WHAT IF...
people could start growing the food they grow nowadays with their future predicted weather for 2050?
WHAT IF...
we could empower individuals and communities with data that could help them address climate change?
WHAT IF...
we could shorten the technological educational gap with low-cost DIY STEAM education tools?
WHAT IF...
we could teach and learn about climate change effects into our food systems in a more practical way?
It can simulate the actual weather from another city in its interior, or it can also be programed to simulate other selected characteristics like the amount and duration of sunlight, temperature, ventilation and water amount and pressure.
You can download the files needed to fabricate each one of its parts in a maker space, the links where to buy certain components through internet, and the instructions to build it.
It can be build in almost any Maker Space or FabLab that has a CNC machine
or woodworking equipment, a 3D printer, a laser cutter,
soldering equipment and some basic hand tools.
It can be easily monitored and controlled from a computer through a NodeRED server dashboard in a webpage, that connects to an ESP32 micro controller with integrated WiFI inside the POWAR shield, through an MQTT protocol.
The shield is designed to work with a Barduino v2.2 development board created at FabLab Barcelona, but it will be adapted to use a Node MCU
or even be integrated with the ESP32 micro controller in the future.
All of the POWAR wood case can be milled in a CNC using 9mm thick, or bigger, wood, using different sizes of boards depending on the shape of the design, or It can also be cut in a woodworking using more traditional methods.
All the POWAR cases, connectors, and other accessories are printed in PLA, which is 3D printing material made out of cornstarch, what makes it more sustainable than using ABS or other plastics.
POWAR is made under the philosophy of being a Distributed Design which can be easily manufactured in almost any maker space in the world by following the instructions. It is also open to collaborations, modifications and experimentations made by people connected to the project through different networks, in order to improve it, make it better and more accesible for the rest of the world.
All of the POWAR process is documented in this webpages and external resources, in order that everyone can access to the documentation, download it, and build it as they want. The more people that builds and improves the POWAR, the more benefit the project will generate to its community of users..
It has been created under a Creative Commons license "Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International" (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Which permits the copy or modification of the prototype, while giving attribution, for non commercial use.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
POWAR is made 70% out of sustainable wood and other materials like PLA, and basic electronic components. By being able to be manufactured locally, with mostly local materials, POWAR drastically reduces the carbon footprint of its production. This also has a reduction in transport and materials cost. Also, in the future it can be adapted to be solar powered and to feed the plants with rain water.
4 - Quality Education
9 - Industry Innovation and Infrastructure
10 - Reduced Inequalities
11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
12 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
13 - Climate Action
15 - Life on land
POWAR is as a perfect STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) education tool for kids at home or schools, to learn physics, electronics, design, biology, and coding, amongst others, while building a machine that can replicate another city weather in its interior, to grow plants under different weather conditions and experiment with the effects of climate change.
Kids will have to cut, build, print, solder, screw, connect, code and program the machine to do whatever they want, while also learning some digital fabrication skills.
In the future, POWAR could give the possibility to small-holder farmers in some of the most precarious rural areas around the world to experiment growing the food they grow nowadays with their future predicted weathers for 2050, si that they can start making some changes for being more resilient to climate change, and hopefully to work as a tool that helps them demand better climate policies from their governments.
POWAR is created in a way that it can be built in any MakerSpace or FabLab around the world, with some additional basic electronic components you could buy in a local hardware store, or order them from amazon or AliExpress.
POWAR connects to the internet through an ESP32 Micro-controller with Integrated WiFi and Bluetooth, and it communicates through an MQTT protocol in which converts the signals received into messages.
This messages work under different topics and subtopics, and have different senders and receivers, which helps to send information from different devices inputs readings to actuate in other devices outputs.
They are interpreted later on by the NodeRED server, which interprets and visualizes this information in a dashboard, that could also control the outputs.
POWAR has 4 basic sensors:
DHT 11/22:
A basic, ultra low-cost digital temperature and humidity sensor. It uses a capacitive humidity sensor and a thermistor to measure the surrounding air, and spits out a digital signal on the data pin (no analog input pins needed). Its fairly simple to use, but requires careful timing to grab data.
LDR:
"Light Dependent Resistor" is a component that has a (variable) resistance that changes with the light intensity that falls upon it. This allows them to be used in light sensing circuits.
SOIL MOISTURE:
The two large, exposed pads function as probes for the sensor, together acting as a variable resistor. The more water that is in the soil means the better the conductivity between the pads will be, resulting in a lower resistance and a higher SIG out.
WATER LEVEL SENSOR:
This sensor works as a variable resistor which conducts more or less energy depending of the amount of conductivity generated by water. The more water in tank means gives better conductivity and less resistance, and vice versa.
POWAR connects to a weather API, in this case OpenWeatherAPP. This means it gets the weather information from the same apps or webpages that you use to check the weather through a process called "Web Crawling".
This information, for a previously selected location, also comes as messages that can be translated through the NodeRed Dashboard into information that can actuate some processes in the machine.
POWAR mixes the information it downloads from the Weather API, like temperature, sun and rain with the information it gets from it sensors inside, and tries to compensate it by activating the actuators like the water pump, the ventilators, the light or the heat generator.
– 1 x ESP32-WROOM
– 1 x SOT- 223 (Regulator)
– 1 x FTDI SSOP-16 USB to UART
– 1 x PINHD-1×09-HEADER (male)
– 1 x PINHD-1×13-HEADER (male)
– 1 x PINHD-1×12-HEADER (male)
– 2 x CAP 10pF
– 1 x CAP 1uF
– 1 x DIO SOD-81
– 1 x Red Led
– 1 x RES 10k Ohms
– 2 x RES 49 Ohms
– 1 x RES 220 Ohms
– 2 x RES 490 Ohms
– 1 x Slider Switch (AYZ0102AGRLC)
– 1 x 6mm button switch
– 1 x USB Micro Port
– 1 x DIO SOD-123
*** The POWAR shield could be modified to work with a NODE MCU – ESP 32
instead of a Barduino, or to even have its own ESP32 integrated micro controller***
– 1 x CAP 1000uF
– 1 x CAP 10uF
– 2 x DIO – SOD-81
– 1 x Barrel Jack Connector
– 1 x USB MINIB
– 1 x PINHD-1×09-HEADER (female)
– 1 x PINHD-1×13-HEADER (female)
– 1 x PINHD-1×12-HEADER (female)
– 4 x PINHD-1×03-HEADER (female)
– 1 x PINHD-1×02-HEADER (male)
– 2 x 3.5mm term (1×2)
– 1 x RES 470 Ohms
– 2 x RES 10K Ohms
– 3 x RES 0 ohms (circuit bridge)
– 2 x NMOSFET SOT-23
– 1 x MINI USB
– 1 x BUCK_MP1584EN
WOOD SHEET:
1600 x 1200 x 10 mm MDF or similar resistant wood.
(Wood varnish might also be needed after cutting to protect it from humidity)
Water System:
2 x Hose holders BIG - Xgr
4 x Hose holders SMALL - Xgr
2 x L Shower end connector - Xgr
1 x I Hose diameter converter - Xgr
Electronics Case:
1 x Upper part - Xgr
1 x Lower part - Xgr
4 x Door Holders - Xgr
TOTAL MATERIAL:
800 x 400 x 5mm
Acrylic Door:
400 x 300mm
Acrylic Plate:
400 x 400mm
SENSORS:
- Soil moisture sensor.
- DHT 11 humidity and temperature sensor.
- LDR light sensor.
ACTUATORS:
- 1mt Neopixel RGB led strip.
- 5v or 12v Computer fan.
- 5v or 12v Water pump.
- 5v USB connector or 12v power supply.
Here you will find the instructions of the software you are all going to need to install in your computers for the second session of the workshop.
In this part you will find the tutorials needed to connect each one of the sensors and the actuators to the ESP32
Here you will find the codes for programming your ESP32 board to use the different sensors and actuators needed for this project.
Here are the instructions for setting up the server instructions for your ESP32, your sensors and the weather API to interact between them.
Here you will find a step by step guide and files to cut and build the POWAR box and 3D printed accessories at home, and to ensamble it.
POWAR by Pablo Zuloaga Betancourt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Made with
Landing Page Software
