Fish Tank Monitor Project

Github: Repository.

Ⅰ. Introduction

This project is an automated fish tank feeder system that utilizes a Raspberry Pi. It features a stepper motor for dispensing fish food, an ultrasonic sensor for measuring the food's depth in the dispenser, a pump for water circulation or filtration, controllable lighting (lamp) for the fish tank, buttons for manual control, and an LCD screen for displaying system status.

Ⅱ. Features

• Food Dispensing: Uses a stepper motor to drop food into the fish tank.
• Food Level Monitoring: An ultrasonic sensor measures the depth of the food within the dispenser to monitor remaining food levels.
• Light Control: Manages a lamp for the fish tank, allowing for a light cycle that simulates day and night.
• Manual Control: Buttons are provided for manual override of automatic functions.
• Status Display: An LCD screen displays the current status, including the food level and lamp status.

Ⅲ. Hardware Requirements

• Raspberry Pi (any model that supports GPIO pins)
• Stepper motor for dispensing food
• Ultrasonic sensor (e.g., HC-SR04) for measuring food level
• Relay module for lamp control
• Buttons for manual input
• LCD screen (e.g., Adafruit PCD8544) for status display
• Resistors, capacitors, and wiring for connections

Ⅳ. Software Requirements

• Raspbian OS or any compatible Raspberry Pi OS
• Python 3.x
• Required Python libraries:
  • RPi.GPIO
  • adafruit-circuitpython-pcd8544
  • PIL (Python Imaging Library)

Ⅴ. Setup and Installation

1. Hardware Setup:

   • Connect the stepper motor, ultrasonic sensor, relay module, buttons, and LCD screen to the Raspberry Pi according to the GPIO pin configuration specified in the script.
   • Ensure proper power supply to the components, especially the stepper motor and lamp.

2. Software Setup:

   • Install the latest version of Raspbian OS on your Raspberry Pi.
   • Clone this repository to your Raspberry Pi.
   • Install the required Python libraries by running pip install -r requirements.txt in the project directory.

Ⅵ. Usage

To run the fish tank feeder system, navigate to the project directory and execute:

• python fish_tank_feeder.py

• Use the buttons to manually toggle the lamp and dispense food if needed.

• The LCD screen will display the current food level and lamp status.

• The system automatically dispenses food at scheduled intervals and monitors the food level.

Ⅶ. Configuration

• Edit the fish_tank_feeder.py script to adjust GPIO pin assignments, feeding schedule, and other parameters.