Figure 4 The dynamic test of automatic water tank filling system
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To perform this research, several materials will be provided such as an Arduino Uno microcontroller, an ultrasonic sensor HC-SR04 module, a relay SRD-OSVDC-SL-C, an LCD 16 x 2 display, a 10 kQ potentiometer, a printed circuit board (PCB), a water pump, some connector cables including male to male cables and male to female cables, and a home-made plastic box to cover the equipment as shown in figure 1. Arduino is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. It is intended for anyone who wants to make interactive projects. This microcontroller board uses the Atmega328P. It has 14 digital pins and 6 analog pins. Moreover, the board is the center processing controlling the installed devices. The script must firstly be uploaded to the board so that the device can be controlled based on our desire. Table 1 shows the Arduino™ code of the automatic water tank filling system. In this case, the Arduino™ board will receive the analog data converted from the ultrasonic signal recorded by the ultrasonic sensor. The analog data will be interpreted as certain distances by the processor and the distance will appear at the LCD display in real time. At the same time, the received data will trigger the relay to control the water pump on or off. The ultrasonic sensor works to measure the distance without contacting the surface. The signals are transmitted and reflected as the ultrasonic wave. Moreover, the relay serves as the 220V AC water pump switch controlled by the Arduino™ which works at 5V DC. This switch will turn on when the run out of water in the water tank and it will suddenly turn off when the water is full. To control the LCD display brightness, a 10 kQ potentiometer is equipped in the circuit. Interestingly, the water level can be seen in the LCD. Finally, to fix the circuit, a PCB is served to assemble a complete circuit while the plastic box is used to cover the device. Fig. 1. Materials used to construct the automatic water tank filling system prototype. The materials are (a) a water pump, (b) a relay SRD-05VDC-SL-C, (c) a home-made plastic box, (d) a 10 kQ potentiometer, (e) a printed circuit board (PCB), (f) male-to-female cable, (g) male-to-male cable, (h) an Arduino Uno microcontroller, (i) an LCD 16 x 2 display, and (j) an ultrasonic sensor HC-SR04 module Table 1. Arduino™ code of the automatic water tank filling system Figure 2 shows the automatic water tank filling system unit. The height of water tank is measured firstly in order to determine the automatic water pump switch. In the water tank, the switch will turn on automatically if the height is more than 100 cm measured of the ultrasonic sensor while the sensor will turn off the pump if the height reaches 20 cm because the ultrasonic sensor is mounted on the top of water tank and the height always decreases during filling the water tank. Therefore, the computer is connected to the system in order to give this logic to Arduino™ microcontroller. The height data can be visualized either in the computer or in the LCD 16 x 2 display. The LCD displays the real-time data of the water height in the water tank. Fig. 2. Automatic water tank filling system unit 3.3. Water consumption analysis of home activity Figure 3 shows the results of the test and the calculation of water consumption used in home activity. A family consisting of 4 people consumed 259.2 liters of water in a day. It means that they spent 64.8 liters/person/day. According to the survey taken by the Indonesian Directorate of Water Development and General Directorate of Human Settlements in 2006, they stated that a daily average water consumption per person in Indonesia was 144 liters. Therefore, it can be concluded that this family has consumed the water sparingly. Besides the sensor system function as an automatically-controlled switch, it can be proposed that this system can be used to analyze the home water consumption successfully. Fig. 3. The dynamic of water consumption recorded by the automatic water tank filling system
