Inventions - Ideas for Better Bators

[Jayson_Black]

LOL. That could be a Brand name. "Better Bators" Say it ten times fast!

PLEASE PLACE YOUR IDEAS HERE TOO!

Anyway. I've been checking on my Incubating eggs all day. They are on Day 20. I would love to have an alarm that could tell me when they are beginning to hatch. Instead of just checking all the time.

I thought how could I do that. Essentially I want an alarm for movement. Turns out PIR Sensors could be perfect. Wikipedia says "A passive infrared sensor (PIR sensor) is an electronic sensor that measures infrared (IR) light radiating from objects in its field of view. They are most often used in PIR-based motion detectors."

So you could buy one of those little Door Chime ones. The ones you could use in the doorway of a shop to let the Staff know that someone has entered the store. Well, you can get those things really super cheap now. I figured you could open one up. Disconnect the speaker wire or piezo wire and then Add extension wires for the speaker or piezo. Then you can add a speaker some distance away from the chicks but within within earshot of you.

The other idea is to purchase the standalone PIR Sensor for Arduino's (Arduino is a Very Cheap, mostly open source Microcontroller) ((Miniature Computer that can be used by the enthusiast for almost any project from robotics to incubators and weather stations.))

The advantage of using the Arduino is not only can it alert me if the eggs move (any movement for that matter) but with the Arduino, I can Add Temperature and humidity sensors. Then I can monitor Temperature and humidity with the Arduino.

But wait, there's more. The Arduino can not only alert you and inform you of the environment in the bator, but it can log it for you. Then you will be able to very clearly see just how stable your temps and humidity really is. you will see peaks and troughs (if any) on a graph or excel sheet.

You can rig your Arduino to make an audible/visual alarm when every temp, humidity go out of bounds or there is movement. Arduino can be connected to your network wirelessly or via LAN and can Text Message or email you with any of these Alerts.

Cool huh?

Any other Arduino enthusiasts here?

 

[chickencheeper]

Ive worked with arduinos in the school robotics lab but that that’s the limit

 

[Jayson_Black]

I hope to build an Arduino Based Incubator someday. I am sure this has already been done. I will give it the ability to log Temperature, humidity and Movement. I will make it send email alerts when there is movement the Temp/RH% go out of bounds (37.3 Low - 38.2 High) I will add a full-colour LCD display (if possible otherwise one of the nice OLED displays for Arduino). It will also create an Audible Alarm that will be connected to a speaker or piezo transducer in another room (so as to not disturb the bubbas).

I will purchase an Automatic Turning Tray and have the Arduino control that too. Who knows. Maybe it will be so good I could make a production line and sell them < That's a joke BTW! lol.

 

[mill-j]

I've never used Arduino. However I am an amateur computer software developer. I do some of my proggramming on a Raspberry pi 3 https://www.raspberrypi.org I really like it, you can run various Linux distributions, and it has WiFi/Bluetooth built-in. It costs about 35 bucks for the base unit.

 

[Alliegeiger]

When I did my first hatch, I pointed one of my cheap $35 indoor security cams in the window of the bator. It hooks up to my wifi and just plugs into the wall. It has an app for my phone that has the ability to send me movement alerts as a phone alert. Worked for me when they started hatching, plus I could look at the eggs on the camera using my phone even when I wasnt home.

 

[Jayson_Black]

Thanks for the replies people

mill-j I too have a raspberry pi 3. they are great. essentially mini pcs. I used it to control some hardware for something totally irrelevant here (Bitcoin). Anyway, I'm not that experienced with them (I'm not genius with Arduino either) but I have read various bits and pieces over the years about the pros and cons of each.

I think the Pi would be a much bettre choice for an incubator with all the bells and whistles I described in the OP. If we were only needing it to read the temperature and send it to twitter for e.g. then Arduino would be fine. But given that we want this device to control an Egg Turner, Read from a Temp Sensor, read from a humidity sensor (hygrostat?), perhaps even read the surrounding Temps and RH% too, We want it to control a heating element as well as LED's, a speaker or little piezzo tranducer (Buzzer). we want it to have Wifi/Lan and send packets across it. We want it to print data to a display. Thats all probably alittle much for arduino. We would probably need 3 Arduinos for all of that.

So I know next to nothing about Pi. So I better start some simple projects to get to know it a little better.

 

[Jayson_Black]

Alliegeiger Thanks for your reply. Thats a great idea. Perhaps if we dont have a security camera laying around (I do, but most prolly wont) they cuold download an app for their smartphones that can turn they camera on the phone into a security camera? Surely there are apps that can turn your mobile phone into a security camera? Oh, but then you would need a second phone to view it while mobile. Then again, lots of people have older phones laying around.

On a Side note* I actually did a Timelapse using a gopro for 6 hours to see if there was any movement. There was no movement. Not worry. Im sure they will be fine.

 

[mill-j]

Thanks for the replies people

mill-j I too have a raspberry pi 3. they are great. essentially mini pcs. I used it to control some hardware for something totally irrelevant here (Bitcoin). Anyway, I'm not that experienced with them (I'm not genius with Arduino either) but I have read various bits and pieces over the years about the pros and cons of each.

I think the Pi would be a much bettre choice for an incubator with all the bells and whistles I described in the OP. If we were only needing it to read the temperature and send it to twitter for e.g. then Arduino would be fine. But given that we want this device to control an Egg Turner, Read from a Temp Sensor, read from a humidity sensor (hygrostat?), perhaps even read the surrounding Temps and RH% too, We want it to control a heating element as well as LED's, a speaker or little piezzo tranducer (Buzzer). we want it to have Wifi/Lan and send packets across it. We want it to print data to a display. Thats all probably alittle much for arduino. We would probably need 3 Arduinos for all of that.

So I know next to nothing about Pi. So I better start some simple projects to get to know it a little better.

The default operating system(Raspbian) is geared towards The Python Programming Language which it uses for your GPIO pin, so python would be a good place to start.
Since I'm a big open-source fan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software of course I'm hoping you'll consider releasing your software under an open license , Let me know when you start developing, I might be able to help, Here's one of my projects(it's supported on the Pi) https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-hatchkeeper-software-release.1210604/

 

[SuChick]

Sidebar: Are either of you familiar with the Phidget 1048? As a home coffee roaster, that is the temperature hardware that I am familiar with. I've got a spare here and a new Hovabator just being set up and wondering if I could use it for....? Something ???

 

[mill-j]

Sidebar: Are either of you familiar with the Phidget 1048? As a home coffee roaster, that is the temperature hardware that I am familiar with. I've got a spare here and a new Hovabator just being set up and wondering if I could use it for....? Something ???

I've never heard of it before, but it looks interesting, a quick search reveals https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4714841/
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/figures?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0147140
Looks like you can use it for incubation, it'll just depend on how much research, time and effort, your willing to put into it. It sounds like a great project though(the kind that gives a person bragging rights)
Have Fun!