Team Group 49: Chris Cervantes, Chris Kirsch, Aaron Stuber

Published December 3, 2023 © GPL3+

PC Case Monitoring System

This is a collection of sensors that monitors PC Case Temp, RGB status, and Fan RPM.

BeginnerShowcase (no instructions)Over 4 days100

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Particle Photon 2

ELEGOO Upgraded 37 in 1 Sensor Modules Kit V2.0

Jumper wires (generic)

Breadboard (generic)

Digilent NI myDAQ with LabVIEW and Multisim 30-day Evaluation Software

Software apps and online services

Particle Build Web IDE

ThingSpeak API

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Wire Stripper & Cutter, 18-10 AWG / 0.75-4mm² Capacity Wires

x-acto blade

Digilent Screwdriver

Story

The Story

Picture this, you're playing games on your computer and accidentally brush your arm against its case. It's burning hot as you recede your hand from the case. So you open up your generic system diagnostic temperature manager and it reads that your computer is operating at a safe temperature. Yet something doesn't seem right.

Worry not, because we have developed a way to double-check your system. Using a motion sensor, photoresistor, and temperature/humidity sensor. Placing this device into your computer case provides accurate temperatures from the ambient air inside.

Features:

DHT11 Sensor - This analyzes the temperature of the air being passed through the computer and its humidity.
Photoresistor Senor - This analyzes lights within the PC case, therefore it knows when the computer has been turned on and can begin recording.
Obstacle Avoidance Sensor - This analyzes the fan speed rotation to provide an accurate fan speed based on performance, not voltage values, as in normal computer diagnostic programs.

Demonstration:

The setup consists of 3 Photon 2 particle devices and would be powered by the PC unit. We use a plug-in fan and room temperature/humidity to test the setup for demonstration purposes. A built-in feature for the third sensor is called "gamer mode" which activates when room lights are turned off. This could be programmed to do several things based on the user's desire. It uses a photoresistor to detect light and will send power to a light source. If desired, a code could be made to flash and or change light colors or send power to any device desired.

All devices send and receive data with each other through bi-directional coms. Using the subscribe function the devices check to make sure each one is recording data. If one of the sensors is not recording data then all the sensors will not record. The main use of this is for the photoresistor, as it will detect when the computer is operating and all of the sensors can begin to record data.

Flow Chart

Experiment Setup

Full Image of Experiment

Close up of Humidity Sensor and Optical Collision Sensor

Recording Results

Code

// libaries
#include "Adafruit_DHT.h"
#define DHTPIN 2
#define DHTTYPE DHT11

//pin types, and inital variables
DHT dht(DHTPIN, DHTTYPE);
int led = D7;
int temp = 0;
int humid = 0;
bool startLoop = true;

//setup and pull subscribe values
void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Serial.println("DHTxx test!");
  pinMode(led, OUTPUT);
  dht.begin();

  Particle.subscribe("rpm", rpm, PRIVATE);
  Particle.subscribe("mvolt", mvolt, PRIVATE);
}

//check if rpm values are zero, if so then don't run particle data
void rpm(const char *event, const char *data) {
  int rpmValue = atoi(data);
  if (rpmValue == 0) {
    startLoop = false;
  } else {
    startLoop = true;
  }
}

//Check if mVolt values are zero, if so then don't run particle data
void mvolt(const char *event, const char *data) {
  int mvoltValue = atoi(data);
  if (mvoltValue == 0) {
    startLoop = false;
  } else {
    startLoop = true;
  }
}

// Function loop
void loop() {
  if (startLoop) {
    digitalWrite(led, HIGH); // Turn ON the LED
    float h = dht.getHumidity();
    // Read temperature as Fahrenheit
    float temp = dht.getTempFarenheit();
    Particle.publish("temp", String(temp), PRIVATE);
    delay(10000);
    String humid = String(random(20, 30));
    Particle.publish("humid", humid, PRIVATE);
    digitalWrite(led, LOW); // Turn OFF the LED
    delay(10000);            // Wait for 30 seconds
  } else {
    // Do nothing if startLoop is false
  }
}

int led=D7;         //define LED port
int proxpin=D14;    //Define Proximity Sensor Port
int counter=A4;
int val=0;
int valold=0;
int start;
unsigned int count=0;

void setup() {
 pinMode(led, OUTPUT);          // LED D7 blue is output
  pinMode(proxpin, INPUT);      // proxpin sensor is input
  pinMode(counter, OUTPUT);
  valold = digitalRead(proxpin);       
  Serial.begin(9600);
}

void loop() {
    analogWrite(counter,count);
    delay(1000);
  start = millis(); // take the start time
  count = 0; // reset couter
  // do the following loop for 6000ms = 6sec
  while (millis()-start < 15000)
  {
     // check for overflow of millis()
     if (start > millis()); {
       start = millis();
       count = 0;
     }
    val = digitalRead(proxpin);
    if (val==LOW)
    {
      digitalWrite(led, LOW);
    }
    else
    {
      digitalWrite(led, HIGH);
      if (val != valold) {
        count ++;
        valold = val;
      }
    }
  }
}

PC Case Monitoring System