WeatherTerrarium

by EYLi in Circuits > Arduino

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WeatherTerrarium

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I was inspired to make my own version of the Weather Terrarium designed by Google Engineers in 2018 that unfortunately was not produced despite good publicity. You can explore this project at this link: https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/6/5/17429662/google-project-oasis-terrarium-weather-conditions. Although I took inspiration from this concept, I designed this project entirely on my own. Although it is still rough around the corners, I hope you enjoy it!

Supplies

Materials needed

  1. LED Lights- $10. Link to purchase: https://www.amazon.com/CHINLY-Individually-Address...

  2. Fishing Line- $2.89. Link to purchase: https://www.amazon.com/50104-Invisible-Hanging-Sup...

  3. Aquarium- $18.96. Link to purchase: https://www.amazon.com/Marina-CUBUS-Glass-Betta-Ki...

  4. Water pump- $11.99. Link to purchase: https://www.amazon.com/PULACO-Submersible-Aquarium...

  5. Cotton Batting- $8.66. Link to purchase: https://www.amazon.com/Warm-Natural-Cotton-Batting...

  6. Arduino MKR1000- $36.80. Link to purchase: https://store.arduino.cc/usa/arduino-mkr1000

  7. Wood glue- $10.99. Link to purchase: https://www.amazon.com/Gorilla-6206005-36oz-Natura...

  8. Outlet Relay- $26.95*2. Link to purchase: https://www.amazon.com/Iot-Relay-Enclosed-High-Pow...

  9. Shrink Wrap

Tools Needed

  1. Laser Cutter
  2. Table Saw
  3. Hot Glue Gun
  4. Soldering Iron

Rabbet Cut

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1. Start by cutting out 4 planks of 1/4 inch thick wood to the dimensions of approximately 19 inches by 7 inches. Should look like the image above.

2. Lay the wood on the table saw. Protrude the saw so that 1/8 inch of it is exposed. This is half the thickness of the wood. Make sure that the width of the saw is also 1/8inch. The following steps are to make rabbet joints.

3. If the width of the saw is 1/8 inch make a cut along the long side of the wooden board. This cut should be towards the very end of the board. Assuming the width of the saw is 1/8 inch you can start the cut at the very edge of the wood and cut through the board which should result in 1/8 inch of a wood being removed at half the width of the wood. Repeat this where the original cut left off to remove another 1/8 inch.

4. Repeat this cut which removes 1/4 inch of wood at half the width of the plank on the other side of the wood.

5. Do the same for another piece of wood.

6. If done correctly, you should now be able to assemble the four pieces of wood you have cut. Lay one plank that you have made the rabbet cuts to on a table. Place the two pieces of wood you did not cut perpendicular to the horizontal wood and slot them into the cuts made. Then place the other cut plank horizontal on top of the perpendicular pieces.

The pieces should fit together like in the image above.

Box Assembly

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7. To cut out the base, measure the width and length. of the bottom of this loosely assembled box. It is best that you do this since the dimensions of the box could have changed slightly due to the rabbet cuts and incorrect measurements will result in a looser or too tight fit.

8. Cut out a squarish piece of wood with the dimensions of the bottom of this box. Repeat the steps for the rabbet cuts, except perform them on all four sides.

9. If done correctly, this piece should then fit snugly into the bottom of the box.

10. Place the side of the box you wish to be the front in the laser cutter.

11. Upload a rectangular box of approximately dimensions 160 mm by 175 mm that is hairline width.

12. In the laser cutter, drag this box to the approximate location on the wood you wish the aquarium to be displayed. Change the settings to the necessary ones to cut through 1/4 inch wood.

13. Enter print and wait for the laser cut to finish cutting.

14. Create another file. Reuse the measurements you used for the bottom except subtract an 1/4inch from width and length. Using these measurements make an approximately squarish shape that you then export to the laser cutter.

15. Cut out this shape using the laser cutter.

16. Copy and paste this shape into a new document. Now add a smaller rectangle near the top of this approximate square. Then towards the lower middle of the square, add a smaller hole or approximately, 1 inch diameter. If you look in the image above, you can base your design approximately off of mine. The dimensions do not need to be exact.

17. Cut this second squarish shape out.

18. Design a rectangle of dimension 5.9 inch by .7 inch to laser cut. Cut out 8 of these rectangles.

19. Then design a gridlike top. It should be the same dimensions as the square shape used for the base of the box. Add many rectangles to this top so that when cut out it resembles the image above.

Box Assembly Cont.

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20. It is now time to assemble the box. Squirt wood glue into the each rabbet joint. Ensure that the application is even and not too much glue is used. Then assemble the box and hold it together using clamps. ENSURE THAT EACH SIDE IS AT AN ANGLE OF 90 DEGREES>

21. Once the glue has dried and the box is solid add the base. Apply wood glue to the 4 rabbet joints and place the base in.

22. Using the main frontal rectangular hole to access the rest of the box, glue 4 of the 8 slim rectangles slightly below the main frontal rectangular hole on the inside. It is crucial that each rectangle is horizontal and even with the other rectangles. Then place the wood cutout that has dimensions slightly less than the base of the box on top of these rectangles so that it rests on the sides of each rectangle. Once you have ensured that the wooden square is level glue it to the slim rectangles

Once the square wood is placed on top of the rectangles it should look like the image above and be able to support the weight of the aquarium.

23. Repeat the same process with the remaining 4 rectangles slightly above the frontal rectangular hole. This time use the wood square with a hole and a rectangle cut out and orient it so that the rectangle faces away from the opening. Scroll two images up for a birds eye view of this. DO NOT GLUE THE SQUARE DOWN TO THE RECTANGLES.


24. The top will not be glued on and you can just place it on top of the box. Congratulations! The box should now be assembled.

Cloud Construction

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25. We now begin work on the cloud.

26. Get a plastic water bottle and cut it in half so that the bottle takes up approximately 2/3 the width of the aquarium.

27. Then wrap the LED strip around this water bottle. Make sure that the strip completely wraps around and that there is not enough length for parts of the strip to hang off.

28. Once the LED strip is wrapped around the bottle confirm one last time that it can still function and turn on.

29. Wrap a piece of cloth around the bottle and LEDs. Hot glue it so that it stays wrapped around the bottle.

30. Then begin hot gluing pieces of cotton batting to the cloth. Try to style it so that it is in an approximate cloud shape. Do not worry if it is too poofy.

31. After attaching enough cotton batting to completely cover traces of the cotton, LEDs, and water bottle below get the fishing wire out. Wrap this fishing wire around the "cotton clouds" and tighten it until the cotton is more cloudlike. Tie the fishing wire off so that it stays in place.

32. You will now need to extend the wires for the LED strip. From inside the cotton retrieve the wiring and solder long wires to them to extend the length of the wiring. Then shrink wrap the wires. See image above.

33. Now that you have made the cloud ensure that it fits in the aquarium. Lift the top of the box away as well as the wooden "lid" to the aquarium with the circle and the rectangle and place the cloud in the aquarium.
34. Tie additional fishing wire to the cloud and cut them at the necessary length so that when attached/taped to the outside of the box, the cloud hangs above the floor of the aquarium.

35. Attach the rubber tubing of the water pump to the bottom of the cloud. Figure out some configuration through which the tubing connects to the fishing wire in the cloud. Then cut several slits along even intervals on the bottom of this tubing so that if water were to flow through the tubing it would leak out.

36. Secure a plastic solo cup. Place it on the top lid to the aquarium. This cup should be able to fit both the water pump(on the bottom of the cup) and a mist maker(on top of this water pump.

37. Congratulations! You are finished with the physical part of this project.

Electronics

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1. Fortunately, the electronics of this project are relatively simple.

2. You will need to gather your MKR1000 Arduino chip as well as a breadboard, your two outlet relays, and male to male wires.

3. Assemble the wiring as shown in this diagram. The MKR will need to be connected to a laptop to initially upload the code and power it and the outlet relays will similarly need to be connected to power.

4. After assembling the electronics, I kept them taped to the back of the box. You can do this or figure out some other way to hide them out of sight.

Code

Upload this code to your MKR1000. Link here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1j0Ka7bh83LyaFlAsgtrRoIAJEukzZlMRn0Fm0cdczJo/edit. You will need to change the network name and password to your own personal ones. Similarly, depending on your location you will want to change Charlotte to something else.

Run

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1. After assembling everything together and uploading the code you will need to follow these steps.

2. Hang the cloud so that it is above the floor of the aquarium. Make sure any wires in addition to the water pump's pipe are running through the circular hole.

3. Fill up the solo cup and place it onto the lid of the aquarium. Place the water pump in the bottom of the solo cup and place the mist maker on top. "Aim" the mist maker so that any mist will go through the rectangular opening in the back.

4. After placing the electronics out of site, upload the code, turn off the lights and enjoy!

Click these links to see different weather conditions!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_DsyiFcubs7zUchEu...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RcWqkXYtHUHo5ob0d...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oKXT0t1ZnPPcbo0UX...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10j7L7P1S_RIM6PcZd...