ThinkTank Home Project Tasks Milestones Tools Decisions Testing Final Design
The original project was using an Arduino Mega. We had to determine if this was our best option by comparing size, capabilities, ease of use, among other paramaters. We ended up deciding to switch to the ESP32-Cam controller.
Before making the PCB, we had to determine which software would be best for the job. We did some research and picked one that seemed like it would be a good fit. However, once we started using the software to develop our PCB, we ended up switching to another that was more user friendly, as we didn't have much experience with PCB design before.
By switching to the ESP32-Cam, we created a problem for ourselves. We no longer had enough pins to control our pumps and valves, and heater, while getting all of our input from our sensors. We had to make a decision on how best to get around this problem. In the end, we decided to implement a shift register, the 74HC595, to gain more pins.
The gate-source difference of our MOSFETs was too high so we decided the best way to resove this was to use diode transistor logic to float the gate during MOSFET operation and pull the gate to ground to turn the MOSFET off
Date when last updated: 5/7/2020
Photo Courtesy of wallup.net