Plants placed in greenhouses do not absorb enough UV lighting on cloudy days. The surrounding transparent surfaces dimiishes UV lighting.
Solution/Technical precedent
Create an automated cover for the transparent surfaces. On cloudy days it will close to let the plants receive enough UV lighting. on sunny days it will open to maximize the amount of sunlight the plants will be receiving
Conceptual precedent
Prototype Sketches
Prototype ChatGPT Feedback
Prototype progress
Working Prototype Picture
Mid-Review Feedback
Focus more on Mechanical design, try to play with different combinations.
Consider the shape of most greenhouses, most do not have a flat top
Try to take it one step at a time, make one piece move first as compared to 4 pieces at the same time.
Take the closing threshold into consideration, figure out at what lumen do the roof close and when it opens.
Consider incorporating a manual switch to open/close roof
Add a picture of the object being mimicked
Consider Incorporating some sort of railing system to keep the roof pieces attached to the gears
Final Sketches
In order to detect light precisely via lumens, the project required a TSL2561 light sensor.
Tip for Noobs: Do Not use Tinkercad for advanced Arduino coding
Failure
Tinkercad didn't have the modules (TSL2561 light sensor) we needed, so we ChatGPTed the code
Valid
We figured out the specific threshold to close the roof, 1500 lumens (Credits to ChatGPT)
Working Code Video
Great... Nailed the code first try on the 1st day of Chinese New year (Beijing time)
The servo motors weren't tall enough after they were attached to the acrylic sheet, so we had to stack wooden boards together to decrease the height between the gear and the rack. However the Acrylic sheet was too wide.
Redesigned acrylic dimension
Motion of movement without motor
Solution to Mid-review feedback
Wiring... in detail Detail
Overall view
Good News: It Works Bad News: Not Perfectly
If we have had more time... We would:
Worked on a different drive system
Figured out a railing system to prevent the rooftops being De-railed (Not Rubber Bands)
Collaborated better, distributed the workload evenly
Sought different combinations/types of motors, see which works best.
