prototyping
## Credits
This code was created as a collaboration between myself and Derek Whatley. The overall project was created by Derek Whatley, Brian Iezzi, Brian Murphy, and myself.
