Garage Parking Aid

This is a project for class to create a garage parking aid that will indicate distance as you approach.

1. Arduino Nano - Computing power
2. Neopixel Ring - Light that will be used as the distance indicator
3. Ultrasonic Sensor - Detects distance
4. Small Bread Board - Connects components
5. Wall Power Adapter - Power Source
6. Piezo Buzzer - Sound output
7. Soldering Iron
8. 3D Printer Filament and Printer

Dependencies:

1. Arduino IDE
2. Arduino Adafruit Neopixel Library

Using the STL file attached, print out the main container used to house the electronics. It works when printed at 20% infill at draft quality (0.4 nozzle).

Print the back plate at a higher infill, preferably 100%, because it will be supporting the weight of the entire project. It may end up not fitting the slot in the main container perfectly, so use sandpaper or acetone to remove any extra material, allowing the plate to slide without resistance.

Solder connecting wires into ground (G), voltage in (V+), and input (IN) areas. You can see this in the attached illustration. It's not necessary to solder, but if you choose not to you must ensure good conductivity through each joint.

Using the attached diagram, wire the components together.

The attached file is the code for the circuit. There are two options for displaying the distance: the dial and the solid color. The dial option shows a pink dot showing how far you are from the wall, while the solid color option goes from green to red as you get closer. One button changes this setting, and the other sets the desired distance, where the ring shows blue.

If the buzzer is having errors, you may need to use the "tone" function of Arduino instead of "digital write" in the buzzer statement.

Place the breadboard inside the container. If it doesn't fit, rotate the Arduino nano so that the power cable is over the breadboard, and move the pins accordingly. Put the ultrasonic sensor into its designated place, and then detach the neopixel and feed the wires through as picture above. Reattach wires. Feed the power cable through the slot in the backplate then slide it shut. Upload the code, plug it into the wall, then you're done!

Since we had extra time, we decided to have some more fun with our project. We took an unused car speaker and hooked it up where the piezo buzzer connects. The was clearer and more audible, but not any louder because there was no change in input voltage. However, it was a fun experiment.

The next thing we did was create a startup song. We transcribed the Secret Song from The Legend of Zelda into notes on Arduino to use with the tone function. We then put the function into the setup section of the code to play on startup.