Mark 1
Mark 2
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A box to annoy the bejesus out of you if you forget to brush or floss your teeth
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This project was based on a pet peeve. I hate forgetting to brush or floss my teeth before getting into bed,
as I usually remember once I'm cozy and no longer want to get up and do that. However, not keeping my teeth
clean every night makes me feel like a disgusting human being, so I end up begrudgingly turning the lights back on,
getting out of bed, and angrily tending to my mouth.
My way of fixing this problem is simple. I needed to find a way to remind myself of my poor pearly whites (ok maybe yellowish whites)
before taking off all of my clothes and getting into bed each night. What is something I do before getting into bed?
Turning out the lights. Bada Bing Bada Boom we have our trigger. If I turn out the lights before cleaning the ol' chompers,
sound the alarms.
To make this work, I used two sensors. One to track the light levels in the room, and one to detect whether or not the hygienic tool in question had been moved.
If I turn the lights out after the toothbrush/floss have been moved, no problem. If they haven't, a speaker will buzz, letting me know I should do that before I get into bed.
In my first iteration, I encountered some problems. I used a photoresistor to detect the light levels, but this was inconsistent. Photoresistors
give different readings dependent on the voltage in the circuit. When plugged into my computer, I would get values I could see in the serial
monitor that I could work with to get my desired result. When plugged into a battery, I had no idea what readings I was getting, but they
weren't the same, so I couldn't write my code accordingly. I also had to hold every to make it work, but that was a much more practical fix.
For my second iteration, in addition to a wooden box enclosure that held every component securely, I switched the photoresistor for an ambient
light sensor. This was a pain to make work, as the documentation and arduino library data was shaky at best, but it did eventually do the trick.
Along with the ultrasonic sensor and speaker, I now had a battery powered, fully operational hygiene reminder to never let me be cozy but unclean again.
Link to the code