I have an incubator for chicken eggs. I was wondering if anyone has any advice on which sensors to use to read the angle of the egg turner to an Arduino. I was thinking just momentary switches (like the ones in arcade buttons). I know there must be something out there that is simpler and more accurate to implement. Anyone have any suggestions? Rotary encoder? Thanks!
You might want to explain how your egg turner works, perhaps a picture or link to some diagram. I had no idea how eggs are turned so I found 1 example on YouTube. It showed a sliding “rack” that pushed on the eggs in a reciprocating side-side motion. The friction of the eggs lying on a non-moving base meant the eggs rotated.
Is your’s similar ? Are you looking to measure where in the reciprocating cycle the slider is ? The one I saw used a gear motor to drive an arm that pushed/pulled on the slider. Looked pretty foolproof. Are you looking for confirmation that the motor is still running and that the movement is still happening or are you looking for something more than confirmation that something has not gone wrong somehow ? How many eggs are in your incubator ? Are you looking to see if the egg(s) are actually turning (vs perhaps just sliding back and forth) ?
Accelerometers are generally good at this type of thing, and would eliminate the need for switches / encoders etc (which could be prone to water / dirt ingress.
What ? An accelerometer on every egg ? That sounds eggspensive and eggtraordinary. :mrgreen:
Frankly I have no idea how the eggs are turned in the OP’s machine. It could be like the one I saw.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHKWxI67TFQ
{scroll to 3 mins}
Or a similar though slightly different flavor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04GYFgCQzS8
Or it could be sets of parallel rollers, like a hot dog griller, where the rollers rotate and the eggs roll with the rollers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p6Ym8-xqHY
Or it could be sets of racks that hold the eggs tight but the racks rotate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0RfP6sNIg8
Alas only the OP knows the eggact details and he’ll have to lets us know if he want’s any good suggestions.
This is the incubator I am working with. It is sets of racks that hold the eggs tight. I want to mount the sensor on the rack such that I can determine angle or a yes or no in which direction the eggs are turned.
http://sirwattlesworth.files.wordpress. … g_0495.jpg http://sirwattlesworth.files.wordpress. … g_0491.jpg
I was thinking of using the Tilt sensor. However the turner in the incubator does not turn at an extreme enough angle for it to work.https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10289
I am also planning to place some humidity and temp sensors within the incubator and a logger to determine any hatchability problems that may arise. Other hardware I am planning on using is an Arduino Ethernet Pro and a magnetic reed switch to track when the incubator door has been opened.
A accelerometer chip would give the info needed for the angle, change of angle, of the racks.
SparkFun does have a number of Accelerometer Chips. What you would be looking at is the change on each accer. axis due to gravity and the accer. angle.
I have made a wishlist for this project.
I assume all 3 racks are driven off a common motor, probably by a rod linking the 3 racks to a “cam” of some sort. You might be able to put a simple potentiometer or encoder in that mix. The only thing that worries me about the accelerometer approach is that the one you’ve chosen means running I2C bus wiring from your Arduino to the accel. I’m not sure how far a distance that’s supposed to work over. I do like the no mechanical moving parts aspect though.
Be aware of mixing 3.3V sensors with a 5V Arduino. It’s do-able but it may not be just plug and play.