Hi new member here
So am thinking of making a chicken hatcher.
I never used Arduino before nor do i have one, i want to make sure that i order the correct one for my project as well as to ask what components i will need.
What am thinking of is a chicken hatcher with a humidity and temperature sensor, an LCD screen to show me the temperature and humidity ,1 or 2 pc fans , a dc heating lamp , a motor connected to a few plastic tubes to spin the eggs (the motor will spin every X amount of minutes), a button to turn on the lamp manually when i want (for viewing the eggs)
Questions
1 how can i connect a heating lamp to an Arduino device? the heating lamp will probably be 2 40w or a 60w one
2 how many motors will i need? after browsing in here for some time i found out that i cant connect the motors directly to the arduino. Will a dual motor driver module solve my problem?
3 Is it possible to make programs for each egg species (goose chicken duck etc...) that can be activated using different buttons?
4 is there a battery that i can use in case of power outage that can support a heating lamp?
List of items so far
Arduino UNO Rev3 or Arduino nano
Breadboard
5V Relay Module - 4 Channel
Dual Motor Driver Module L298N
DHT-22 (temperature and humidity module)
I2C LCD Module 16x2
Breadboard jumper wires
Mosfet module
DS18B20 (temperature sensor)
12 v dc motor
I know i need a few more things to complete my list.
There is a video on YouTube that makes an egg incubator with Arduino but doesn't use motors to spin the eggs and doesn't really explain what components he uses here is the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V97gfHygVhk
Thank you all in advance
Yes. A Big One. I'd also consider going for a type that allows for deep cycling (a car battery wouldn't be the best choice). If you want/need battery backup, best also work out how much time you'd need to bridge and decide on how you will go from battery voltage to whatever the heating lamps need.
As you can tell, a lot depends on all sorts of things you still need to decide on and there's of course the mutual dependencies between the various components. You'll have to start somewhere and since it's your project, I'd say it's up to you to make that first step.
Actually, the first step is to construct your egg incubator, then you will know how to turn the eggs, how much heat/ventilation you need. If you have enough insulation, you don't need much heat. Right now you are working backwards in the design.
I know
Where i am from there are no local stores that sell any components so since the whole order- deliver process takes a long time i wanted to figure out the electronic part first
That'll be a disappointing approach. The mechanical part is actually going to be the more limiting part of the process so should be handled first. Electronics are more flexible, software is nearly infinitely flexible.
Thank you i aded the mosfet module to the list
About the motors am stin unsure if i want to use multiple motors that spin in a clockwise counter clockwise patern or just one and add plastic gears to make the tubes spin clockwise and counter clockwise.About the programs do i need any aditional components?
Thank you for the advice
i alredy have a hand drawn first draft of the egg incubator but still unsure on its dimensions
An egg incubator isn't an unusual project, I recall seeing several here - try searching the forum.
Breadboard is good for prototyping, though even then you need to be careful because it can generally not handle the kind of current that a motor would need. Accepted wisdom is that you will need the final version put together with solder or even a custom PCB. And no, I definitely don't have a temperature and humidity recording system that's been running using a breadboard for the last five years - why do you ask?
If you're going to measure humidity, do you need something to adjust it?
Your lamp will be driven by one of your relays I expect. Relay coils pull more current than you might expect, often more than the manufacturers tell you too. It's worth getting a module that lets you power them separately. Also, consider mosfets or SSRs for A/C instead - they will likely last longer.
How many motors? Up to you. I would think you could come up with a mechanical design that only needs one.
I'd guess that different species can be handled by the same basic code, just different timings and temp/humidity settings so easily switched with a button.
An I2C LCD will save on pins, an Uno will probably have enough, but you should check the total needed in your design before you commit to it. You can get port extenders though, so if you run out it can be resolved.
If you're worried about extended outages then as mentioned, deep cycle lead acid is a solution - expensive though.
Yes i saw a few but none of the one that i saw use motors i saw a motor tutorial i bere that used bread bord and was ok if i make a custom pcb what else should i add on it?
I need the temperature and humidity monitored all the time and keep them stable so what do you suggest i use instead of bread bord?
There will probably be a small cup with water somewere inside the hatcher in which i will add a water level sensor tbat will alert me when the level of the water is below an X level so i can refill it. For the lamp i will probably get a mosfet since its a heating lamp and from my understanding that kind of lamp is Ac. I havent decided if i will add only one motor am thinking of adding one on each side and program the to spin exactly with the same pace. I want to glue gears to the cube as well as the interior of theegg hatcher so i can adjust them depending on what am hatching( goose eggs are almost triple in size compared to chicken) So how do i exacy do the diferent program stuff i figured that it will be the same code with the only diference the time it needs to run for. Do i need to acount for the weight of the eggs when am making the diferent programs?
I bet most/all of them are AC in fact. So then you'd have to use a relay (mechanical or solid state) and an 'inverter' (DC-AC converter) if you want to use a battery backup.
Those 2 are not compatible! Ok, yes, you can connect the Uno to a breadboard with a rat's nest of flying wires, but it will be confusing, unreliable, fragile and error prone... While you still have the chance, make a wiser choice. I would recommend a standard Nano v3. It's identical to Uno in almost all respects, but a far better choice for prototyping with breadboards and for soldering up the final version of the circuit. Why? Because it will plug directly into the breadboard! Uno can't do that. You can then keep the wiring neat and organized.
Thank you for the advice i will get that instead of the uno if that is the case should i get the full size bread board or will i be ok with the half size bread bord ?
Incubator lamps ensure even heat spread across a larger surface. You could do something similar with a heater and a fan, but it'll be much more cumbersome to get it right.
