Motion sensing dog cooling system

Projects General Guidance
1

Hi folks,

First-time poster and Arduino newbie. Looking for some guidance on a project I'm looking to kick off. I want to build a motion-sensing sprinkler to keep my dog cool in summer. Basically, looking to build something that he can stand under to activate a water flow which switches off when he moves away... likely using a garden sprinkler mounted upside down, a solenoid valve and an Arduino-driven motion sensor.

Wondering if anybody has done any similar garden/irrigation projects and could offer some advice on the hardware required and/or lessons learned

Thanks in advance

2

"Standing under" is exactly the opposite of motion :wink: so you probably want something to check his presence, not motion.

An ultrasonic sensor like an hc-sr04 should do the trick, and has a range long enough for you to position it out of the spray. Easy to program, there's a library called NewPing().

And there are solenoid valves like this that can be controlled with an Arduino through a transistor. (edit: make sure the one you get can handle mains pressure.)

3

(Big question in my mind is how he's going to read the sign that says "Stand here" :wink: )

4

Lol... yeah, I think that's likely to be the bigger challenge than building it.

Thanks for the great tips... will update once I make some progress

5

Hi,
If you use Ultrasonic, which is probably the best idea, the water spray will keep activating the sensor.

You may be better to get the sensor to trigger a 2min timer to run the sprinkler, then stop and wait to be triggered again.

I would say it won't take long for your dog to learn the process to keep it going.

Tom.. :slight_smile:
Great Project Idea..

6

Timer's a good idea.

7

Why not a switch-mat as used in burglar alarms systems?

Allan

8

Indeed, something weight based may work better, assuming the dog is big enough to be reliably detected, while the layer of water that forms during the shower (plus the pressure of water drops falling down) do not set it off.

Ultrasound sensors will likely detect the water as well, so timer based approach (2 mins on, then at least 5 or 10 seconds off to allow for the shower to stop dripping and triggering the next 2 mins).

9

kenwood120s:
(Big question in my mind is how he's going to read the sign that says "Stand here" :wink: )

Write it on the side of his food bowl

10

TomGeorge:
Hi,
If you use Ultrasonic, which is probably the best idea, the water spray will keep activating the sensor.

You may be better to get the sensor to trigger a 2min timer to run the sprinkler, then stop and wait to be triggered again.

I would say it won't take long for your dog to learn the process to keep it going.

Tom.. :slight_smile:
Great Project Idea..

I would say a 2-3 second spray timer then wait another few for the doggie-shake before sensing again.

A smart dog will make games out of it. Mine threw his tennis ball down the stairs to chase it when no one threw it for him.

If the dog likes to catch balls then if the dog can see hose spurts and go after them... new game!

11

GoForSmoke:
If the dog likes to catch balls then if the dog can see hose spurts and go after them.

I immediately have to think of this fountain. Really fun to watch the kids run around it, getting wet. I bet dogs will enjoy this, too.