Andrew

Completed Project and Overall Experience

My time at Blue Stamp Engineering finally came to a conclusion on August 1st 2012, and I had a completed project along with full documentation to show from it.

I have made a lot of progress and modifications since my last post. Instead of hosting the power usage web page on the Arduino, I instead opted to use a website called Cosm.com.

I set up the Arduino as a web client, and it uploads the data to the site every 30 seconds. The web site then graphs the data. My project documentation can be found on github at http://andrewmh20.github.com/Arduino-Wireless-Power-Meter/.

Overall, I think my past six weeks have been an amazing experience and I had a wonderful time. I learned a ton about basic engineering good practice and techniques. I examined my ability to persevere even when things did not always go the way I expected. I learned how to modify my goals over time as the project progressed and what could be achieved became more evident.

The best part for me was really the opportunity to work hands on, on a project which I enjoy with the expert guidance of knowledgeable instructors and TA’s. I feel like whenever I needed help there was always someone there to encourage me to figure it out on my own, and then help if I still needed assistance.

I am really glad that I chose Blue Stamp as my summer activity this year!

Data sent to web page

I have added code to the Arduino sketch, and the Arduino now acts as a small web server displaying the data values on a web page. I stored the HTML code on an SD card, and wrote the Arduino code to send the client the HTML broken up into parts, with the variables I wanted displayed in between the HTML. I did that since I wanted the Arduino variables to update, while placing them within HTML code.

The next step is possibly going to be to modify the code so that instead of hosting the server, I send the data over the internet to an actual hosting service, or a service like Google Fusion which can then manipulate the calculated data, and graph it, better than the Arduino would be able to.

Data received and parsed!

After working on my main project, the Tweet-a-Watt, a modified Kill-a-Watt power meter designed to transmit its data over Xbees, I hooked it up to a computer, ran Lady Ada’s Python code for it, and it worked! My next step was to add an Arduino to the set up, and write code for the Arduino, based off of the Python, to receive, parse, and display the current and power values. This video shows that aspect of the project working.

There are still a few bugs in the actual number calculations, but it works fine when nothing is plugged in! I know what needs to be fixed to get correct readings when there is actually something to measure.

Andrew M-H’s Digital Multimeter Starter Project

I decided to build a Digital Multimeter for my starter project because it seemed interesting and could be useful to use, although it isn’t always very accurate. This video demonstrates it and explains how it works.