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ECOTHINGS PROJECT

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Leopoldo Armesto

Universitat Politècnica de València

PR3D2023

VII Jornada de Programación, Robótica e Impresión 3D

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

  • Motivation and Background
  • About the Project
    • Who we are, aims, project results, and additional activities.
    • Preliminary ideas.
  • Smart house
    • Livingroom, bedroom and kitchen: 3D CAD models, 3D printing models, electronics, connection diagrams, laser cutting parts, etc…
  • Block programming with Facilino
    • About the new version of Facilino
    • Communication blocks with Facilino
  • App Inventor 2 Extension
  • Bedroom light control

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MOTIVATION AND BACKGROUND

  • The number of Internet of Things connected devices grows exponentially.

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  • The number of industrial robot installations keeps growing.

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MOTIVATION AND BACKGROUND

  • The Educational System is becoming outdated:
    • Not helping to develop natural skills as a consequence of using a content-based curriculum.
    • Summative assessment rather than formative assessment.
    • Soft skills are needed on our daily basis.
  • Digital Technology:
    • There’s a hinge between digital technology and access to it, particularly for groups at risk of social exclusion.
    • There’s a hinge between digital technology and the majority of the society in understanding it.
  • STEAM Projects:
    • Help students to work with materials that they have never used so far.
    • Help to understand real-life problems from a holistic point of view.
    • Integrate students with complementary skills, reinforcing both their weakest and strongest skills.

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WHO WE ARE? PARTNERS

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Universitat Politècnica de Valencia: Public University (Spain)

Colegio Santiago Apóstol: Private Primary School (Spain)

STANDO LTD: Private company (Cyprus)

Wyliodrin SRL: Private company (Romania)

Turan Erdogan Yilmaz Fen Lisesi: Public Secondary and High School (Turkey)

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AIMS

  • Innovative educational approach based on the STEAM philosophy.
  • Improving the target students’ soft skills: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, assertivity, creativity and resilience.
  • Design and implement pilot projects aimed at reducing the impact of our daily lives on climate change.
  • Provide implementation guidelines that will include both the technological and pedagogical aspects.
  • Improve the digital skills of the students involved, by utilising video editing and website back-end usageof the project, in order to ensure replicability.
  • Make all of the above available to students belonging to families at serious risks of social exclusion.

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PROJECT RESULTS

  • PR1: Internet of things prototype aimed at students with risk of social exclusion
  • PR2: Block Programming Tool Development for Low-cost IoT Electronics
  • PR3: Implementation Guidelines and Pedagogical Methodologies for Primary and Secondary Schools.
  • PR4: E-learning platform with multimedia contents.

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ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES

  • Learning & Training Teaching Activities:
    • LTTA1: School partners receive training about IoT, 3D printing, laser cutting techonologies. Also receive training in block programming tools for IoT.
    • LTTA2: Turkish school visits Spanish school. Implementation of Vygotsky’s Theory of Social Learning.
  • Multiplier Events: Each partner will have a multiplier event by the end of the project.

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WEBSITE & SOCIAL NETWORKS

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ecothings.webs.upv.es

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077496976464

https://instagram.com/ecothingsproject?igshid=MzMyNGUyNmU2YQ==

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PRELIMINARY IDEAS

Low-cost prototype of a passive house with a living room, bedroom and kitchen

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SMART HOUSE

Low-cost prototype of a passive house with a living room, bedroom and kitchen

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https://github.com/ecothingsproject/smart_house

https://www.tinkercad.com/users/2TqR7TZEqHV

SOLIDWORKS

TINKERCAD

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SMART HOUSE

Sensors and actuators

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LIVING ROOM

3D CAD model

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Nailed it!

3D Printing parts

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LIVING ROOM ELECTRONICS

Connection Diagram

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Component

PIN NAME

ESP32 PIN

Arduino Shield

NTC Sensor

Analog Input

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A4

Resistors 120Ω

Digital Output

26

D2

FAN

Digital Output

17

D4

Living Room Servo

Digital Output

25

D3

TFT Screen

TFT_CLK

18

D13

TFT_SDA

23

D11

TFT_CS

13

D9

TFT_RST

5

D10

TFT_RS

27

D6

TinkerCAD Circuit

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BEDROOM

3D CAD model

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Nailed it!

3D Printing parts

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BEDROOM ELECTRONICS

Connection Diagram

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TinkerCAD Circuit

Component

PIN NAME

ESP32 PIN

Arduino Shield

LDR Sensor

Analog Input

39

A5

MIC Sensor

Analog Input/Digital Input

35

A2

PIR Sensor

Digital Input

2

A0

Bedroom Servo

Digital Output

4

A1

RGB LED Strip

Digital Output

12

D8

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KITCHEN

3D CAD model

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Nailed it!

3D Printing parts

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KITCHEN ELECTRONICS

Connection Diagram

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TinkerCAD Circuit

Component

PIN NAME

ESP32 PIN

Arduino Shield

Gas Sensor

Analog Input/Digital Input

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A3

Buzzer

Digital Output

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D5

Flame Sensor

Digital Input

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D12

Kitchen Servo

Digital Output

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D7

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LASER CUTTING PARTS

4mm plywood

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1mm methacrylate

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BLOCK PROGRAMMING WITH FACILINO

  • A Block programming tool based on Blockly aimed to develop STEAM projects.
  • Targeted on pupils at secondary schools, but it is also widely used by adult people with few or no programming skills.
  • Hardware abstraction: It can be used to program Arduino (ATMEGA), ESP8266, ESP32 and Raspberry Pi Pico processors.
  • Complex coding can be conceptualized on a block.
  • Main drawback: Large programs are difficult to maintain (as usual in other block programming tools).

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https://facilino.webs.upv.es

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FACILINO’S HIGHLIGHTS

  • Hosted at UPV servers.
  • Totally free software.
  • Web browser front-end.
  • User’s account.
  • Project’s dashboard.
  • Facilino OTA Server.
  • Block simplification and feature extension.
  • Block filters.
  • Tutorial and Project-related exercises.
  • Translation tool.
  • Over-the-Air (OTA).
  • Documentation.

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FACILINO’S PROJECTS

Select processor (board)

Select Facilino version

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Select Project Type

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FACILINO PROGRAMMING OPTIONS

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OTA (Over-the-Air)

LOCAL

LOCAL NETWORK

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FACILINO BLOCK CATEGORIES

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Functions

Control

Logic

Math

Variables

Text

Basic I/O

Screen

Communication

Sound

Distance

Light

Movement

System

Environment

Web Interface

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GENERIC AND HW-SPECIFIC TUTORIALS

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PROJECT-BASED TUTORIALS

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SET LED EXAMPLE

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FACILINO’S COMMUNICATION BLOCKS

Classic Bluetooth

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WiFi

Web Server (Access Point)

Web Server (Station)

Access Point

Web-Client (Station)

App (Station)

App (Station)

Web-Client (Station)

Bluetooth Low-Energy

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FACILINO’S COMMUNICATION BLOCKS

Classic Bluetooth Commands

  • A single byte is sent by an App to control the device. The transmitted datum is indeed the command. Case of use: to remotely control a robot

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Commands

CMDs

Cancel repetition

0

Expressions (Angry, Happy, Sad, Love, Stunned)

1-5

Music notes

10-17

Motion (forward, backward, left, right, stop)

21-25

Gripper movements (open/close fingers)

31-36

Miscelaneous (line tracking, obstacle avoidance, black/white)

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Arm movemnts (rise/down arms)

51-56

Command

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FACILINO’S COMMUNICATION BLOCKS

Classic Bluetooth implementing a Telegram structure

  • Telegram structure:

​

    • Allows bi-directional communication and more complex data transmission.

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STX

CMD

LENGTH

DATA0

…

DATAN-1

END

Telegrams

CMD

Length

Data

Digital Write

0x02

2

Pin number, value

Analog Write

0x05

2

Pin number, value

Servo

0x10

2

Pin number, angle

Servo 360º

0x11

2

Pin number, speed

Buzzer Tone

0x20

5

Pin number, Freq.(2), Duration (2)

Buzzer Melody

0x21

Variable

Pin number, Melody (variable)

LED Matrix 8x8

0x50

11

CLK,DIN,CS pin numbers, expression(8)

LED Strip

0x60

Variable

Pin number, RGB data(3xn)

Sensors:

App » Device » App

Actuators:

App » Device

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FACILINO’S COMMUNICATION BLOCKS

HTTP REST API

  • The device implements a web server receiving HTTP requests implementing a basic REST API and the server responds with a json file:

DigitalWrite/pin/value » DigitalWrite/12/1

DigitalRead/pin » DigitalRead/9

  • Facilino’s Blocks are like the ones proposed for Bluetooth telegrams:

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APP INVENTOR EXTENSION

APP INVENTOR

  • MIT tool to develop Android Apps based on Blockly.
  • Widely used in secondary schools in ICT courses.
  • Accepts development of extensions developed in Java to create customized blocks.

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Bluetooth (Classic)

    • Bluetooth Client
    • DI, DO, AI, AO, Boolean, Integer, Float, String, Temperature, etc..

Bluetooth (BLE)

    • Bluetooth Client
    • DI, DO, AI, AO, Boolean, Integer, Float, String, Temperature, etc..

Web

    • WebClient
    • DI, DI, AI, AO, Boolean, Integer, Float, String, Temperature, etc..

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APP INVENTOR EXTENSION

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Bluetooth Classic example

Web example

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APP INVENTOR EXTENSION

Block Instructions to read from “sensors”:

  • The App sends a read request and when the response is received a “Received” event is thrown to notify the user of the availability of data.

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APP INVENTOR EXTENSION

Block Instructions to set values to ”actuators”:

  • The App sends a request, and the user is notified only when an error occurs:

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BEDROOM LIGHT CONTROL

  • App sets:
    • Save energy mode (boolean #0)
    • Light color (integer #0)
    • Light brightness (integer #1).
  • App request data:
    • LDR sensor connected to A5 (measures ambient light) → Analog input
    • PIR sensor connected to A0 (detects motion inside the room) → Digital input.
  • App handles connection and disconnection from bluetooth device.

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BEDROOM LIGHT CONTROL

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Handling Connection and Disconnection (App inventor code)

Setting a Bluetooth device (Facilino code):

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BEDROOM LIGHT CONTROL

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Sending “actuator” variables (App Inventor code):

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BEDROOM LIGHT CONTROL

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Decoding Telegrams (Facilino code):

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BEDROOM LIGHT CONTROL

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Reading from sensors (App Inventor code):

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BEDROOM LIGHT CONTROL

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Energy Save Mode (Facilino code):

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PASSIVE HOUSE LOGIC

Logic Table

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Temperatures

Heater

Fan

Window

Room<Ground<Setpoint<Outside

Off

Off

Open

Room<Ground<Outside<Setpoint

On

Off

Closed

Room<Setpoint<Ground<Outside

Off

Off

On

Room<Setpoint<Outside<Ground

Off

Off

Open

Room<Outside<Ground<Setpoint

On

Off

Closed

Room<Outside<Setpoint<Ground

Off

On

Off

Ground<Room<Setpoint<Outside

Off

Off

On

Ground<Room<Outside<Setpoint

On

Off

Off

Ground<Setpoint<Room<Outside

Off

On

Closed

Ground<Setpoint<Outside<Room

Off

On

Closed

Ground<Outside<Room<Setpoint

On

Off

Closed

Ground<Outside<Setpoint<Room

Off

Off

Open

Setpoint<Room<Ground<Outside

Off

Off

Closed

Setpoint<Room<Outside<Ground

Off

Off

Closed

Setpoint<Ground<Room<Outside

Off

On

Closed

Setpoint<Ground<Outside<Room

Off

On

Closed

Setpoint<Outside<Room<Ground

Off

Off

Open

Setpoint<Outside<Ground<Room

Off

Off

Open

Outside<Room<Ground<Setpoint

On

Off

Closed

Outside<Room<Setpoint<Ground

Off

On

Closed

Outside<Ground<Room<Setpoint

Off

Off

Closed

Outside<Ground<Setpoint<Room

Off

Off

Open

Outside<Setpoint<Room<Ground

Off

Off

Open

Outside<Setpoint<Ground<Room

Off

Off

Open

  • Room Temperature: NTC Sensor.
  • Ground Temperature: Assumed to be constant at 19ºC.
  • Setpoint Temperature: Specified by the user.
  • Outside Temperature: Obtained from OpenWeather (web).

Temperatures

Actuators

  • Heater: Consumes high energy.
  • Fan: Consumes medium energy.
  • Window: Consumes low energy.

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UPCOMMING MULTIPLIER EVENT

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3rd May 2024

  • For educational professionals including primary, lower secondary and
  • upper secondary levels.
  • The aim is to disseminate the project results in terms of proposed prototype and
  • tools developed as well as the pedagogical guidelines developed, e-learning platform and MOOC.
  • Practical demonstration with the proposed tools.

↓Pre sign-up form ↓

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ECOTHINGS PROJECT

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Leopoldo Armesto

Universitat Politècnica de València

PR3D2023

VII Jornada de Programación, Robótica e Impresión 3D